Is it Burma or Myanmar?

In 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a ruling body established by the military associates of Ne Win, changed the official name of the country from Burma to Myanmar. The controversial nature of the government body responsible for this name change has, naturally, led to the current confusion over the country’s name.

Many people still refer to a certain Southeast Asian country with a population of just over 50 million and sandwiched between India on the west and Thailand on the east as Burma. Why?

As an American, I never really heard anyone refer to the country as anything other than Burma until President Obama gave a speech at the University of Yangon in November 2012. At the time, I was even sure that the television reporter had made a mistake! Surely he had meant to say Rangoon, which is indeed the same city, but in my fairy tale Rudyard Kipling childhood I had only known it by its colonial name.

For Burmese people, the words have long had political connotations. Those that firmly opposed the military junta used the word Burma. Those that staunchly supported it used the word Myanmar. Those that did not care, well, they still do not care which word you use. As a result, older people, at least those that are not connected to the government, prefer Burma to Myanmar, while younger people tend to use Myanmar, especially when speaking English.

Neither the United States nor the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party chaired by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and now the equivalent of the prime minister of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, officially recognizes the name Myanmar.

And yet Obama did, and he did it during a landmark speech during an historic visit. Before Obama, Burma was the preferred term for people who did not support the old government. But this perception is rapidly changing.

For now, only the most confrontational supporters of the former government, whose preference it is to use the word Myanmar, would care which word a foreigner uses. Meeting such a person is an extremely rare event. Additionally, the extreme supporters of fringe ethnic groups, such as the Karen National Union (KNU) or Kachin Independence Army (KIA) that fight for autonomy and independence outside of the urban centers and whose preference it is to use the word Burma, may also be sensitive to the usage of a particular name. It should be noted that if your intention is purely to do business in the country, you are unlikely to encounter these types of people.

The vast majority of people do not seem to have a preference for the name you choose to use. However, it is useful to know that young Burmese will use the word Myanmar in reference to the country, its people, its main language, and its nationality.

The usage might sound a bit awkward in English:

I am from Myanmar.

I speak Myanmar.

I am Myanmar.