Burma/Myanmar - Etymology

Etymology

In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became "Myanmar". The renaming remains a contested issue. Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use "Burma" because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country.

The country's official full name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar i/ˈmjɑːnˌmɑr/ (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စု သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်, Pyidaunzu Thanmăda Myăma Nainngandaw, ). Some countries, however, have not recognized this name and use the long form Union of Burma instead.

In English, the country is popularly known by either of its short names "Burma" or "Myanmar". Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group. Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from "Bamar", the colloquial form of the group's name. Depending on the register used, the pronunciation would be Bama or Myamah . The name Burma has been in use in English since the time of British colonial rule.

Burma continues to be used in English by the governments of many countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The United Nations uses Myanmar, as do the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Russia, Germany, Norway, China, India, Australia and Japan.

There are variations of "Myanmar" when translated to local languages. In Spain, "Myanmar" is commonly known as "Birmania". The Government of Brazil uses "Mianmar", for example. On 19 November 2012 during the first visit by a sitting President of the United States, Barack Obama referred to the nation as both Myanmar and Burma.