Myanmar
Myanmar (; ), officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast. To its south, about one third of Myanmar's total perimeter of forms an uninterrupted coastline of along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census counted the population to be 51 million people. As of 2017, the population is about 54 million. Myanmar is in size. Its capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon). Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997.
Military history of Myanmar
Soon after gaining independence, the central government led by U Nu faced several armed rebellions. The most serious was the Chinese Nationalist KMT invasion of Shan State in 1950. Driven out by the Chinese Communist forces, Nationalist KMT troops (about 16,000 at the peak) planned to use the region east of the Salween river as a base from which to regain their homeland. In March 1953, the KMT forces with US assistance were on the verge of taking the entire Shan State, and within a day's march of the state capital Taunggyi. The Burmese army drove back the invaders east across the Salween. The KMT units remained there until 1961 when some 20,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army and 5,000 troops of the Burmese Army defeated them in a joint operation.