introduction

The Land 

Myanmar is the traditional name both of the country and of its people. The British called the country "Burma" following colloquial usage and coined the name "Burmese" for the people. 
The land was also known as Suvannabhumi, "Golden Land" in ancient times, and today, with its rich natural resources and diversity of attractions, it still deserves to be called the Golden Land.

Myanmar, the Golden Land is famous and recognized for its lavishly-gilded temples built in centuries all over the country. A beautiful country in Southeast Asia with numerous astounding natural scenarios, precious cultural heritages, well-preserved archaeological sites, added by warm hospitable people could make the visitors satisfactorily delighted. All tourists on their return remarked never-disappointing tour in Asia region.

Location

Between Thailand and Laos to east and Bangladesh to the west with India and China bordering to north, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) covers an area of 671000 sq km. The Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea form the west-south boundary. 

History

King Anawrahta founded the First Myanmar Empire in 1044, who introduced Theravada Buddhism to whole country. The world-famous ancient temples were built in that period around the area of capital city Bagan.
After King Bayintnaung's second Myanmar empire in 16th century, and king Alaungpaya's third Myanmar Empire in 18th century, and after passing few wars, the British annexed the whole country until Burma gained full independence on January 4, 1948.

People

Ethnologists identified over (135) ethnic groups in Myanmar including majority of Bamar, living in cities, with 65 per cent of (50)million total population. All Myanmar people in the country possess obviously very warm, polite and hospitable character which can be encountered- nowhere else in the world, despite of illiteracy in some rural areas.

Pondaung Primate

Pondaung is a geographical region in Myanmar lying partly in the Sagaing and partly in Magway Divisions. It has become well known world wide due to the discovery of fossilized remains of anthropoid primate some years back by both Myanmar and foreign geologists. Teams of experts on the subject from the United States, France and Japan have made research trips to this area with the cooperation of the Office of the Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defence and geologists of various Universities of the Ministry of Education and discovered substantial forsilized remains not only of the anthropoid primate but also of some wild fauna and flora. After laboratory tests and analysis of their finds and scientific discussions at international fora, a consensus has been reached that "Pondaung anthropoid primate fossils are 40 million years older than their Egyptian counterparts which , were once censidered the oldest". 

Origin of Mankind

Today’s most reliable proof of ‘Human Origin’
Scientists believe that human originated from primates, or people simply call them monkeys. The word ‘primate’ generally refers to mammals which have both hands and legs and being the most intelligent among all other living beings. Therefore, to trace the human origin, scientists had to look into the earliest evidence of anthropoid primates.
newspaper (18 Oct, 1999 issue) pointed out: Paleontologists have discovered a new species of early primate in central Burma, offering fresh evidence that the ancestor of all monkeys and apes may have been from Asia, rather than Africa.
Below is what magazine, USA, mentioned nearly 20 years ago: “For years, anthropologists assumed that the higher primates, or anthropoids, originated in Africa because the oldest known anthropoid remains were found there. But now a group of researcher believes that the oldest anthropoid, and possibly the common ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans, came from southern Asia. After carefully scrutinizing fossil jawbones and teeth found in Burma in 1978, as well as a newly discovered incisor tooth from the same site, they conclude that the primate Amphipithecus mongaungensis, or some closely related animal, may be the evolutionary link between anthropoids and the lower primates, or prosimians.” -- (24-Aug-1985 issue)
, Scotland’s national newspaper, featured this article on 15 October, 1999: Existing evolutionary theories about man's early descendants may have to be ripped up after the discovery of a 40-million-year-old fossil in Asia.
On January 1, 2004, Geographical magazine wrote: A 45-million-year-old fossilised ankle bone that has been found in central Myanmar could be from an ancestor of many of today's primates.
The discovery of many fossilized remains of Pondaung primates within the past few years, made this theory firmer, and also confirmed by French, Japanese, and other international scientists. French anthropologist Dr.Jean-Jacques Jaeger said “We didn’t have that kind of information about Asia before, only Africa. Now we may have to change our whole story about anthropoid origins and evolution.” 
The Pondaung area is situated in the northwestern part of central Myanmar which consists two ranges named Pondaung and Ponnyadaung of over 3000 feet high, lying in a North-South direction. It has been a famous fossil site for decades. The eastern range is Pondaung and the western range is Ponnyadaung. These two ranges are composed of the rocks of the Pondaung Formation. The formation is almost entirely composed of massive quartz sandstones, brown on the weathered surface, but of a greenish tint in fresh stream sections. 
For more details and upcoming news about the primates, please see: 
http://www.myanmar.com/primates/ 

History

Early civilization in Myanmar dates back to the 1st century with archaeological evidences of the Pyu kingdoms of Thayekhittaya (Sriksetra), Beikthano (Visnu) and Hanlin. 
Myanmar entered a period of greatness in the early 11th century.
King Anawrahta founded the First Myanmar Empire in 1044, who introduced Theravada Buddhism to whole country. The world-famous ancient temples were built in that period around the area of capital city Bagan. The Empire lasted until the end of the 13th century.

Climate

Myanmar has three major seasons - summer (March to May), rainy season(June to October) and winter(November to February) ,and, the winter and summer are best time for visit. City tours still can be made during raining season.

Religion and Culture

Eighty seven per cent of the population embraces Theravada Buddhism and the daily life, way of thinking and culture of Myanmar people are apparently Buddhism-based. Temples, monasteries, monks and nuns can be seen everywhere. Religion-related festivals are held all year. Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Animist also occupied the minority of population yet many cathedrals, churches, mosques and Hindu temples can be seen occasionally.

Economy and Politics

Agriculture is the country's staple trade; and, forestry, minerals, oil and natural gas industries are secondaries. The SPDC (renamed from SLORC) is ruling the country since political unrest in 1988. The country is safe and peaceful for visitors.

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