SHARING BORDERS with Bangladesh, India, Tibet/China, Laos and Thailand, Burma is located at the junction of South and Southeast Asia. In October 2002, Himal carried a special focus on Burma and its role in South Asia. In this profile, with inputs provided by Burma Alert bulletin, Himal presents a statistical comparison of Burma and its neighbours.
As a rule, statistical data about Burma are unreliable. However, this comparison is made with recently released intelligence data, which provide a consistent basis for drawing comparisons between Burma and the other countries. Vietnam is included here because many economists like to compare Burma with Vietnam, says Burma Alert.
In the following tables, countries are represented by two-letter abbreviations: BA (Bangladesh), BR (Burma), LA (Laos), TH (Thailand), MA (Malaysia) and VN (Vietnam). Among the countries compared, Burma is the largest, followed by Thailand, which has more arable land.
The land (Area – thousands of sq km)