Cambodia

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(Redirected from CAMBODIA)

"Kingdom of Cambodia" redirects here. For the post-independence era, see Kingdom of Cambodia (195370).
Cambodia ( /kmbodi/;[6] Khmer: , or Kampuchea IPA: [kmpuci]), officially known as the Kingdom of
i

Cambodia (Khmer: , Preh Rachanachk Kmpcha, IPA: [prh ricinack kmpu

ci]), is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square
kilometres (69,898 square miles) in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to
the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by
approximately 95 percent of the population. The country's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams,
and 30 hill tribes.[7] The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, and cultural centre of
Cambodia. The kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal
Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving non-
royal leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 30 years.
In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name
"Kambuja".[8] This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire which flourished for over 600 years, allowing
successive kings to control and exert influence over much of Southeast Asia and accumulate immense power and
wealth. The Indianized kingdom built monumental temples including Angkor Wat, now a World Heritage Site, and
facilitated the spread of first Hinduism, then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia. After the fall
of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by
its neighbours. In 1863 Cambodia became a protectorate of France which doubled the size of the country by
reclaiming the north and west from Thailand.
Cambodia gained independence in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of
Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970, the deposed king gave his support to his
former enemies, the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge emerged as a major power, taking Phnom Penh in 1975 and
later carrying out the Cambodian Genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted by Vietnam and the
Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea in the CambodianVietnamese War (197991). Following
the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission (199293). The UN
withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997
coup placed power solely in the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party, who remain in
power as of 2017.
The country faces numerous challenges. Important sociopolitical issues includes widespread poverty, [9] pervasive
corruption,[10] lack of political freedoms,[11] low human development,[12] and a high rate of hunger.[13][14][15]Cambodia has
been described by Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian Director, David Roberts, as a "vaguely communist free-
market state with a relatively authoritarian coalition ruling over a superficial democracy." [16]While per capita income
remains low compared to most neighbouring countries, Cambodia has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia
with growth averaging 6 percent over the last decade. Agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with
strong growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and
international trade.[17] Cambodia scored dismally in an annual index (2015) ranking the rule of law in 102 countries,
placing 99th overall and the worst in the region.[18]
Cambodia also faces environmental destruction as an imminent problem. The most severe activity in this regard is
considered to be the countrywide deforestation, which also involves national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Overall,
environmental destruction in Cambodia comprise many different activities, including illegal logging, poaching of
endangered and endemic species, and destruction of important wildlife habitats from large scale construction
projects and agricultural businesses. The degrading activities involve the local population, Cambodian businesses
and political authorities, as well as foreign criminal syndicates and many transnational corporations from all over the
world.
The "Kingdom of Cambodia" is the official English name of the country. The English "Cambodia" is an anglicisation
of the French "Cambodge", which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer Kampuchea. Kampuchea is the
shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer, Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea (Khmer:
). The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name Kambujadea ( ),
composed of , desa ("land of" or "country of") and , Kambujas, which alludes to the foundation myths of
the first ancient Khmer kingdom.[19]
Colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer (Khmer pronunciation: [srok kmae]), meaning
"Khmer's Land", or the slightly more formal Prateh Kampuchea (), literally "Country of Kampuchea".
The name "Cambodia" is used most often in the Western world while "Kampuchea" is more widely used in the East.
Main article: Early history of Cambodia
There exists sparse evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of present-day Cambodia, which
includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung
Treng and Krati provinces, and in Kampot Province, although their dating is unreliable.[25] Some slight
archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during Holocene: the most
ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of L'aang Spean, in Battambang
Province, which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series
of radiocarbon dates as of 6000 BC.[25][26] Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic,
containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia[27]
Archaeological records for the period between Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. A pivotal event in
Cambodian prehistory was the slow penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the late 3rd
millennium BC.[28] The most curious prehistoric evidence in Cambodia are the various "circular earthworks"
discovered in the red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and
age are still debated, but some of them possibly date from 2nd millennium BC. [29][30]

Khmer army going to war against the Cham, from a relief on the Bayon.

Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong),
where the first investigations began in 1875,[31] and Phum Snay, in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey.[32] An
excavation at Phum Snay revealed 21 graves with iron weapons and cranial trauma which could point to conflicts in
the past, possible with larger cities in Angkor.[28][33] [34] Prehistoric artefacts are often found during mining activities
in Ratanakiri.[25]
Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau, in modern-day
Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian
temples while circular earthworks were found beneath Lovea a few kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials, much
richer than other types of finds, testify to improvement of food availability and trade (even on long distances: in the
4th century BC trade relations with India were already opened) and the existence of a social structure and labour
organisation. Also, among the artefacts from the Iron Age, glass beads are important evidence. Different kinds of
glass beads recovered from several sites across Cambodia, such as the Phum Snay site in northwest and the
Prohear site in southeast, show that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were
separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about 2nd4th
century AD, probably with changes in socio-political powers.[35]

Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian era[edit]

Main articles: Kingdom of Funan, Chenla, and Khmer Empire

Faces of BodhisattvaAvalokiteshvara at Prasat Bayon.

During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla, coalesced in
present-day Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia
absorbed influences from India, passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that are now Thailand and
Laos.[36] Little else is known for certain of these polities, however Chinese chronicles and tribute records do make
mention of them. It is believed that the territory of Funan may have held the port known to Alexandrian
geographer Claudius Ptolemy as "Kattigara". The Chinese chronicles suggest that after Jayavarman I of Chenla
died around 690, turmoil ensued which resulted in division of the kingdom into Land Chenla and Water Chenla
which was loosely ruled by weak princes under the dominion of Java.
The Khmer Empire grew out of these remnants of Chenla becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman
II (reigned c790-850) declared independence from Java and proclaimed himself a Devaraja. He and his followers
instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the
area from the 9th to the 15th centuries.[37] During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by
the Mongol army of Kublai Khan, however the king was able to buy peace.[38] Around the 13th century, monks
from Sri Lanka introduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia.[39] The religion spread and eventually displaced
Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; however it was not the official state religion
until 1295; when Indravarman III took power.[40]
The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power
was Angkor, where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of
researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest
pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 1,150 square miles (2,978 square kilometres). [41] The city,
which could have supported a population of up to one million people[42] and Angkor Wat, the best known and best-
preserved religious temple at the site, still serve as reminders of Cambodia's past as a major regional power. The
empire, though in decline, remained a significant force in the region until its fall in the 15th century.

Dark ages of Cambodia[edit]

Main article: Dark ages of Cambodia

Map of Indochina in 1760.

After a long series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and
abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. [43][44] This led to a period of economic,
social, and cultural stagnation when the kingdom's internal affairs came increasingly under the control of its
neighbours. By this time, the Khmer penchant for monument building had ceased. Older faiths such as Mahayana
Buddhism and the Hindu cult of the god-king had been supplanted by Theravada Buddhism.
The court moved the capital to Longvek where the kingdom sought to regain its glory through maritime trade. The
first mention of Cambodia in European documents was in 1511 by the Portuguese. Portuguese travellers described
the city as a place of flourishing wealth and foreign trade. The attempt was short-lived however, as continued wars
with Ayutthaya and the Vietnamese resulted in the loss of more territory and Longvek being conquered and
destroyed by King Naresuan the Great of Ayutthaya in 1594. A new Khmer capital was established at Oudong south
of Longvek in 1618, but its monarchs could survive only by entering into what amounted to
alternating vassal relationships with the Siamese and Vietnamese for the next three centuries with only a few short-
lived periods of relative independence.
The hill tribe people in Cambodia were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by the Siamese (Thai), the
Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians."[45]
In the nineteenth century a renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia resulted in a
period when Vietnamese officials attempted to force the Khmers to adopt Vietnamese customs. This led to several
rebellions against the Vietnamese and appeals to Thailand for assistance. The SiameseVietnamese War (1841
1845) ended with an agreement to place the country under joint suzerainty. This later led to the signing of a treaty
for French Protection of Cambodia by King Norodom Prohmborirak.

French colonisation[edit]

In 1863, King Norodom, who had been installed by Thailand,[8] sought the protection of France from the Thai rule. In
1867, the Thai king signed a treaty with France, renouncing suzerainty over Cambodia in exchange for the control
of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Thailand. The provinces were ceded back
to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Thailand in 1907.
Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France from 1867 to 1953, administered as part of the colony of French
Indochina, though occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945.[46] Between 1874 and 1962, the total
population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million.[47] After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated
the choice of king, and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941
with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too
independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The
French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control.[46] They were wrong, however, and under the reign of King
Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953. [46]

Independence and Vietnam War[edit]

Main article: Kingdom of Cambodia (195370)

Norodom Sihanouk and Mao Zedong in 1956.

Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. When French Indochina was given
independence, Cambodia lost hope of regaining control over the Mekong Delta as it was awarded to Vietnam.
Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the area had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King Chey
Chettha II granting Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before.[48] This remains a diplomatic sticking
point with over one million ethnic Khmers (the Khmer Krom) still living in this region. The Khmer Rouge attempted
invasions to recover the territory which, in part, led to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and deposition of the Khmer
Rouge.
In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his
father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam
War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War. Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese
communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces
fighting in South Vietnam. This policy was perceived as humiliating by many Cambodians. In December 1967
Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese
communist sanctuaries, he would not object, unless Cambodians were killed. [49]
The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968.
[50]
However, in public Sihanouk refuted the US' right to use air strikes in Cambodia and on 26 March Prince
Sihanouk said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop..." and on 28 March a press conference
was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand
of Cambodiathat is, I will in any case oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext."
Nevertheless, the public pleas of Sihanouk were ignored and the bombing continued. [51]
Members of the government and army became resentful of Sihanouk's ruling style as well as his tilt away from the
United States.

Khmer Republic (197075)[edit]

Main article: Cambodian Civil War

Tens of thousands of people were killed during the US bombing of Cambodia between 1970 and 1973.[52]

While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and
Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak. US support for the coup remains unproven.[53] However, once the coup was completed,
the new regime, which immediately demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the
political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their
sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, immediately launched armed attacks on the new government. The
king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war.[54]
Soon Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. However, from 1970 until early 1972, the Cambodian
conflict was largely one between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam.
As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure,
which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge. [55] Between
1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam and US forces bombed Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong and
Khmer Rouge.
Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun
Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then
second in command, Nuon Chea.[56] NVA units overran many Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party
of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their small-scale attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North
Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had
entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion).
[57]
Although a considerable quantity of equipment was seized or destroyed by US and South Vietnamese forces,
containment of North Vietnamese forces proved elusive.

Lon Nol with US Vice-President Spiro Agnew in Phnom Penh, 1970.

The Khmer Republic's leadership was plagued by disunity among its three principal figures: Lon Nol, Sihanouk's
cousin Sirik Matak, and National Assembly leader In Tam. Lon Nol remained in power in part because neither of the
others was prepared to take his place. In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol
became president. But disunity, the problems of transforming a 30,000-man army into a national combat force of
more than 200,000 men, and spreading corruption weakened the civilian administration and army.
The Communist insurgency inside Cambodia continued to grow, aided by supplies and military support from North
Vietnam. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists, many of whom
were purged. At the same time, the CPK forces became stronger and more independent of their Vietnamese
patrons. By 1973, the CPK were fighting battles against government forces with little or no North Vietnamese troop
support, and they controlled nearly 60% of Cambodia's territory and 25% of its population. The government made
three unsuccessful attempts to enter into negotiations with the insurgents, but by 1974, the CPK were operating
openly as divisions, and some of the NVA combat forces had moved into South Vietnam. Lon Nol's control was
reduced to small enclaves around the cities and main transportation routes. More than 2 million refugees from the
war lived in Phnom Penh and other cities.
On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the hardest fighting of the
war, collapsed the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down
Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-
funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol
government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, just five (5) days after the US mission evacuated
Cambodia.[58]

Khmer Rouge regime[edit]

Main articles: Democratic Kampuchea and Khmer Rouge

Rooms of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum contain thousands of photos taken by the Khmer Rouge of their victims.

The Khmer Rouge reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975. Led by Pol Pot, they changed the official name of
the country to Democratic Kampuchea. The new regime modelled itself on Maoist China during the Great Leap
Forward, immediately evacuated the cities, and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects.
They attempted to rebuild the country's agriculture on the model of the 11th century, discarded Western medicine
and destroyed temples, libraries, and anything considered Western.
Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately one to three
million; the most commonly cited figure is two million (about a quarter of the population). [59][60][61] This era gave rise to
the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of
thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic
minority groups. The Cham Muslims suffered serious purges with as much as half of their population exterminated.
[62]
Pol Pot was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus
increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people.[63]

Choeung Ek, a known site of mass grave for genocide victims during the Khmer Rouge era.

Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in
Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. [47] However, most of the victims
of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers
and teachers, were also targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as
they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.[64]
Religious institutions were not spared by the Khmer Rouge as well, religion was so viciously persecuted to such a
terrifying extent that the vast majority of Cambodia's historic architecture, 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, was
completely destroyed.[65]

Vietnamese occupation and transition[edit]

Main articles: People's Republic of Kampuchea and CambodianVietnamese War
In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge.
[66]
The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), a pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary
Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to
avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok, was established.[clarification needed][67] It was fully beholden to the occupying
Vietnamese army and under direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam
and the Soviet Union.[68]
In opposition to the newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of
Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions.[68] This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a
royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front. Its credentials were recognised
by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, but he had to
work in consultation with representatives of the noncommunist Cambodian parties. [69][70] The refusal of Vietnam to
withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions[71] by the US and its allies.[specify]
Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in
a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with
refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).[72]

Restoration of the monarchy

King-Father Norodom Sihanouk's funeral procession in 17 October 2012.

In 1993, Norodom Sihanouk was restored as King of Cambodia, but all power was in the hands of the government
established after the UNTAC sponsored elections. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997
by a coup d'tat led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen against the non-communist parties in the government. [73] In
recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and led to some political stability through
a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.[1]
In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against
humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he was sentenced to life in
prison.[74][75] However, Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials of former Khmer Rouge mass murderers. [76]
In August 2014, a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (also
known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal), sentenced Khieu Samphan, the regime's 83-year-old former head of state,
and Nuon Chea, its 88-year-old chief ideologue to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the country's
terror period in the 1970s. The trial began in November 2011. Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary died in 2013, while
his wife, Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, was deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia in 2012. The group's top
leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
Myanmar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the country. For the Myanmar language, see Burmese language.
Myanmar (Burmese pronunciation: [mjm]),[nb 1][6][7][8][9][10][11] officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known
as Burma, is a sovereign state in the region of 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 5,876 km (3,651 miles) forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km (1,200 mi) along the Bay of
Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census counted a much lower population than expected, with 51
million people recorded.[12] Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres (261,227 sq mi) in size. Its capital city
is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon (Rangoon).[1] Myanmar has been a member of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997.
Early civilisations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma and the Mon
kingdoms in Lower Burma.[13] In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following
the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese
language, culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell due to
the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty,
the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia.[14] The early 19th
century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly
controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-
Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence
in 1948, initially as a democratic nation and then, following a coup d'tat in 1962, a military dictatorship.
For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife and Burma's myriad
ethnic groups have been involved in one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars. During this time,
the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations
in the country.[15][16][17] In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a
nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political
prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade
and other economic sanctions.[18][19] There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic
minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes. [20][21][22] In the landmark 2015 election, Aung
San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains as a powerful force in
politics.
Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013,
its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion.[4] The income gap in Myanmar is
among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military
government.[23][24] As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), Myanmar had a medium level of
human development, ranking 145 out of 188 countries.[5]

Etymology[edit]
Main article: Names of Myanmar
In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's
colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became "Myanmar". The renaming remains a
contested issue.[25] 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. [26]
In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi clarified that foreigners are free to use either name,
"because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular". [27]
The country's official full name is the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" Pyidaunzu Thanmda Myma
Nainngandaw, pronounced: [pjdz mdaa mjm nd]). Countries that do not officially recognise that
name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead.[28][29]
In English, the country is popularly known as either "Burma" or "Myanmar" /mjnmr/.[7] Both these names are
i

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 (pronounced: [bm]) or Myamah (pronounced: [mjm]). The
name Burma has been in use in English since the 18th century.
Burma continues to be used in English by the governments of many countries, such as Canada and the United
Kingdom.[30][31] Official United States policy retains Burma as the country's name, although the State Department's
website lists the country as "Burma (Myanmar)" and Barack Obama has referred to the country by both names.[32][33]
[34]
The Czech Republic uses officially Myanmar, although its Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions both Myanmar and
Burma on its website.[35] The United Nations uses Myanmar, as do the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, Australia,[36] Russia, Germany,[37] China, India, Norway,[38] Japan[30] and Switzerland.[39]
Most English-speaking international news media refer to the country by the name Myanmar, including the BBC,
[40]
CNN,[41] Al Jazeera,[42] Reuters,[43] RT (Russia Today) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/Radio
Australia.[44][45]
Myanmar is known with a name deriving from Burma as opposed to Myanmar in Spanish, Italian, Romanian,
and Greek Birmania being the local version of Burma in the Spanish language, for example. Myanmar used to be
known as "Birmnia" in Portuguese, and as "Birmanie" in French.[46] Brazil, Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking
countries, as well as France and other French-speaking countries, now use mainly "Myanmar".[47]

History[edit]
Main article: History of Myanmar

Prehistory[edit]
Main articles: Prehistory of Myanmar and Migration period of ancient Burma

Pyu city-states c. 8th century; Pagan is shown for comparison only and is not contemporary.

Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000
years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago.[48][49] The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to
about 11,000 BC, in a Stone Age culture called the Anyathian with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar.
Evidence of neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to
sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BC has been discovered in the form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves.[50]
The Bronze Age arrived circa 1500 BC when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and
domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so. [51] Human remains and
artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Division.[52] The Iron Age began around
500 BC with the emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay.[53] Evidence also
shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings
as far as China between 500 BC and 200 AD.[54] Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources
such as India and Thailand, as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of
communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade. [55]

Early city-states[edit]
Main articles: Pyu city-states and Mon kingdoms
Around the second century BC the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were
founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states, the earliest inhabitants
of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan.[56][57] The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by
trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have
an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation. [58]
By the 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the
southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under
repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar
people founded a small settlement at Bagan. It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century
when it grew in authority and grandeur.[59]

Imperial Burma[edit]
Main articles: Pagan Kingdom, Taungoo Dynasty, and Konbaung Dynasty
See also: Ava Kingdom, Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Kingdom of Mrauk U, and Shan States

Pagodas and kyaungs in present-day Bagan, the capital of the Pagan Kingdom.
Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan
Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the
Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.[60] The Burmese
language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing
the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century.[61]
Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric, Mahayana, Hinduism, and folk
religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan
capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions (12771301) toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287. [61]

Temples at Mrauk U.

Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the
Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several
competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley.
The valley too was beset with petty states until the late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava
Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom, emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing
influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in
1437.
Early on, Ava fought wars of unification (13851424) but could never quite reassemble the lost empire. Having held
off Ava, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next
350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In
1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava itself, and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555.
Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and the Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars,
cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture. Burmese
literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes
as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged.[62] Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that
later spread to the rest of the country.[63] Many splendid temples of Mrauk U were built during this period.

Taungoo and colonialism[edit]

Bayinnaung's Empire in 1580.

Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, due to the efforts of Taungoo, a former vassal state of Ava.
Taungoo's young, ambitious king Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo
Hanthawaddy War (153441). His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast
Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na, Manipur, Mong Mao, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Lan Xang and southern
Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in
1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries
established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam).
The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored a smaller, more
manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar, Upper Myanmar, Shan states, Lan Na and
upper Tenasserim. The Restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features would
continue well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed
governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley, and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and
secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the
kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the
Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752,
ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty.

A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda shows British occupation during the First Anglo-Burmese War.

After the fall of Ava, the KonbaungHanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating
the Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759, he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur, and driven out the French
and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much
of Laos (1765) and fought and won the BurmeseSiamese War (176567) against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese
War (176569) against Qing China (17651769).[64]
With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770, and went on to capture
Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in a stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to
Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east,
King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-
largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India.[65]
The breadth of this empire was short lived. Burma lost Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim to the British in
the First Anglo-Burmese War (18241826). In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-
Burmese War. King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom, and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by
ceding the Karenni States. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of
the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.
Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms, and achieved unprecedented levels of
internal control and external expansion. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to
predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued,
aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females). [66]Nonetheless,
the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British
colonialism.

British Burma (18241948)[edit]

Main articles: British rule in Burma and Burma Campaign
Burma in British India[edit]
The landing of British forces in Mandalay after the last of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, which resulted in the abdication of the last
Burmese monarch, King Thibaw Min.

British troops firing a mortar on the Mawchi road, July 1944.

The eighteenth century saw Burmese rulers, whose country had not previously been of particular interest to
European traders, seek to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan.
Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the
same territory. Over the next sixty years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises continued until, after
three Anglo-Burmese Wars (18241885), Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma. [67] British rule brought
social, economic, cultural and administrative changes.
With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the
colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with
the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British
Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore.
Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Yangon (Rangoon) on occasion all
the way until the 1930s.[68] Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions
such as the British refusal to remove shoes when they entered pagodas. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of
the independence movement. U Wisara, an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike to protest
against a rule that forbade him from wearing his Buddhist robes while imprisoned. [69]
Partition of British Burma from British India[edit]
On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Great Britain and Ba Maw the first Prime
Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule and he opposed the
participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly
and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the Second World War, Aung San formed
the Burma Independence Army in Japan.
A major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II. By March 1942, within months after they entered
the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese
Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate's
British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.[70] A
similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders, followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943.[71] Beginning in late
1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles
were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in
Burma. Only 1,700 prisoners were taken.[72]
Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese,
mostly from the ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army.[73] The Burma National Army and the Arakan
National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Under
Japanese occupation, 170,000 to 250,000 civilians died.[74][75]
Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the
independence of Myanmar as a unified state. Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya
Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference negotiated with
Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of
the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals [76] assassinated Aung
San and several cabinet members.[77]

Independence (19481962)[edit]
Main article: Post-independence Burma, 194862

British governor Hubert Elvin Rance and Sao Shwe Thaik at the flag raising ceremony on 4 January 1948 (Independence Day of
Burma).

On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe
Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and
overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth. A bicameral parliament was formed,
consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities,[78] and multi-party elections were held in 1951
1952, 1956 and 1960.
The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement, which combined
Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been
administered separately by the British.[79]
In 1961, U Thant, then the Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Secretary
to the Prime Minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, a position he held for ten years.
[80]
Among the Burmese to work at the UN when he was Secretary-General was a young Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter
of Aung San), who went on to become winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
Thailand
Thailand (/talnd/ TY-land), officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the
centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately
513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), Thailand is the world's 50th-largest country. It is the 20th-most-populous country in the
world, with around 66 million people.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for
decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most
populous city is Bangkok. It is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to
the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of
Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast,
and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
The Thai economy is the world's 20th largest by GDP at PPP and the 27th largest by nominal GDP. It became
a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are
leading sectors of the economy.[13][14] It is considered a middle power in the region and around the world.[15]

Etymology
Thailand (/talnd/ TY-land or /talnd/ TY-lnd;[16] Thai: , RTGS: Prathet Thai, pronounced [pratt taj] (
listen)), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: , RTGS: Ratcha-anachak Thai [rtttaanattk taj] (
listen)), formerly known as Siam (Thai: , RTGS: Sayam [sajm]), is a country at the centre of the Indochinese
peninsula in Southeast Asia.

Etymology of "Siam"
The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens. By outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by
the exonym Siam (Thai: RTGS: Sayam, pronounced [sajm], also spelled Siem, Sym, or Syma).[citation needed] The
word Siam has been identified[by whom?] with the Sanskrit yma (, meaning "dark" or "brown"). The
names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word yma is possibly not its origin, but a
learned and artificial distortion.[clarification needed][17] Another theory is the name derives from Chinese: "Ayutthaya emerged
as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese
converted into Siam." (Baker and Phongpaichit, A History of Thailand, 8) A further possibility is that Mon-speaking
peoples migrating south called themselves 'syem' as do the autochthonous Mon-Khmer-speaking inhabitants of
the Malay Peninsula.[citation needed]

SPPM Mongkut Rex Siamensium, King Mongkut's signature

The signature of King Mongkut (r. 1851 1868) reads SPPM (Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha) Mongkut King of
the Siamese, giving the name "Siam" official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. [18] Thailand
was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it again reverted to Thailand.

Etymology of "Thailand"
According to George Cds, the word Thai () means "free man" in the Thai language, "differentiating the Thai
from the natives encompassed in Thai society as serfs."[19] A famous Thai scholar argued that Thai () simply means
"people" or "human being", since his investigation shows that in some rural areas the word "Thai" was used instead
of the usual Thai word "khon" () for people.[20]
While Thai people will often refer to their country using the polite form prathet Thai (Thai: ), they most
commonly use the more colloquial term mueang Thai (Thai: ) or simply Thai, the word mueang, archaically a
city-state, commonly used to refer to a city or town as the centre of a region. Ratcha Anachak Thai (Thai:
) means "kingdom of Thailand" or "kingdom of Thai". Etymologically, its components
are: ratcha (Sanskrit raja "king, royal, realm") ; -ana- (Pali "authority, command, power", itself from an Old Indo-
Aryan form j of the same meaning) -chak (from Sanskrit cakra- "wheel", a symbol of power and rule).
The Thai National Anthem (Thai: ), written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s,
refers to the Thai nation as: prathet Thai (Thai: ). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam
lueat nuea chat chuea thai (Thai: ), "Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh and blood."
Name
The "Kingdom of Thailand" is the official English name of the country.

History
Main article: History of Thailand
There is evidence of human habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present, with
stone artifacts dated to this period at Tham Lod Rockshelter in Mae Hong Son. Similar to other regions in Southeast
Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the Kingdom of
Funan around the 1st century CE to the Khmer Empire.[21] Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of
the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today.

The ruins of Wat Chaiwatthanaram at Ayutthaya

Indian influence on Thai culture was partly the result of direct contact with Indian settlers, but mainly it was brought
about indirectly via the Indianized kingdoms of Dvaravati, Srivijaya, and Cambodia.[22] E.A. Voretzsch believes that
Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya
Empire and far on into the first millennium after Christ.[22] Later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava
dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire.[22]
According to George Cds, "The Thai first enter history of Farther India in the eleventh century with the mention
of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in" Champa epigraphy, and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat"
where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam. Additionally, "the Mongols, after the seizure of Ta-li on January
7, 1253 and the pacification of Yunnan in 1257, did not look with disfavor on the creation of a series of Thai
principalities at the expense of the old Indianized kingdoms." The Menam Basin was originally populated by the
Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, followed by the Khmer Empire in the 11th. The History of
the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282. In 1287, three Thai chiefs, Mangrai, Ngam
Muang, and Ram Khamhaeng formed a "strong pact of friendship".[23]
After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century, various states thrived there, established by the various Tai
peoples, Mons, Khmers, Chams and Ethnic Malays, as seen through the numerous archaeological sites and
artefacts that are scattered throughout the Siamese landscape. Prior to the 12th century however, the first Thai or
Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist Sukhothai Kingdom, which was founded in 1238.
Following the decline and fall of the Khmer empire in the 13th15th century, the Buddhist Tai kingdoms of
Sukhothai, Lanna, and Lan Xang (now Laos) were on the rise. However, a century later, the power of Sukhothai was
overshadowed by the new Kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th century in the lower Chao Phraya
River or Menam area.
Ayutthaya's expansion centred along the Menam while in the northern valleys the Lanna Kingdom and other small
Tai city-states ruled the area. In 1431, the Khmer abandoned Angkor after Ayutthaya forces invaded the city.
[24]
Thailand retained a tradition of trade with its neighbouring states, from China to India, Persia, and Arab lands.
Ayutthaya became one of the most vibrant trading centres in Asia. European traders arrived in the early 16th
century, beginning with the envoy of Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511, followed by the French,
Dutch, and English. The BurmeseSiamese War (17651767) left Ayutthaya burned and sacked by
King Hsinbyushin Konbaung.
After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 to the Burmese, Taksin moved the capital to Thonburi for approximately 15 years.
The current Rattanakosin era of Thai history began in 1782 following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the
Chakri dynasty under King Rama I the Great. According to the Encyclopdia Britannica, "A quarter to a third of the
population of some areas of Thailand and Burma were slaves in the 17th through the 19th centuries."[25][26]

20th century
Territorial losses to western powers by year

Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation to never have been colonized. [27] This has
been ascribed to the long succession of able rulers in the past four centuries who exploited the rivalry and tension
between the French and British Empire. In 1896, Britain and France guaranteed of the Chao Phraya valley as
their buffer state (not the whole of Siam),[28] while the remaining parts of Southeast Asia were colonized by the
western powers. Western influence nevertheless led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions,
most notably the loss of a large territory on the east side of the Mekong to the French and the step-by-step
absorption by Britain of the Shan and Karen people areas and Malay Peninsula.
As part of the concessions which the Chakri dynasty offered to the British Empire in return for their support, Siam
ceded four predominantly ethnic-Malay southern provinces to the British Empire in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of
1909. These four provinces (Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis) would later became Malaysia's four northern
states.
In 1917, Siam joined the Allies of World War I and is counted as one of the victors of World War I. The bloodless
revolution took place in 1932 carried out by the Khana Ratsadon group of military and civilian officials resulted in a
transition of power, when King Prajadhipok was forced to grant the people of Siam their first constitution, thereby
ending centuries of absolute monarchy.
In 1939, the name of the kingdom, "Siam", was changed to "Thailand".

World War II
Main article: Thailand in World War II
During World War II, the Empire of Japan demanded the right to move troops across Thailand to the Malayan
frontier. The Japanese invasion on 8 December 1941 occurred in co-ordination with attacks throughout Asia and
engaged the Royal Thai Army for six to eight hours before Plaek Phibunsongkhram ordered an armistice. Shortly
thereafter, Japan was granted free passage, and on 21 December 1941, Thailand and Japan signed a military
alliance with a secret protocol, wherein Tokyo agreed to help Thailand regain territories lost to the British and
French.[29]
Subsequently, Thailand declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom on 25 January 1942, and
undertook to "assist" Japan in its war against the Allies, while at the same time maintaining an active anti-
Japanese Free Thai Movement. Approximately 200,000 Asian labourers (mainly romusha) and
60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the Burma Railway, which is commonly known as the "Death
Railway".[29]

Modern history
See also: History of Thailand (19321973) and History of Thailand since 1973
The history of Thailand from 1932 to 1973 was dominated by military dictatorships which were in power for much of
the period. The main personalities of the period were the dictator Luang Phibunsongkhram (better known as
Phibun), who allied the country with Japan during the Second World War, and the civilian politician Pridi
Phanomyong, who founded Thammasat University and was briefly the prime minister after the war.
A succession of military dictators followed Pridi's ousting Phibun again, Sarit Dhanarajata and Thanom
Kittikachorn under whom traditional, authoritarian rule was combined with
increasing modernisation and westernisation under the influence of the US. The end of the period was marked by
Thanom's resignation, following a massacre of pro-democracy protesters led by Thammasat students. Thanom
misread the situation as a coup d'tat, and fled, leaving the country leaderless. HM appointed Thammasat
University chancellor Sanya Dharmasakti PM by royal command.
Thailand helped the USA and South Vietnam in the Vietnam War between 19651971. The USAF based F-4
Phantom fighters at Udon and Ubon Air Base, and stationed B-52s at U-Tapao. Thai forces also saw heavy action in
the covert war in Laos that occurred from 1964 to 1972.
In 1973, there was a popular uprising which resulted in the end of the ruling military dictatorship of anti-
communist Thanom Kittikachorn and altered the Thai political system. Notably, it highlighted the growing influence of
Thai university students in politics.
For most of the 1980s, Thailand was ruled by prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda, a democratically-inclined[citation
needed]
strongman who restored parliamentary politics. Thereafter the country remained a democracy apart from a brief
period of military rule from 1991 to 1992. The populist Thai Rak Thai party, led by prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, governed from 2001 until 2006. In 2006 mass protests against the Thai Rak Thai party's alleged
corruption, prompted the military to stage a coup d'tat, in September. A general election in December 2007
restored a civilian government, but in May 2014 another military coup returned the absolute power to the army.
Indonesia
Indonesia ( /ndni/ IN-d-NEE-zh or /ndonizi/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-; Indonesian: [ndonesia]),[lacks stress] officially
i

the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rpublik ndonesia]),[lacks stress] is a unitary sovereign
state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated
between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand
islands.[10] At 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles), Indonesia is the world's 14th-largest country in
terms of land area and world's 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea and land area.[11] It has an estimated
population of over 260 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country, the most
populous Austronesian nation, as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country.[12] The world's most populous
island, Java, contains more than half of the country's population.
include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that
support the world's second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources
like oil and natural gas, tin, copper and gold. Agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal
plants, spices and rubber.[15] Indonesia's major trading partners are Japan, United States, China and the surrounding
countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century,
when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign
cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms
flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders
and Sufi scholars brought the now-dominant Islam,[16][17] while European powers brought Christianity and fought one
another to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half
centuries of Dutch colonialism starting from Amboina and Batavia, and eventually all of the archipelago
including Timor and Western New Guinea, at times interrupted by Portuguese, French and British rule,
Indonesia secured its independence after World War II.
Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct Indonesia's republican form of government includes an
elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status. Its
capital and country's most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the
second in Asia.[13][14] The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern
part of Malaysia. Other neighbouring countries native ethnic and linguistic groups, with the largestand politically
dominantethnic group being the Javanese. The population is unevenly spread throughout the islands within a
variety of habitats and levels of development, ranging from the megalopolis of Jakarta to uncontacted tribes in the
east.[18] A shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a
Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national
motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the
country. Indonesia's economy is the world's 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 7th largest by GDP at PPP, the
largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has
been a member of the United Nations since 1950.[b] Indonesia was an organizer of the Bandung Conference[19] and
was the founder of Non-Aligned Movement; and also the founding member of Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, East Asia Summit, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Indonesia
is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization.

History
Main article: History of Indonesia
Early history
A Borobudur ship carved on Borobudur Mahayana Buddhist temple, c. 800 CE. Indonesian outrigger boats may have made
trade voyages to the east coast of Africa as early as the 1st century CE. [26]

Fossils and the remains of tools show that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by Homo erectus, known as
"Java Man", between 1.5 million years ago and 35,000 years ago. [27][28][29] Homo sapiens reached the region by around
45,000 years ago.[30] Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to Southeast
Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and as they spread through the archipelago,
confined the indigenous Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions.[31]
Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the 8th century BCE,[32] allowed
villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the 1st century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position
fostered inter-island and international trade, including links with Indian kingdoms and China, which were established
several centuries BCE.[33] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[34][35]
From the 7th century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences
of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.[36] Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural
Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious
monuments such as Borobudur, Sewu and Prambanan. This period marked a renaissance of Hindu-Buddhist art in
ancient Java.[37]
Around the first quarter of the 10th century, the centre of the kingdom was shifted from Mataram area in Central
Java to Brantas River valley in East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty.[38]:128 Subsequently,
series of Javanese Hindu-Buddhist polities rise and fall, from Kahuripan kingdom ruled
by Airlangga to Kadiri and Singhasari. In West Java, Sunda Kingdom was re-established circa 1030 according
to Sanghyang Tapak inscription. In Bali, the Warmadewas established their rule on the Kingdom of Bali in the 10th
century. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada,
its influence stretched over much of Indonesia.[39]
Colonial era
The submission of Prince Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in 1830

Although Muslim traders first travelled through Southeast Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of
Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra.[40] Other Indonesian areas
gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For
the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the
predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.[41]
The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began in 1512, when Portuguese
traders, led by Francisco Serro, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.
[42]
Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and in
following decades, the Dutch gained foothold in Batavia and Amboina. Throughout 17th and 18th centuries, the
company became the dominant European power in the archipelago. [43]
Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established
the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony.[44] For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago
was tenuous outside of coastal strongholds; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was
to become Indonesia's current boundaries.[45] Japanese occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule,[46] and
encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. [47] Despite major internal political,
social and sectarian divisions during the National Revolution, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for
independence.
Modern era
Sukarno, the founding father and first President of Indonesia

A UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of famine and forced labour during the
Japanese occupation.[48] Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist
leader, declared independence and was appointed president.[49][50][51][52][incomplete short citation] The Netherlands tried to
reestablish their rule, and an armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of
international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence [50][53] (with the exception of the Dutch
territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated into Indonesia following the 1962 New York Agreement, and
the UN-mandated Act of Free Choice of 1969).[54]
Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing
the opposing forces of the military and the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI).[55] An
attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, which led a violent anti-communist purge,
during which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. [56][57][58] Large-scale killings took place which
targeted communists, ethnic Chinese and alleged leftists. The most widely accepted estimates are that between
500,000 and one million people were killed, with some estimates as high as two to three million. [59][60][61]
The head of the military, General Suharto, outmaneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno and was formally
appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration[62] was supported by the US government,[63][64][65] and
encouraged foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of
substantial economic growth. However, the authoritarian "New Order" was widely accused of corruption and
suppression of political opposition.[66][67][68]
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the late 1990s Asian financial crisis.[69] This increased popular discontent
with the New Order and led to popular protest across the country. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.[70] In 1999, East
Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international
condemnation of repression of the East Timorese. [71]
Since Suharto's resignation, a strengthening of democratic processes has included a regional autonomy program,
and the first direct presidential election in 2004, which was won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who went on to win
a second term in 2009. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism slowed progress;
however, in the last five years the economy has performed strongly. Although relations among different religious and
ethnic groups are largely harmonious, sectarian discontent and violence have persisted. [72] A political settlement to
an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[73]

Geography
Main article: Geography of Indonesia

Puncak Jaya in Papua, the highest summit in Indonesia and Oceania.

Indonesia lies between latitudes 11S and 6N, and longitudes 95E and 141E. It is the largest archipelagic
country in the world, extending 5,120 kilometres (3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from
north to south.[74] According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010 by National Coordinating
Agency for Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal), Indonesia has 13,466 islands,[75] about 6,000 of which are inhabited.
[10]
These are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Brunei
and Malaysia), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with
Malaysia on Borneo, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of Timor.
Indonesia shares maritime borders across narrow straits with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines,
and Palau to the north, and with Australia to the south. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest
city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.[76]
Indonesia average population density is 134 people per square kilometre (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world,
[77]
although Java, the world's most populous island,[78] has a population density of 940 people per square kilometre
(2,435 per sq mi).

Mount Semeru and Mount Bromo in East Java. Indonesia contains the most volcanoes in the world.[79]

At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra its
largest lake, with an area of 1,145 km2 (442 sq mi). Indonesia's largest rivers are in Kalimantan, and include
the Mahakam and Barito; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.
[80]

Indonesia's location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of
numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes,
[81]
including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. The eruption of
the Toba supervolcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and a global
catastrophe. Recent disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 167,736 in
northern Sumatra,[82] and the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. However, volcanic ash is a major contributor to the
high agricultural fertility that has historically sustained the high population densities of Java and Bali. [83]
Climate
Main article: Climate of Indonesia

Typical Indonesian rainforest, mostly found in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Lying along the equator, Indonesia's climate tends to be relatively even year-round.[84] Indonesia has two seasons
a wet season and a dry seasonwith no extremes of summer or winter.[85] For most of Indonesia, the dry season
falls between April and October with the wet season between November and March. [85] Indonesia's climate is almost
entirely tropical, dominated by the Tropical rainforest climate found in every major island of Indonesia, followed by
the Tropical monsoon climate that predominantly lies along Java's coastal north, Sulawesi's coastal south and east,
and Bali, and finally the tropical Savanna climate, found in isolated locations of Central Java, lowland East Java,
coastal southern Papua and smaller islands to the east of Lombok. However, cooler climate types do exist in
mountainous regions of Indonesia 1,300 to 1,500 metres (4,300 to 4,900 feet) above sea level. The oceanic climate
(Kppen Cfb) prevail in highland areas with fairly uniform precipitation year-round, adjacent to rainforest climates,
while the subtropical highland climate (Kppen Cwb) exist in highland areas with a more pronounced dry season,
adjacent to tropical monsoon and savanna climates.

Rinca, Lesser Sunda Islands. The islands closest to Australia, including Nusa Tenggara and the eastern tip of Java tend to be
dry.

Some regions, such as Kalimantan and Sumatra, experience only slight differences
in rainfall and temperature between the seasons, whereas others, such as Nusa Tenggara, experience far more
pronounced differences with droughts in the dry season, and floods in the wet. Rainfall in Indonesia is plentiful,
particularly in West Sumatra, West Kalimantan, West Java, and Papua. Parts of Sulawesi and some islands closer
to Australia, such as Sumba is drier. The almost uniformly warm waters that make up 81% of Indonesia's area
ensure that temperatures on land remain fairly constant. The coastal plains averaging 28 C (82.4 F), the inland
and mountain areas averaging 26 C (78.8 F), and the higher mountain regions, 23 C (73.4 F). The area's
relative humidity ranges between 70 and 90%.
Winds are moderate and generally predictable, with monsoons usually blowing in from the south and east in June
through October and from the northwest in November through March. Typhoons and large scale storms pose little
hazard to mariners in Indonesia waters; the major danger comes from swift currents in channels, such as
the Lombok and Sape straits.