I’m Rick Johnson, after traveling in and out of South East Asia for many years, one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “Where is Burma?” Could you find Burma on a map? The first time I became interested in traveling to Burma I would not have been able to either. If you look at a globe, you may be surprised by what you see.
Tucked away in the Bay of Bengal, Burma is one of the largest nations in Southeast Asia. At about 262,000 square miles it is approximately the size of Texas. It shares borders with Bangladesh, India, China, Laos, and Thailand. Located between the 9th and 29th northern parallels, Burma hosts a diverse landscape which includes jungles, mountains, forest, arid farmland and beaches.
The mountain ranges that run north and south are connected to the world-famous Himalayas. Hkakabo Razi, fondly nicknamed “The Ice Mountain” near the borders with China and India, rises nearly 20,000 feet, making it the highest peak in Burma (and higher than every mountain in America, except Alaska’s Denali).
The Irrawaddy, Salween, and Sittaung rivers, situated in Burma’s mountain valleys, feed rich plains. The Irrawaddy, at 1,348 miles (comparable to the Red River in the United States), is Burma’s longest river.
So, the next time Burma comes up in a Geography Bee, we want you to be the winner. I’m Rick Johnson, and we will attempt to answer more questions about Burma in the coming weeks.