BSR | Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar 11 3. Country Context 3.1 MYANMAR Myanmar (officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and also known as Burma) is bordered by India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, and China. Recent assessments, including the country’s 2014 census, estimate the country’s population to be around 50 million to 55 million. Myanmar’s capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon. Myanmar was granted independence as a democratic nation in 1948. Following a coup d'état in 1962, Myanmar became a military dictatorship under the Burma Socialist Program Party. A new constitution was introduced in 2008 forming a unitary parliamentary republic, and the military junta was officially dissolved and replaced by a nominally civilian government following a 2010 general election. However, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the previous 1990 elections but was never allowed to take power, decided not to participate. The first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990 took place in November 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD won an absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament, enough to ensure that the NLD’s candidate would become president. However, Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency, so she adopted the newly-created position of state counsellor instead. While the president of Myanmar (Win Myint) is the de jure head of state and head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi is considered the de facto head of government. The next elections are expected to take place in 2020. The military retains significant power in Myanmar, despite these reforms. The commander-in-chief appoints 25 percent of members in all legislative assemblies and directly appoints ministers in the Ministry of Defense (which in turn controls Myanmar Armed Forces and Myanmar Economic Corporation, the largest economic corporation in Myanmar), the Ministry of Border Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Myanmar is ethnically diverse, with 68 percent Bamar, 9 percent Shan, 7 percent Karen, 4 percent Rakhine, 2 percent Mon, and 5 percent others. Nearly 88 percent of Myanmar is Buddhist, 6 percent Christian, and 5 percent Islamic.11 For most of its independent years, Myanmar has experienced ethnic strife and one of the world's longest-running civil wars. Myanmar is rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources. Myanmar has a gross domestic product (GDP) of nearly US$331 billion (54th in the world), and a GDP per capita of around US$6,300 (162nd in the world).12 Around 70 percent of Myanmar’s labor force works in agriculture, 23 11 12 CIA, 2018. Ibid.