Burmese language

The Burmese language (မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: myanma bhasa, [bəmà bàðà]) is the official language of Myanmar. Although the Constitution of Myanmar officially recognizes the English name of the language as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese.

Burmese is spoken as a first language by 32 million, primarily the Bamar people and related sub-ethnic groups, and as a second language by 10 million, particularly ethnic minorities in Myanmar and neighboring countries like the Mon.

Burmese is a tonal, pitch-register, and syllable-timed language, largely monosyllabic and analytic language, with a subject–object–verb word order. It is a member of the Lolo-Burmese grouping of the Sino-Tibetan language family.

The Burmese alphabet is thought to be derived from the Mon script, but in any case is descended from Pallava, one of the Brahmic scripts that was adopted and adapted by various Southeast Asian languages (Khmer, Thai, Lao) due to Indian influence.

South Asia

South Asia or Southern Asia is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, for some authorities, adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably.

The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. In addition, with deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Mauritius, and the Tibet Autonomous Region are included as well. South Asia is home to well over one fifth of the world's population, making it both the most populous and the most densely populated geographical region in the world. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia.

Arakan Mountains

The Arakan Mountains (Arakan Range, Rakhine Range, Rakhine Yoma , Arakan Yoma, Rakhine Roma, Arakan Roma; Burmese: ရခိုင်ရိုးမ) is a mountain range in western Burma (Myanmar), between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Burma Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is the most prominent of a series of parallel ridges that arc through Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Burma. The Arakan Mountains run from Cape Negrais in the south in to the Manipur State of India in the north. They include the Naga Hills, the Chin Hills, and the Patkai range which includes the Lushai Hills. These mountains are submerged in Bay of Bengal for sufficiently long stretch and emerges again in the form of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Geology and formation

The Arakan Mountains and the parallel arcs to the west and east were formed by compression as the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate approximately along the boundary between India and Nepal.

High points

The Arakan Mountain Range is over 600 miles (950 km) long, with about 250 miles (400 km) of actual mountains. The highest point in the range is Nat Ma Taung (or Mount Victoria) at 3,094 metres (10,151 ft).