MLC Transcription System in the context of "Chin State"

The culture of Myanmar (Burma) (Burmese: မြန်မာ့ယဉ်ကျေးမှု, MLCTS: /mianma yinykye:hmu/ ) has been heavily influenced by Buddhism. Owing to its history, Burmese culture has significant influence over neighboring countries such as Laos, Siam, Assam in India, and Xishuangbanna regions in China. It has also been influenced in various ways by its neighbours.

Since the fall of the Konbaung dynasty to the British in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, British colonial rule and westernisation have altered various aspects of Myanmar culture. Today, Myanmar's culture is characterized by the rich diversity of its ethnic groups, each contributing to a unique cultural identity, combined with its potent body of national characters that came into development over the millennia of monarchical history.

Rakhine State (/rəˈkaɪn/ rə-KYN; Burmese: ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်, MLCTS: ra.hkuing pranynai, pronounced [jəkʰàiɰ̃ pjìnɛ̀]; Rakhine pronunciation: [ɹəkʰàiɰ̃ pɹènè]), formerly known as Arakan State, is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. The north–south Arakan Mountains or Rakhine Yoma separate Rakhine State from central Myanmar. Off the coast of Rakhine State there are some fairly large islands such as Ramree, Cheduba and Myingun. Rakhine State has an area of 36,762 square kilometres (14,194 sq mi) and its capital is Sittwe (formerly known as Akyab).

As of November 2025, the Arakan Army which is the armed wing of the ethnic Rakhine, maintains de facto control over approximately 90 percent of the state, including 14 of its 17 townships.

The State of Burma (Burmese: ဗမာနိုင်ငံတော်, MLCTS: ba.ma nuingngamtau; Japanese: ビルマ國, Biruma-koku) was a Japanese puppet state established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II.

The Burmese alphabet (Burmese: မြန်မာအက္ခရာ, MLCTS: mranma akkhara, pronounced [mjəmà ʔɛʔkʰəjà]) is an abugida used for writing Burmese, based on the Mon–Burmese script. It is ultimately adapted from a Brahmic script, either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabet of South India. The Burmese alphabet is also used for the liturgical languages of Pali and Sanskrit. In recent decades, other, related alphabets, such as Shan and modern Mon, have been restructured according to the standard of the Burmese alphabet (see Mon–Burmese script). Burmese orthography is deep, with an indirect spelling-sound correspondence between graphemes (letters) and phonemes (sounds), due to its long and conservative written history and voicing rules.

Burmese is written from left to right and requires no spaces between words, although modern writing usually contains spaces after each clause to enhance readability and to avoid grammatical complications. There are several systems of transliteration into the Latin alphabet; for this article, the MLC Transcription System is used.

Myeik (Burmese: မြိတ်, MLCTS: mrit, pronounced [mjeɪʔ] or [beɪʔ]; Mon: ဗိက်, [pòik]; Thai: มะริด, RTGS: Marit, [má(ʔ).rít]; formerly Mergui, /mɜːrˈɡwiː/) is a rural city in Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar, located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of the Andaman Sea. As of 2010, the estimated population was over 209,000. Myeik is the largest city in Tanintharyi Region, and serves as the regional headquarters of the Myanmar Navy's Tanintharyi Regional Command. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into Thailand. The Singkhon Pass, also known as the Maw-daung Pass, has an international cross-border checkpoint.

Yangon Region (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး, MLCTS: rankun tuing desa. kri:, pronounced [jàɰ̃ɡòʊɰ̃ táɪɰ̃ dèθa̰ dʑí]; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in central Myanmar, the region is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, and Ayeyarwady Region to the west. Yangon Region is dominated by its capital city of Yangon, the former national capital and the largest city in the country. Other important cities are Thanlyin and Twante. The division is the most developed region of the country and the main international gateway. The division measures 10,170 km (3,930 sq mi).

The Chin peoples (Burmese: ချင်းလူမျိုး, MLCTS: hkyang: lu. myui:, pronounced [tɕɪ́ɰ̃ lù mjó]) are collection of ethnic groups native to the Chin State, Myanmar that speak the Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages, which are closely related but mutually unintelligible. The Chin identity, as a pan-ethnic identity, is a modern construction, shaped by British rule, Christian missionary influence, and post-independence ethnic politics that has built upon older tribal and regional identities.

Taunggyi (Burmese: တောင်ကြီးမြို့, MLCTS: taung kri: mrui. [tàʊɰ̃dʑí mjo̰]) is the capital and largest city of Shan State, Myanmar (Burma); and lies on the Thazi-Kyaingtong road at an elevation of 4,712 feet (1,436 m), just north of Shwenyaung and Inle Lake within the Myelat region. Taunggyi is the fifth largest city of Myanmar. The city is famous for its hot air balloon festival held annually on the full-moon day of Tazaungmon, the eighth month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Taunggyi is colloquially regarded as Myanmar's City of Music, famous for its live music heritage, diverse music culture, numerous festivals, and commitment to nurturing local talent and the music industry.

Monywa (Burmese: မုံရွာမြို့, MLCTS: muṃ rwa mrui.; pronounced [mòʊɰ̃jwà mjo̰]) is a city in Sagaing Region, Myanmar, located 136 kilometres (85 mi) north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the River Chindwin. Monywa is one of the most economically important cities in Myanmar. It is also known as 'Neem City' because many of the city's streets are lined with neem trees.