Myanmar (also known as Burma) is the northwesternmost country of Mainland Southeast Asia. The size is 261,228 mi (676,580 km) which makes it the second largest country in Southeast Asia and the largest on Mainland Southeast Asia. The kite-shaped country stretches from 10'N to 20'N for 1,275 mi (2,052 km) with a long tail running along the westcoast of the Malay Peninsula.
Myanmar lies along the Indian and Eurasian plates, to the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau. The Bay of Bengal is to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea is to the south. Nearly half of the land is mountainous forming a horseshoe around the central lowlands. The Arakan Mountains are on the west and the Shan Hills dominate the east. The central valley follows the Irrawaddy River. The basin has around 39.5 million people and the largest city Yangon. There are 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. It is near major shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean. There was a silk road from the Bay of Bengal to China. The neighboring countries are China in the north, India and Bangladesh to the west, Laos and Thailand to the east.