Burma Issues - Ethnic Diversity

Burma is a culturally diverse country, and home to many ethnic groups with unique cultures, languages, histories and traditions. The military government alone recognizes more than one hundred and thirty ethnic groups in Burma, most of which are concentrated in areas along the country's borders with Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand. Since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, many ethnic groups have sought increased autonomy from the central government, often leading to civil war. Decades of conflict between the government and dozens of armed rebel groups have scarred both the land and the cultural landscape of the country. Ongoing military offensives against ethnic groups in Karen and Shan States have also forced hundreds of thousands to flee into refugee camps along Burma's borders with Thailand and China, while in other areas of the country even more people have become internally displaced or fled to neighboring countries.