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Environment &
Wildlife
A bit bigger than France and slightly smaller than Texas, Myanmar cov-
ers 261,228 sq miles. It borders (clockwise from the west) Bangladesh,
India, Tibet, China, Laos and Thailand, with 1199 miles of coastline fac-
ing the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Within the country’s bor-
ders is extraordinary diversity, a slice of almost every habitat but desert.
From frozen alpine country to steamy jungles, blushing coral reefs to
open grasslands, you name it, Myanmar’s got it. Scientists continue to
discover new species here, but at the same time, the country’s lack of
environmental standards is killing off many others.Geography
Myanmar’s south is similar to Malaysia and its north to northern India
or China. The centre is an overlap of the two, producing ‘zones’ whose
uniqueness is manifest in the scenery and creatures that hop around in it.
The area southwest of Yangon is a vast delta region notable for its
production of rice. Paddy fi elds are also an ever-present feature of Myan-
mar’s central broad, fl at heartland, known as the ‘dry zone’ for its lack
of rain. This area is surrounded by protective mountain and hill ranges.
Most notable are the rugged Kachin Hills, which serve as the fi rst steps
into the Himalaya to the north; Hkakabo Razi, on the Tibetan border,
which at 19,295ft is Southeast Asia’s highest mountain; and Mt Victoria
(Nat Ma Taung), west of Bagan in Chin State, which rises to 10,016ft.
Three major rivers – fed by monsoon downpours and melted Himala-
yan snows from Nepal and India – cut north to south through the coun-
try. The 1240-mile-long Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, one of Asia’s most
navigable big rivers, feeds much of the country’s rice fi elds. It connects
lower Myanmar (based around Yangon) with upper Myanmar (around
Mandalay). North of Mandalay, the Chindwin River connects the hills
to the north, while the Thanlwin (Salween) River leads from China to
the Gulf of Mottama, through Myanmar’s east. Also, the Mekong River
passes by on the short border with Laos.Flora & Fauna
Myanmar, which sits on a transition zone between the plants and crea-
tures of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan
highlands, is a biodiversity hotspot. However, the troubled politics of the
country over the last century have made it diffi cult for researchers to
gain an accurate picture of the current state of the country’s wildlife.Animals
When Marco Polo wroteabout Myanmar in the 13th century, he de-
scribed ‘vast jungles teeming with elephants, unicorns and other wildOne end of
the 1860-mile-
long Himalaya
mountain chain,
formed when
the Indian and
Eurasian tectonic
plates collided
140 million years
ago, extends
to Myanmar’s
Kachin State.According to the
Asean Centre
for Biodiversity
(www.asean
biodiversity.org),
Myanmar is home
to 300 species
of mammal, 400
species of reptile
and around 1000
bird species.