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During the reign of Anawratha (1044-1077), Burman influence expanded throughout much of present-day Myanmar.
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By 849, they had established a powerful kingdom centered on Pagan. The Burmans, or Bamar, began migrating to the Ayeyarwady valley from present-day Tibet sometime prior to the 800s. The Pyu re-established themselves, but in the mid 800s were invaded by the Nanzhao kingdom. The most powerful Pyu kingdom was Sri Ksetra, which was subsequently abandoned in 656. The Pyu arrived in the 1st century BC and established several city kingdoms which traded with India and China. The Mon people are thought to be the earliest group to migrate into the lower Ayeyarwady valley, and by the mid 900s were dominant in southern Burma. Pagodas and temples continue to exist in present-day Bagan, which was capital of the Pagan Kingdom. CNN, The Economist, and The New York Times use "Myanmar" as the country name and "Burmese" as the adjective. Major news organisations such as the BBC, Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times as well as Western governments, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom, still officially refer to the country as Burma. Burmese remains the most commonly used adjective. The English-speaking world has been slow in accepting the name change usage of Burma is still common. This stance has also been adopted by most Burmese who oppose the military regime, but who do not necessarily dispute the semantics. Because the military junta was not legitimately elected, some governments have contended that it did not have the authority to officially change the name in English. The renaming proved to be politically controversial. However, the official name of the country in the Burmese language, Myanmar, did not change, though this is often rendered in English as Myanma. In 1989, the military junta officially changed the English version of its name from Burma to Myanmar, along with changes to the English versions of many place names in the country, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon. "Bamar" is more specifically the official name of a person from the majority Burman ethnic group. It is also the official name of the residents or citizens of Myanmar (written without the final "r" when used as an adjective, as in "the Myanma people"). This name was used as early as the 12th century, but its etymology remains unclear. The name "Myanmar" is derivative from the local short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw. The country's culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on a unique form of Buddhism intertwined with local elements. Part of the British Empire until 1948, Myanmar continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions and overcome coups d'état. Its political system remains under the tight control of the State Peace and Development Council, the military government led by Senior General Than Shwe since 1992. Myanmar's diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times. One-third of Myanmar's total perimeter, 1,930 km (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline. Also known as Burma or the Union of Burma by bodies and states which do not recognize the ruling military junta, it is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. Subsequent name changes were on 4 January 1974 to the “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” 23 Septmber 1988 to the “Union of Burma” and, since 18 June 1989, the “Union of Myanmar”. On 4 January 1948 Burma achieved independence from Great Britain as the “Union of Burma”. Myanmar, officially the Union of Myanmar (pronounced ) is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. 1Estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.