Is it Myanmar or is it Burma? This is a question I found most travelers asking when planning a trip to a country whose borders had been closed for years past. Politicians, most travelers and British for sure, seem to believe the correct name is Burma. Though this seems like the easy answer, the answer isn’t as simple as choosing a name.
After getting out of the south and heading north to the Shan state, I started to understand Myanmar a little better. The country itself is split into seven states, and while the majority of the country are ethnically Burmese, differing states have differing roots. Those in the Shan state, for example, speak a different language and are not ethnically Burmese. They prefer the name Myanmar because it encompasses all the people within the country, not just the Burmese.
