Why it is called not only Myanmar but also Burma

Question

Why it is called not only Myanmar but also Burma

Answer 1

it USED to be Burma as far as I know...

Answer 2

The country of Myanmar has had several names over the centuries.  It use to be Burma when it was still a British colony.  When it gained its independence, it changed its name to Myanmar to reflect that it was a new and free country.

Answer 3

Summary

After the First Burmese War, the Ava kingdom ceded the provinces of Manipur, Tenassarim, and Arakan to the British.[21] Rangoon and southern Burma were incorporated into British India in 1853. All of Burma came directly or indirectly under British India in 1886 after the Third Burmese War and the fall of Mandalay.[21] Burma was administered as a province of British India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony. The country became independent from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948, as the "Union of Burma". It became the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" on 4 January 1974, before reverting to the "Union of Burma" on 23 September 1988. On 18 June 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) adopted the name "Union of Myanmar" for English transliteration. This controversial name change in English, while accepted in the UN and in many countries, is not recognised by opposition groups and by nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States[22

Answer 4

Here's my question for those who call it "Myanmar," and not Burma.

In English, we have common English words for many foreign places.  What people in Rangoon might call "Myanmar," we call Burma.  People in Peking call their country "Chung Kuo," but we know it as China.  Japan is Japan when you're writing in English, not "Nippon."

Brazil is spelled with a "z" in English, not with an "s."  Italy is with a "y" in English, not "Italia."  To us it's Russia, not "Rossiya."  Before that, it was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, not "Soyuz Sovietskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik."

What is it about Burma that makes a few English writers change over to style it as though they were now Burmese?  Is it to show off their erudition?  Are they showing solidarity with the Rangoon regime?  What's wrong with the English word "Burma" when writing in English?

Answer 5

Many British colonies have English names along with the native names. When it was a colony it went by the British name now that most of these colonies are back to native control they use native language names.  Like most of the map of Africa had names like the Belgian Congo, or Portuguese Angola now they got African names and nobody can remember half of them anymore.