Geomorphology

Myanmar uniquely is on the boundary of three tectonic plates, the India plate, the Burma-micro plate, and the Sunda plate.  This has caused the geological evolution of the country to be highly dependent on tectonic events over the course of millions of years.  While these plates have been moving for millions of years, the past 145 million years have been the most impactful on the creation of the Myanmar we see today.  During the Cretaceous Period, between 145 and 66 million years ago, the India Plate began to move north - this initial movement would lay the groundwork for future plate tectonic events.

In the Cenozoic Era, roughly 55 to 10 million years ago, a continent-to-continent collision took place between the India and Eurasia Plate.  This lead to the Himalayan Orogeny - an ongoing event that continues to this day changing the landscape in Southeast Asia. During this time frame the Burma Plate rotated clockwise to accommodate the major collision that was taking place.  See Images B, C, and D below to see what this would have looked like.

Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/The_Geological_Evolution_of_Myanmar.png/675px-The_Geological_Evolution_of_Myanmar.png

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Myanmar

http://www.gsm.org.my/products/702001-101352-PDF.pdf

http://myanmar-preview.iwmi.org/sites/default/files/Documents/regional_geology_of_myanmar.pdf

Economic Development

Myanmar's economic development since British rule has been extremely erratic.  Originally, under British rule Myanmar (then Burma) was the second-wealthiest country in South-East Asia.  This is misleading, however, as the majority of the wealth brought in to the country remained in the hands of the Europeans in charge and very little made it to the native people of Myanmar.  One of the greatest exports that the country has had, throughout its history, has been rice.  In the first half of the year in 2018 the country had earned just under $220 Million USD from exporting nearly 638,468 tons of rice.  This continues to be a major economical driver for the country.

Image Source: https://rove.me/to/myanmar-burma/rice-harvest

Myanmar also has a large variety of gems, minerals, and ore that provide the country with an economic boost as well.  Precious stones such as rubies, sapphires, pearls, and jade are among some of the more valuable gems from the country.  Rubies, however, are the largest export - nearly 90% of the worlds rubies come from Myanmar.  These rubies were formed by an Eocene-Oligocene extinction event, which took place about 34 million years ago.  This event was one of the largest extinctions of marine invertebrates in the ocean and of fauna in Europe and Asia.

Although the country has many large and valuable exports it remains one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia to this day.  Years of mismanagement and isolation, as well as a lack of adequate infrastructure have prevented the country from further economic development.




Sources:

http://elevenmyanmar.com/business/14301
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07463
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Myanmar

A Brief History

The country of Myanmar has had a tumultuous history.  For decades the country was ruled by the British government and was known worldwide as Burma.  As in many examples of Colonialism (when one country or nation controls another for economic gain), the British rule was not kind to the local populace.  The country was ruled for over 100 years, from 1824 to 1948.  During that time, Burma produced 75 percent of the world's teak and the southern portions of the country became one of the largest rice exporting regions.  All the natural resources of the country were exploited with very little compensation for the native people.

Image Source: https://www.mapsland.com/maps/asia/burma/large-detailed-political-and-administrative-map-of-burma-(myanmar)-with-roads-railroads-and-major-cities-1991.jpg

One would hope that with the end of British colonialism in 1948, when the nation became and independent republic named the Union of Burma, that the exploited country would be able to recover.  However, independence would only last for 24 years, when in 1962 the military led a coup d'état - which led to the country being under either direct or indirect control of the military ever since.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_rule_in_Burma#From_the_Japanese_surrender_to_Aung_San's_assassination

http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Myanmar/sub5_5a/entry-3007.html#chapter-4