TatmadawThe Tatmadaw (, taʔmədɔ̀, Grand Army) is the military of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar Police Force, the Border Guard Forces, the Myanmar Coast Guard, and the People's Militia Units. Since independence in 1948, the Tatmadaw has faced significant ethnic insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states.
Shan peopleThe Shan people (တႆး; táj, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ʃán lùmjó), also known as the Tai Long or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in the Shan State of this country, but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, Kayah State, Sagaing Region and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China (Dai people), Laos, Assam and Meghalaya (Ahom people), Cambodia (Kula people), Vietnam and Thailand.
Irrawaddy RiverThe Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , ʔèjàwədì mjɪʔ, from Indic revatī, meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady Region into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about covers a large part of Burma.
Endonym and exonymAn endonym (also known as autonym) is a common, native name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate themselves, their homeland, or their language. An exonym (also known as xenonym) is an established, non-native name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language or dialect, meaning that it is used only outside the particular place inhabited by the group or linguistic community.
MogaungMogaung (မိုးကောင်း móɡáʊɰ̃; (Shan: မိူင်းၵွင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line. Mongkawng Mogaung or Möngkawng was the name and capital (royal seat) of a relatively major one of the petty Shan (ethnic Tai) principalities. It was ruled by a saopha (Burmese: sawbwa; Shan-prince of the highest rank), since that state was founded (according to legend in 58BC, under the ritual name Udiri Pale), interrupted by Chinese imperial occupations in 1479–1483 and 1495 and Burmese occupations in 1651–1742 and 1771–1775 until its annexation in 1796 by the Ava-based kingdom of Burma.
Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous PrefectureThe Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is located in western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, and is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of the province, bordering Baoshan to the east and Burma's Kachin State to the west. Tai Nuea is the origin language of the word "Dehong", in Tai Le script (the script used to write the Tai Nüa language by the Tai Nua people) is written as "ᥖᥬᥳ ᥑᥨᥒᥰ", which transliterates to Latin as "Taue Xoong". Dehong means the lower reaches of the Nu River.
Ledo RoadThe Ledo Road (လီဒိုလမ်းမ) (from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China) was an overland connection between India and China, built during World War II to enable the Western Allies to deliver supplies to China and aid the war effort against Japan. After the Japanese cut off the Burma Road in 1942 an alternative was required, hence the construction of the Ledo Road. It was renamed the Stilwell Road, after General Joseph Stilwell of the U.S. Army, in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek.
Wa peopleThe Wa people (Wa: Vāx; ဝလူမျိုး, wa̰ lùmjóʊ; ; ว้า) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in Northern Myanmar, in the northern part of Shan State and the eastern part of Kachin State, near and along Myanmar's border with China, as well as in China's Yunnan Province. Historically, the Wa have inhabited the Wa States, a territory that they have claimed as their ancestral land since time immemorial. It is a rugged mountainous area located between the Mekong and the Salween River, with the Nam Hka flowing across it.
