Re: 100,000 monks/citizens protest military junta in Myanmar
[ QUOTE ]
Actually, the Burmese call it Burma too (or that's what I've been told).
"Myanmar" is a way for the dominant ethnic group to claim the whole country (kinda like renaming all of Great Britain England and telling the Scots and Welsh to stick it). That was never the name for the entire country, just one part of it.
[/ QUOTE ]
You have this backwards. From wiki: [ QUOTE ]
The Bamar also called Burman), are the dominant ethnic group of Myanmar, constituting approximately 68% (30,000,000) of the population...The Bamar are frequently called simply Burmese, but this term is ambiguous as it can also refer to a citizen of Myanmar who belongs to a different ethnic group (Karen, Shan, Kachin, Mon, etc.). The military junta uses the term "Myanmar" to describe persons of all ethnic backgrounds in Myanmar.
[/ QUOTE ]
edit: Your critique is more appropriate for Thailand and Laos where the citizens are primarily ethnic Thai and Lao respectively despite large minorities in both countries.
|