In Burmese, “Burma” and “Myanmar” are interchangeably used. The formal written appellation is Myan-ma ( while the colloquial form is Ba-ma . Consonantal elisions (from m > b and vice versa) are quite common in other Burmese words.

In English, the country’s foreign language name was changed from “Union of Burma” to “Union of Myanmar” by the 1989 Adaptation of Expressions Law by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the military junta that declared martial law and seized power from Ne Win’s ‘socialist’ government. There are 2 major reasons for the name change:

To establish a national identity among the country’s many ethnic groups. The government launched a propaganda campaign relegate “Burma” to exclusive status (inclusive of only the majority Burmans) and “Myanmar” as inclusive (inclusive of the majority Burmans and ethnic minorities). In reality, the Burmese forms for both “Burma” and “Myanmar” had historically been used in relation to the Burmans.

To further excise British colonial influences from the country’s place names, since Burma was first spelled as such by the British (i.e., British spellings for major Burmese towns were also changed. Rangoon became Yangon, Moulmein became Mawlamyine, etc.). This is comparable to actions taken by other former colonies, such as India’s name change of Bombay to Mumbai.

For further reading, check out Chapter 2 of Gustaaf Houtman’s Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics (1999). It provides excellent context and an in-depth analysis of the name change.