Burma is Myanmar not Burma

It’s one thing to complain about anther country. It’s quite another to call it by the wrong name.

The United Nations accepted name for the country between Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh is Myanmar. Not Burma. Even Wikipedia gets it right – it appears that Myanmar is the formal name, used since the 13th century.

The BBC has a great article on the issue, which helpfully points to Iran (Persia),  Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) and Cambodia (Kampuchea) as other countries that have had a relatively recent name change. And yes – expat Iranians like to refer to their country as Persia, which has fascinating rings of antiquity, but is clearly not the right name for publication in serious media.

Fight the right battle, and stay away from these despicable Republican tactics.