Bamar
Total population	c. 30,000,000
Regions with significant populations	Myanmar
Language	Burmese
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups	Yi, Nakhi, Tibetans and to a lesser extent Bodo and Karen

The Bamar (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ba. ma lu. myui:; IPA: [bəmàː], also called Burman), are the dominant ethnic group of Myanmar, constituting approximately 68% (30,000,000) of the population. However, there is some speculation that the government has slightly inflated this figure. Furthermore, a reliable census has not been taken in over a century, and figures are based on estimates. The Bamar usually have straight black hair, and a darker skin tone (although intermixing makes skin tone vary). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2048x1536, 1347 KB) Burmese girl painted with thanaka. ... Theravada (Pali; Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty) Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of Buddhism. ... The Yi people (own name in the Cool Mountain dialect: ꆈꌠ, official transcription: Nuosu, IPA: [nɔ̄sÅ«]; Chinese: 彝族, Pinyin: Yìzú; the older name Lolo is now considered derogatory in China, though used officially in Vietnam as Lô Lô) are a modern ethnic group in China and Vietnam. ... Categories: Ethnic groups of China ... A Tibetan pilgrim The Tibetans speak the Tibetan language natively and form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), although in anthropological terms they include more than one ethnic group. ... A Bodo girl in the traditional Bodo dokhna. ... ကရင္‌လူမ္ယုိး Total population 7,400,000 Regions with significant populations Myanmar: 7,000,000 Thailand:  400,000 Language Karen Religion Buddhism, Christianity, Animism Related ethnic groups Padaung The Karen (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ), also known in Thailand as the Kariang (Thai: ) or Yang , are an ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. ... Image File history File links BamaLumyo. ... This article or section uses Burmese characters which may be rendered incorrectly. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...

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, etc.). The military junta uses the term "Myanmar" to describe persons of all ethnic backgrounds in Myanmar. ကရင္‌လူမ္ယုိး Total population 7,400,000 Regions with significant populations Myanmar: 7,000,000 Thailand:  400,000 Language Karen Religion Buddhism, Christianity, Animism Related ethnic groups Padaung The Karen (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ), also known in Thailand as the Kariang (Thai: ) or Yang , are an ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. ... The Shan (Burmese: ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. ...

Language

The Burmese language, (the official language of Myanmar), is widely spoken by many of the ethnic minorities as well as the majority Bamar. Its core vocabulary consists of Sino-Tibetan words, but many terms associated with Buddhism, arts, sciences, and government have derived from the Indo-European languages of Pali and English. The Rakhine, although culturally distinct from the Bamar, are ethnically related to the Bamar and speak a language that has commonalities with Burmese. Additional dialects come from coastal areas of Tanintharyi Division, and include Myeik (Beik) and Dawei (Tavoyan).^[1] English was introduced in the 1800s when the Bamar first came into contact with the British as a trading nation and continued to flourish under subsequent colonial rule. The Burmese language ( , or ) is the official language of Myanmar. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... Pali may refer to: Pāli, a Middle Indo-Aryan language Pali, Rajasthan, a town and district in Rajasthan, western India Pali, a Hawaiian word, meaning cliffs Nuuanu Pali, a region on the Hawaiian island of Oahu Ballaleshwar Pali, the Ganapati temple of pali and place in Maharastra This is... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. ... Tanintharyi, better known by the old name Tenasserim, is a division of Myanmar, covering the long narrow southern part of the country on the Kra Isthmus. ... Dawei (Burmese: ); formerly known as Tavoy), is a city in southeastern Myanmar and is capital of Tanintharyi Division, situated about 614. ...

Origins

The Bamar are of East Asian descent, having origins in present-day Tibet, and are thought to have migrated from the steppes of present-day Mongolia. They migrated 3,000 years ago to the lower valleys of the Ayeyarwady River, an area they ethnically dominate today. They are ethnolinguistically related to the Tibetans and the Chinese. The Bamar largely replaced the Mon and the earlier Pyu, ethnic groups that originally dominated the region. East Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The Ayeyarwady River (Burmese: ; formerly known as the Irrawaddy River) flows through the centre of Myanmar (formerly Burma). ... Ethnolinguistic Groups of Tibet, 1967 ( See entire map, which includes a key) Ethnic Tibetan autonomous entities set up by the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Mon (Burmese: ) are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. ... Pyu (also written Pyuu, or Pyus) refers to an ancient kingdom (and its language) found in the central and northern regions of what is now Burma. ...

Distribution

The Bamar are most numerous in Myanmar, constituting the majority ethnic group. Thailand has the second largest number of Bamar. They are either fleeing the political situation or seeking economic opportunities. The United States is also home to a large Burmese American population and many have settled in Europe, particularly in Great Britain. The Burmese diaspora, which is a recent phenomenon in historical terms and began at the start of World War Two, has been mainly brought about by a protracted period of military rule and reflects the ethnic diversity of Myanmar. Firstly, the Anglo-Burmese following Burmese independence in 1948 began moving to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and North America, to be followed by the Bamar themselves. It is by no means confined to the West; Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Korea and Japan are also popular destinations. A Burmese American is a permanent resident of the United States of Burmese descent encompassing all ethnic groups of Myanmar. ... The Anglo-Burmese, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, and emerged as a distinct community through mixed relations (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the British and other European settlers, and the local Burmese ethnic groups from 1826 until 1948 when...

Culture and society

The Bamar wear sarongs, called longyi (လုံခ္ယည္‌) collectively. Women wear longyi known as htamain (ထမီ), while men wear longyi called paso (ပုဆုိး). Formal attire often consists of jewellery, silk scarves, and jackets. On formal occasions, men often wear cloth turbans called gaungbaung (ခောင္‌းပောင္‌း) and Mandarin collared jackets called taikpon (တုိက္‌ပုံ), while women wear blouses. Both genders wear velvet sandals called Mandalay pa nak (မန္တလေး‌ဖိနပ္‌), although leather, rubber and plastic sandals (ဂ္ယပန္‌ဖိနပ္‌, lit. Japanese shoes) are also worn. In cities and urbanised areas, Western dress, including T shirts, jeans and frocks with shoes or trainers, has become more popular, especially among the younger generation. Tattoos, earrings, and long hair tied in a knot were once common among Bamar men, but have ceased to be fashionable since after World War II; men in shorts and men sporting ponytails as well as both sexes with bleached hair have made their appearance in Yangon more recently. Interestingly Westernisation also appears to come via Japan and Singapore. The Bamar of both sexes and all ages also wear thanaka, especially on their faces, although the practice is largely confined to women and children, and Western makeup and cosmetics have always enjoyed a captive market in urban areas. However, thanaka is not exclusively worn by the Bamar, as many other ethnic groups throughout Myanmar utilise this cosmetic. Longyi is a sheet of cloth. ... A mandarin collar is a short unfolded stand-up collar style on a shirt or jacket. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ... Yangon (Burmese: , population 4,082,000 (2005 census), formerly Rangoon), is the largest city of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and its former capital. ... Myanmar women with Thanaka Thanaka wood (murraya exotica) being sold) Thanaka (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ) is a yellowish-white cosmetic commonly applied to the face by many people in Myanmar (formerly Burma). ...

Bamar cuisine contains many regional elements, such as stir-frying techniques and curries which can be hot but lightly spiced otherwise, almost always with fish paste as well as onions, garlic, ginger, dried chilli and turmeric. Rice (ထမင္း htamin) is the staple, although noodles (ခောက္‌ဆ္ဝဲ hkauk swè), salads (အသုတ္‌ a thouk), and breads (ပောင္‌မုန္‌့ paung mont) are also eaten. Green tea is often the beverage of choice, but tea is also traditionally pickled and eaten as a salad. The most well-known Bamar-originated dish is mohinga, rice noodles in a fish broth. Dishes from other ethnic minorities (Shan, Chinese, Indian) are also consumed. The cuisine of Myanmar (formerly Burma) has been influenced by the respective cuisines of China, India and Thailand. ... Prahok is a type of type fermented fish paste (usually of mud fish) that can be used in Cambodian cuisine as a seasoning or a condiment (usually the later). ... Species Oryza glaberrima Oryza sativa Rice refers to two species (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) of grass, native to tropical and subtropical southern & southeastern Asia and to Africa, which together provide more than one fifth of the calories consumed by humans[1]. (The term wild rice can refer to wild... A cook making hand-pulled noodles. ... A salad is a food item generally served either before or after the main dish as a separate course, as a main course in itself, or as a side dish accompanying the main dish. ... Percentages are relative to US RDI values for adults. ... Mohinga (Burmese: ) is considered by many to be the national dish of Myanmar, formerly Burma. ...

Traditional Bamar music consists of an orchestra mainly of percussion and wind instruments but the saung gauk (ဆေင္‌းကောက္‌), a boat-shaped harp, is often symbolic of the Bamar. Modern Bamar music is typically Westernised, with influences particularly from American country music. However, rap and hip-hop have also gained popularity. Traditional Bamar dancing is similar to Thai dancing, and is known as yodaya aka (ယုိးဒယားအက, lit. Thai dance). Puppetry is also a popular form of entertainment and is often performed at pwés, which is a generic term for shows, celebrations and festivals. In urbanised areas, movies from both Bollywood and Hollywood have always been popular, but more recently Korean and Chinese films, especially DVDs, have become increasingly popular. The music of Myanmar is a mixture of many regional varieties, including Chinese music, Indian music and Thai music. ... The saung (also known as the saung-guak, or Myanmar harp, the countrys previous name was Burma) is a Burmese traditional musical instrument made of sixteen silk strings attached to a neck by red cotton tuning cords terminating in large tassels. ... country music, see Country music (disambiguation) In popular music, country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, blues, gospel music, and old-time music that began... Movie poster for one of Bollywoods most popular films—Sholay (1975) Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुडُ )is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. ... ...

A nat ein in Downtown Yangon

Rites of passage are also of cultural importance to the Bamar. These include shinbyu (ရ္ဟင္‌ပ္ရု), a novitiation ceremony for Buddhist boys, and na htwin (နားသ္ဝင္‌း), an ear-piercing ceremony for girls. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (480x640, 407 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bamar ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (480x640, 407 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bamar ... Shinbyu is the Burmese term for a traditional novitiated occasion to those of Theravada Buddhism. ...

Buddhist festivals and holidays are widely celebrated among the Bamar. Thingyan, the Water Festival, which marks the beginning of the Burmese New Year in April, is one such example. Thadingyut, which marks the end of the Buddhist lent, is celebrated with the Festival of Lights in October. Kathina or robe offering ceremony for monks is held at the start of Lent in July and again in November. Thingyan (Burmese: ) is the Burmese New Year Festival and usually falls around mid-April. ... Vassa (Thai พรรษา, pansa or phansaa), also called Rains Retreat, is the traditional retreat during the rainy season lasting for three lunar months from July to October. ... Kathina is a Buddhist festival which comes at the end of Vassa, the three-month rainy season retreat for Theravada Buddhists. ...

Religion

The majority of Bamar are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. The Bamar practise Buddhism along with nat worship, which involves rituals relating to the 37 Nats designated by King Anawratha, although many minor nats are also worshipped. In villages, many houses have outdoors altars to honor nats, called nat ein (နတ္‌အိမ္‌), in addition to one outside the village known as nat sin (နတ္‌စင္‌) often under a bo tree. Indoors in many households, one may find a coconut called nat oun up the main post for the Eindwin Min Mahagiri (အိမ္‌တ္ဝင္‌းမင္‌းမဟာဂိရိ; lit. Indoors Lord of the Great Mountain), one of the most important of the Nats. A nat is one of thirty-seven spirits that are worshipped by Bamar in conjunction to Buddhism. ... Anawrahta (reigned 1044-1077), also spelled Aniruddha or Anoarahtâ or Anoa-ra-htá-soa, was a ruler of the kingdom of Bagan and the first ruler of a unified Burma. ... Binomial name Ficus religiosa Linnaeus The Bodhi or Bo or Peepul tree (Ficus religiosa), is a species of fig (Family Moraceae) and a sacred tree for Buddhists. ...

Naming

The Bamar typically use the day of birth (traditional 8-day calendar, which includes Yahu, Wednesday afternoon) as the basis for naming. Letters from groups within the Burmese alphabet are designated to certain days, from which the Bamar choose names^[2]. They are chosen as follows: Myazedi (Yazakuma) Stone Instription The oldest surviving Burmese inscription, written in Burmese, Pyu, Mon, and Pali, it is the story of Prince Yazakuma. ...

Monday (pron. ... The god Týr, identified with Mars, after whom Tuesday is named. ... The god Woden, after whom Wednesday was named. ... Yaw or Yam is the name for the Levantine god of chaos and the power of the untamed sea as found in texts from the ancient city of Ugarit. ... The god Thor, after whom Thursday is named. ... The goddess Freya, after whom Friday is named. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sunday is traditionally the first day of the Judaeo-Christian seven-day week, between Saturday and Monday, and the second day of the weekend in some cultures. ...

See also

• Rakhine people
• Danu people

The Rakhine people (Burmese: ; formerly Arakanese) are a sub-ethnic group of the Bamar. ... The Danu people are a sub-ethnic group of the Bamar, predominantly populating the areas near Pindaya Caves, in Shan State of Myanmar. ...

References

• Khin Myo Chit (1980). Flowers and Festivals Round the Burmese Year.
• Tsaya (1886). Myam-Ma, The Home of the Burman. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co., 36-37.

Khin Myo Chit (1 May 1915 - 2 January 1999) was a Burmese author and journalist, whose career spanned over four decades. ...

Notes

1. ^ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (2005). Language Family Trees. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. SIL International. Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
2. ^ Shway Yoe (Sir James George Scott)1882. The Burman - His Life and Notions. New York: The Norton Library 1963, 4-6.

2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ...

External links

• The Silken East - A Record of Life and Travel in Burma by V. C. Scott O'Connor 1904