Burma, officially the Imperial Dominion of Burma, is a country of the British Empire in Southeast Asia bordered by Tibet, the Republic of China, Thailand, India, and Laos. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 miles) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
Burma was home to some of the early civilizations of Southeast Asia including the Pyu and the Mon. In the 9th century, the Burmans of the Kingdom of Nanzhao entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Empire in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture slowly became dominant in the country. During this period, Theravada Buddhism gradually became the predominant religion of the country. The Pagan Empire fell due to the Mongol invasions (1277–1301), and several warring states emerged. In the second half of the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Burma as well as Manipur and Assam. The British conquered Burma after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century. Burma became an equal country within the British Empire in 1938. The present Premier of Burma is Aung San Suu Kyi.