Covering an area of 676,552 square kilometers Myanmar is almost
twice the size of Germany. In the West and Northwest it
borders on Bangladesh and India. In the North and Northeast are
China and Laos and in the East Thailand, all direct neighbors
of the country.
The most important watercourse of Myanmar is the Ayeyarwaddy,
which originates in the Eastern part of Tibet. It flows for more
than 2,000 kilometers from North to South and thus divides the
country into a Western and an Eastern half. The Ayeyarwaddy is
passable for ships for a length of about 1,450 kilometers.
The valley and the delta of the Ayeyarwaddy compose
one of the most fertile, agricultural regions of the world.
Myanmar's political isolation over the course of the past decades
is mirrored by its topography because on three sides,
the Northwest, Northeast and Southeast, the country is flanked
by high and almost impassable mountain ranges. In the Southeast
the Andaman Sea forms its natural border.
But not only are the mountain ranges screening Myanmar from its
neighboring countries difficult to travel. The same can
be said for the many more mountain ranges inside the country itself.
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