Ben’s Place of the Week: Pyinmana, Burma

Population: 97,400 (2005 est.)
Coordinates: 19 45 N 96 12 E
A resource-rich former province of India, the Union of Burma, or Myanmar as the country is also known, struggles economically in spite of its natural wealth due to poor infrastructure and political instability. No elections have been held since 1990 and the autocratic head of state has demonstrated little interest in democracy, preferring, it would seem, to keep the population ill-informed and dependent on black-market sources of income.

Last week, the military junta in power decided to move the capital from Rangoon on the Gulf of Martaban in the south, to the isolated township of Pyinmana along the heavily forested banks of the Sittang River in the Mandalay Division.

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