Country Profiles » Myanmar (Burma)

Country Profile: Myanmar (Burma)

Country Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
EVGMap50-Myanmar 1:50,000 Scale Topographic MapsEast View Geospatial1:50,0002014 – 20141148
Myanmar 1:63,360 Topographic MapsSurvey of India1:63,3601901 – 1946194

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
China 1:2,500,000 Scale Geological Map (6 sheets)Dizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:2,500,0002005 – 20051
China 1:2,500,000 Scale Quaternary Geological Map (9 sheets)Dizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:2,500,0001990 – 19901
China 1:4,000,000 Scale Geological Map (2 sheets)Dizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:4,000,0001977 – 19771
China 1:5,000,000 Scale Metallic Resources MapDizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:5,000,0001992 – 19921
China 1:5,000,000 Scale Mineral Resources MapDizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:5,000,0001992 – 19921
China 1:5,000,000 Scale Nonmetallic Resources MapDizhi Chubanshe / Geological Publishing House1:5,000,0001992 – 19921
Thailand (Northern) 1:250,000 Scale Geological MapsFederal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany1:250,0001976 – 19817

Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

YearQuestions / AnswersADM LevelPolygons at ADMData Points
201427 / 3803330125,400

Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Nautical | Geological/Scientific | Vegetation/Forestry | Cadaster | Tourist/Reference

Topographic

The national mapping agency of Myanmar (until 1989 Burma) is the Myanmar Survey Department (MSD) in Yangon. Mapping systems were established by the Survey of India between 1905 and 1944, with complete coverage at 1:126,720 and 1:253,440 scales, and one-inch coverage for 85 percent of Burma, excluding the mountainous north west regions. Since 1959 the one-inch map has gradually been converted into a 1:50,000 series, using the same Lambert conical conformal projection, Everest ellipsoid, and quarter degree sheet lines, but mapping progress has been at best sporadic since the late 1950s. By 1996 this map had been published for about 50 percent of the country: coverage is best in the central regions between Yangon and Mandalay. English place names have been converted into Myanmar equivalents following United Nations Development Program aid. Twenty-eight 1:250,000 scale maps were derived from the completed metric mapping. A new 1:25,000 scale series was completed for the Irrawaddy delta, and 1:5,000 and 1:10,000 scale maps of development areas have also been compiled, including 1:10,000 scale coverage of Yangon in 12 sheets, revised to 1995. Smaller scale series have also been compiled and the Myanmar Survey Department is also responsible for aeronautical charting of the country.

Soviet military topographic mapping of Myanmar (Burma) exists at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (10 sheets, complete coverage, published 1959-1973); 1:500,000 (28 sheets, complete coverage, published 1959-1987); 1:200,000 (136 sheets, complete coverage, published 1953-1987); 1:100,000 (331 sheets, eastern country coverage, published 1954-1989) and city (1:10,000 to 1:25,000) topographic mapping of Mandalay, Moulmein (Mawlamyine) and Yangon (Rangoon) published between 1977 and 1980. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Nautical

Hydrographic charting is carried out by the Naval Hydrographic Office established in 1957.

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Geological/Scientific

Earth science mapping of Myanmar is the responsibility of the Department of Geological Survey and Exploration (DGSE). The British Geological Survey (BGS) carried out some earth science mapping of the northern Shan states in the late 1970s, at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:125,000.

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Vegetation/Forestry

The most significant recent mapping advances in Myanmar have been in the field of resources mapping. The Department of Forestry received United Nations Development Program aid to establish a national forest survey between 1981 and 1993, which led to the compilation of about 100 1:50,000 scale forest land use maps, derived from interpretation of LANDSAT TM imagery. A more extensive program of forest resources mapping was also started, with 319 of 650 1:50,000 scale sheets completed. These results were generalized into the publication in 1991 of a 1:1,000,000 scale general forest map of the country. By 1996 a well-founded GIS laboratory was in place, and Japanese aid led to the establishment of digital 1:250,000 land cover mapping of the central parts of the country, derived from LANDSAT TM data.

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Cadaster

Cadastral mapping of Myanmar (Burma) is the responsibility of the Settlement and Land Records Department in the Ministry of Agriculture. 75,000 sheets are maintained, at 16-inch scale for rural areas, and 64-inch for urban properties. Many of these maps were very outdated by 1996, but a project started in the mid-1990s to capture records for Yangon in a MapInfo-based land information system.

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Tourist/Reference

A useful small-scale general map of the country was published in 1990 by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and tourist mapping of Myanmar is also published by Myanmar Travels and Tours (MTT), the official tourist agency, including city maps of Yangon and Mandalay and a general map of Myanmar. Commercially published tourist mapping is available in the Globetrotter series from New Holland, from Nelles Verlag and from Berndtson & Berndtson (B&B).

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