Short answers, pulled from the story.
Both names derive from the older Burmese word Mranma, an ethnonym for the majority Burman group. In 1989 the military government changed the country's official English name from Burma to Myanmar. Many opposition groups and countries keep using Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the military government.
The capital city of Myanmar is Naypyidaw, a name meaning city of the kings. The military junta officially named it on the 27th of March 2006 after moving the capital from Yangon. Yangon, formerly Rangoon, remains the country's largest city.
Myanmar became an independent republic on the 4th of January 1948 under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947. It was first named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first president and U Nu as its first prime minister.
In the early morning of the 1st of February 2021, the Tatmadaw detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other ruling party members and handed power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing. The military declared a state of emergency, and the coup triggered nationwide protests and the outbreak of a civil war that is ongoing as of 2026.
About 90 percent of the world's rubies come from Myanmar, and rubies are its biggest gem earner. The Valley of Rubies in the Mogok area, around 200 km north of Mandalay, is noted for rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires. Most mining is government-run, so nearly all profits go to the junta.
The Myanmar government has been alleged to have committed genocide against the Rohingya, who have been denied citizenship and basic rights since 1982 and faced severe persecution and expulsion. In November 2024, ICC prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan filed an arrest warrant application against Min Aung Hlaing for the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.