Myanmar profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events

1057 - King Anawrahta founds the first unified Myanmar state at Pagan and adopts Theravada Buddhism.

1287 - Mongols under Kublai Khan conquer Pagan.

1531 - Toungoo dynasty, with Portuguese help, reunites country as Burma.

1755 - Alaungpaya founds the Konbaung dynasty.

1824-26 - First Anglo-Burmese war ends with the Treaty of Yandabo, according to which Burma ceded the Arakan coastal strip, between Chittagong and Cape Negrais, to British India.

1852 - Britain annexes lower Burma, including Rangoon, following the second Anglo-Burmese war.

1885-86 - Britain captures Mandalay after a brief battle; Burma becomes a province of British India.

1937 - Britain separates Burma from India and makes it a crown colony.

Japanese occupation

1942 - Japan invades and occupies Burma with some help from the Japanese-trained Burma Independence Army, which later transforms itself into the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) and resists Japanese rule.

1945 - Britain liberates Burma from Japanese occupation with help from the AFPFL, led by Aung San.

1947 - Aung San and six members of his interim government assassinated by political opponents led by U Saw, a nationalist rival of Aung San's. U Nu, foreign minister in Ba Maw's government, which ruled Burma during the Japanese occupation, asked to head the AFPFL and the government.

Independence

1948 - Burma becomes independent with U Nu as prime minister.

Mid-1950s - U Nu, together with Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Indonesian President Sukarno, Yugoslav President Tito and Egyptian President Nasser co-found the Movement of Non-Aligned States.

1958-60 - Caretaker government, led by army Chief of Staff General Ne Win, formed following a split in the ruling AFPFL party.

1960 - U Nu's party faction wins decisive victory in elections, but his promotion of Buddhism as the state religion and his tolerance of separatism angers the military.

One-party, military-led state

1962 - U Nu's faction ousted in military coup led by Gen Ne Win, who abolishes the federal system and inaugurates "the Burmese Way to Socialism" - nationalising the economy, forming a single-party state with the Socialist Programme Party as the sole political party, and banning independent newspapers.

Burma's military junta ruled from 1962-2011

1974 - New constitution comes into effect, transferring power from the armed forces to a People's Assembly headed by Ne Win and other former military leaders; body of former United Nations secretary-general U Thant returned to Burma for burial.

1975 - Opposition National Democratic Front formed by regionally-based minority groups, who mounted guerrilla insurgencies.

1981 - Ne Win relinquishes the presidency to San Yu, a retired general, but continues as chairman of the ruling Socialist Programme Party.

1982 - Law designating people of non-indigenous background as "associate citizens" in effect bars such people from public office.

Riots and repression

1987 - Currency devaluation wipes out many people's savings and triggers anti-government riots.

1988 - Thousands of people are killed in anti-government riots. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) is formed.

1989 - Slorc declares martial law, arrests thousands of people, including advocates of democracy and human rights, renames Burma 'Myanmar', with the capital, Rangoon, becoming Yangon. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San, is put under house arrest.

Thwarted elections

1990 - Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) wins landslide victory in general election, but the result is ignored by the military.

Anti-government protests in 1988 triggered martial law and mass arrests

1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to peaceful change.

1992 - Than Shwe replaces Saw Maung as Slorc chairman, prime minister and defence minister. Several political prisoners freed in bid to improve Myanmar's international image.

1995 - Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest after six years.

1996 - Aung San Suu Kyi attends first NLD congress since her release; Slorc arrests more than 200 delegates on their way to party congress.

1997 - Burma admitted to Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean); Slorc renamed State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

Release of pro-democracy supporters

1998 - 300 NLD members released from prison; ruling council refuses to comply with NLD deadline for convening of parliament; student demonstrations broken up.

1999 - Aung San Suu Kyi rejects ruling council conditions to visit her British husband, Michael Aris, who dies of cancer in UK.

The new city Nay Pyi Taw became the capital in 2005, but streets have taken time to fill up

2000 September - Ruling council lifts restrictions on movements of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior NLD members.

2000 October - Aung San Suu Kyi begins secret talks with ruling council.

2001 Ruling council releases some 200 pro-democracy activists. Government says releases reflect progress in talks with opposition NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi who remains under house arrest.

2001 February - Burmese army, Shan rebels clash on Thai border.

2001 June - Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra visits, says relations are back on track.

2001 November - Chinese President Jiang Zemin visits, issues statement supporting government, reportedly urges economic reform.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent long periods under house arrest

Conflicting signals

2003 August - Khin Nyunt becomes prime minister. He proposes to hold convention in 2004 on drafting new constitution as part of "road map" to democracy.

2003 November - Five senior NLD leaders released from house arrest after visit of UN human rights envoy.

2004 January - Government and Karen National Union - most significant ethnic group fighting government - agree to end hostilities.

2004 May - Constitutional convention begins, despite boycott by National League for Democracy (NLD) whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. The convention adjourns in July.

New capital

2004 October - Khin Nyunt is replaced as prime minister amid reports of a power struggle. He is placed under house arrest.

2004 November - Leading dissidents are freed as part of a release of thousands of prisoners, including Min Ko Naing, who led the 1988 pro-democracy student demonstrations.

2005 July - Asean announces that Myanmar has turned down the 2006 chairmanship of the regional grouping.

2005 November - Myanmar says its seat of government is moving to a new site near the central town of Pyinmana; it is later given the name Nay Pyi Taw.

2007 January - China and Russia veto a draft US resolution at the UN Security Council urging Myanmar to stop persecuting minority and opposition groups.

2007 April - Myanmar and North Korea restore diplomatic ties, 24 years after Rangoon broke them off, accusing North Korean agents of staging a deadly bomb attack against the visiting South Korean president.

2007 May - Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest is extended for another year.

2007 June - In a rare departure from its normally neutral stance, the International Committee of the Red Cross accuses the government of abusing the Myanmar people's rights.

Public unrest

The Karen rebellion against the Myanmar government is one of the world's longest-running civil conflicts

2007 August - Wave of public dissent sparked by fuel price hikes. Dozens of activists are arrested.

2007 September - Military government declares 14 years of constitutional talks complete and closes the National Convention.

Buddhist monks hold a series of anti-government protests. Aung San Suu Kyi is allowed to leave her house to greet monks demonstrating in Rangoon. It is her first public appearance since 2003.

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari meets opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

2007 October - Normality returns to Rangoon amid heavy military presence. Monks are absent, after thousands are reportedly rounded up.

After some delay, UN Security Council deplores military crackdown on peaceful protesters.

2008 January- A series of bomb blasts hits the country. State media blame "insurgent destructionists", including ethnic Karen rebels.

2008 April - Government publishes proposed new constitution, which allocates a quarter of seats in parliament to the military and bans opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding office.

Cyclone

2008 May - Cyclone Nargis hits the low-lying Irrawaddy delta. Some estimates put the death toll as high as 134,000.

Cyclone Nargis: The regime was accused of blocking aid, refusing initial access to humanitarian workers

Referendum on new constitution proceeds amid humanitarian crisis following cyclone. Government says 92% voted in favour of draft constitution and insists it can cope with cyclone aftermath without foreign help.

Junta renews Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest.

2008 November - Dozens of political activists given sentences of up to 65 years in series of secretive trials.

2008 December - Government signs deal with consortium of four foreign firms to pipe natural gas into neighbouring China, despite protests from human rights groups.

2009 January - Thailand expels hundreds of members of Muslim Rohingya minority who appeared off its coast. Myanmar denies the minority's existence. Several hundred Rohingyas are subsequently rescued from boats off the coast of Indonesia.

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari meets opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time in a year.

2009 March- Senior US State Department official Stephen Blake visits for talks with Foreign Minister Nyan Win in what the US calls a routine visit. Myanmar says it was notable given his seniority.

2009 April - The National League for Democracy (NLD) main opposition group offers to take part in planned elections if the government frees all political prisoners, changes the constitution and admits international observers.

2009 May - The EU extends the 2006 sanctions for another year, but adds that they can be reviewed in the event of moves towards democracy.

UN and aid agencies say hundreds of thousands in the Irrawaddy Delta still need assistance a year after Cyclone Nargis. The UN says Myanmar now allows it to bring in all the staff it needs.

Aung San Suu Kyi trial

2009 August - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is convicted of breaching conditions of her house arrest, following visit by an uninvited US national in May. The initial sentence of three years' imprisonment is commuted to 18 months' house arrest.

The main military-backed party claimed victory in the 2010 election

2009 September - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces plans for engagement with military rulers.

2009 October - Aung San Suu Kyi begins talks with Myanmar's military leaders and is allowed to meet Western diplomats.

2010 February - The authorities free NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo. Aung San Suu Kyi's deputy had spent more than a decade in prison or under house arrest.

2010 March - Government announces that long-awaited election laws have been passed, with provisions for an electoral commission hand-picked by the junta.

NLD votes to boycott polls. A splinter party - National Democratic Front (NDF) - later gains legal status and plans to compete in polls.

2010 October - Government changes country's flag, national anthem and official name.

2010 November - Main military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claims resounding victory in first election for 20 years. Opposition groups allege widespread fraud and the election is widely condemned as a sham. The junta says the election marks the transition from military rule to a civilian democracy.

A week after the election, Aung San Suu Kyi - who had been prevented from taking part - is released from house arrest.

2011 January - Government authorises internet connection for Aung San Suu Kyi.

Junta retires to wings

2011 March - Thein Sein is sworn in as president of a new, nominally civilian government.

2011 August - President Thein Sein meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw.

2011 September - President Thein Sein suspends construction of controversial Chinese-funded Myitsone hydroelectric dam, in move seen as showing greater openness to public opinion.

2011 October - Some political prisoners are freed as part of a general amnesty. New labour laws allowing unions are passed.

2011 November- Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she will stand for election to parliament, as her party rejoins the political process.

2011 December - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits, meets Aung San Suu Kyi and holds talks with President Thein Sein. US offers to improve relations if democratic reforms continue.

Pre-publication censorship was scrapped in 2012, but state control of media remains strong

President Thein Sein signs law allowing peaceful demonstrations for the first time; NLD re-registers as a political party in advance of by-elections for parliament due to be held early in 2012.

Burmese authorities agree truce deal with rebels of Shan ethnic group and orders military to stop operations against ethnic Kachin rebels.

2012 January - Government signs ceasefire with rebels of Karen ethnic group.

Partly-free elections held

2012 April - NLD candidates sweep the board in parliamentary by-elections, with Aung San Suu Kyi elected. The European Union suspends all non-military sanctions against Burma for a year.

2012 May - Manmohan Singh pays first official visit by an Indian prime minister since 1987.

2012 August - President Thein Sein sets up commission to investigate violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the west, in which dozens have died.

Myanmar abolishes pre-publication media censorship.

In a major cabinet reshuffle, President Thein Sein replaces hard-line Information Minister Kyaw Hsan with moderate Aung Kyi, the military's negotiator with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

2012 September - Moe Thee Zun, the leader of student protests in 1988, returns from exile after Burma removed 2,082 people from its blacklist.

President Thein Sein tells the BBC he would accept opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as president if she were elected.

Foreign ties

2012 November - Visiting European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso offers Myanmar more than $100m in development aid.

Around 90 people are killed in a renewed bout of communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.

US President Barack Obama visits to offer "the hand of friendship" in return for more reforms. He urges reconciliation with the Rohingya minority.

2013 January-February - The army surrounds Laiza, the biggest town controlled by Kachin rebels. The government and rebels agree to disengage and start a political dialogue after Chinese-sponsored talks.

2013 March - Rioting between Muslims and Buddhists in Meiktila, south of Mandalay, leaves at least 10 people dead.

2013 April - Four private daily newspapers appear for the first time in almost 50 years as the state monopoly ends.

Violence has flared between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine province

2013 May - President Thein Sein visits Washington. President Obama praises Myanmar's political and economic progress, but criticises violence against Rohingya Muslims.

Six Muslims are jailed over the Meiktila clashes in March. No Buddhists are convicted.

2014 April - At least 22 people are killed in fighting between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels in the north.

2014 May - US extends some sanctions for another year, saying that despite the recent reforms, rights abuses and army influence on politics and the economy persist.

2014 October - Parliamentary elections set for October/November 2015.

Government announces release of 3,000 prisoners. Burma watchers say most are petty criminals, but include ex-military intelligence officers imprisoned along with former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was freed in 2012.

2015 February - Flare-up in fighting with Kokang separatists in Shan State near the border with China leaves nearly 50 soldiers dead. Government puts Kokang region under temporary martial law.

Government withdraws temporary voting rights from Muslim Rohingyas ahead of proposed constitutional referendum, following street protests by Buddhists.

Peace hopes

2015 March - A draft ceasefire agreement is signed between the government and 16 rebel groups.

2015 May - Hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas migrants leave by sea in flimsy boats, along with migrants from Bangladesh. UN criticizes failure of south-east Asian states to rescue them.

2015 July-August - Floods affect much of low-lying parts of country, killing 100 people and displacing a million others.

2015 November - Opposition National League for Democracy - led by Aung San Suu Kyi - wins enough seats in parliamentary elections to form a government.

2016 March - Htin Kyaw sworn in as president, ushering in a new era as Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement takes power after 50 years of military domination.

Rohingya crisis

2017 March - The United Nations human rights council decides to set up an investigation into alleged human rights abuses by the army against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

2017 August - Rohingya militants attack police posts in Rakhine. The response by security forces prompts an exodus of Rohingya and allegations that their actions amount to ethnic cleansing.

2017 October - The number of Rohingya Muslims who have fled military action in Rakhine state and sought refuge in Bangladesh is estimated at one million.

2017 November - Pope Francis visits, disappoints Rohingya by failing to mention their plight.

2018 March - President Htin Kyaw resigns on health grounds and is replaced by Win Myint, a fellow Suu Kyi loyalist.

2018 August - A UN report accuses Myanmar's military leaders of carrying out genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims, calling for six generals to face trial at the International Criminal Court. It also accuses Aung San Suu Kyi of failing to prevent the violence. Myanmar rejects the findings.

2018 September - Two Reuters journalists are sentenced to seven years in prison for violating state secrecy laws. They allege that they were framed by police, and link the case to their reporting on the military's violence against the Rohingya.

2021 February - The governing National League for Democracy beat pro-military candidates in the November parliamentary elections, prompting the army to allege voting fraud and overthrow the government. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing takes over for one-year period.