Burma (Myanmar) gained independence from Great Britain. After the First Burmese War (1823-1826), the Ava kingdom ceded the provinces of Manipur, Tenassarim, and Arakan to the British. Rangoon and southern Burma were incorporated into British India in 1853. All of Burma came directly or indirectly under British India in 1886 after the Third Burmese War and the fall of Mandalay. Burma was administered as a province of British India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony. The country became independent from the United Kingdom on Jan. 4 1948, as the “Union of Burma”. It became the “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” on Jan. 4 1974, before reverting to the “Union of Burma” on Sept. 23 1988. __
