Rangoon and Mandalay have universities and state schools. The educational focus has been on vocational and technical training. Health facilities are fairly well developed for a tropical country. Infectious diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, plague, and tuberculosis still occur, however, and malaria takes a heavy toll. Farming, Industry, Trade, and Transportation About two thirds of the labor force tills the soil for a living, though only about 15 percent of the area is under cultivation.
Rice is by far the chief crop, planted on about three quarters of the cropland.
Cereals, sugarcane, tobacco, and cotton are also grown. Northern Myanmar is the center of the Golden Triangle, the world's major grower of opium for the illegal heroin trade. Rice makes up more than 30 percent of the exports. High-quality hardwoods come from Myanmar and are its largest export. Teak from the Shan Plateau accounts for about a third of the hardwood timber output.