Myanmar is the largest mainland in South-East Asia sharing borders with Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. More than half of the land is mountainous, mostly covered with forests. About 3 percent or 19,335 sq km of the total area is fallow land, 11.9 percent is cultivated land, and 12.3 percent is waste land.
Rice is the principal crop.
Other agricultural produce are oilseeds, maize, millet, cotton, tea and tobacco. There is also large scale exploitation of forest resources, particularly logging and production of teak timber. The country is rich in minerals, and produces much of its own crude oil requirements. Further exploration is under way, and there is also a large natural gas reserve which is underdeveloped. Other minerals include tin, lead, zinc, tungsten and wolfram, and gemstones.