NewsTracker Answers for week of Feb. 08, 2021

Q: After candidates they backed were defeated in a November election, Myanmar military leaders claimed voter fraud, arrested democratically elected officials and put the Southeast Asian nation’s the top general in charge. Where is Myanmar?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Military regimes have ruled the nation most of the years since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1962. What was the nation called before it changed its name to Myanmar?

A. Bengal

B. Burma

C. Ceylon

D. Siam


B. In 1989, the military government officially changed the name of the nation from Burma to Myanmar. But, many inside and outside the country still use Burma. Bangladesh, a northwest neighbor of Myanmar, forms the larger and eastern part of the Bengal region. Siam is the former name of Thailand, Myanmar’s southeast neighbor. Sri Lanka was once known as Ceylon.


Q: Thousands gathered Saturday to protest the coup even after the military junta shut down the internet. Which of Myanmar’s neighbors has shut off internet service to quell dissent by citizens?

A. Bangladesh

B. China

C. India

D. All of the above


D. Many governments, including Bangladesh, China and India, have shut off internet service to stop people from from organizing protests or spreading information about what the governments are doing. Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast.


Q: The Myanmar protesters took to streets of the nation’s largest city . . .

A. Bangkok

B. Dhaka

C. Vientiane

D. Yangon


D. With a metropolitan population of 7 million people, Yangon is the nation’s largest city and former capital. The city of Naypyidaw was built to become Myanmar’s capital in 2006. Bangkok, Dhaka and Vientiane are the largest cities and capitals of Thailand, Bangladesh and Laos. Yangon was known as Rangoon under British rule.


Q: The protesters demanded the release of Myanmar’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for resisting military rule. But, her international reputation has suffered for not stopping the abuse of what minority group?

A. Armenians

B. Bosniaks

C. Rohingyas

D. Uyghurs


C. Myanmar has been accused of genocide and ethnic cleansing after the military began cracking down on the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in 2016. The UN said widespread killings, rapes and arson forced more than a million Rohingyas to flee. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Bosniaks in the former Yugoslavia and, most recently, Uyghurs in China also have been called victims of genocide.