Passport Why Myanmar’s Leaders Misled the World About Its Population

Why Myanmar’s Leaders Misled the World About Its Population

Myanmar's preliminary results of its first census in more than 30 years were pretty startling. Instead of being home to 60 million people, as the government had long estimated, the survey released on Friday found that the long-isolated country's population is closer to 51 million. "Myanmar's census falls 9 million short of estimate," the BBC reported. The AP's headline: "Myanmar discovers it has only 51 million people."

Headlines aside, though, most experts aren't actually that surprised. Demographers long claimed that the 60-million figure was wildly inflated. Moreover, they say, the Myanmar government should have known it was way off.

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