New capital revealed

last updated 8 January 2015

Naypyidaw, Myanmar

Foreign media this week got their first glimpse of Myanmar’s new capital, Naypyidaw, when the junta that rules the country invited reporters to a military drill. The junta started building the new capital three years ago in the middle of a jungle 300 miles from the old capital, the port city of Yangon—evidently because dictator Gen. Than Shwe decided that a jungle location would be easier to defend. The half-finished city is three times the size of London, but has fewer than 100,000 residents, as the families of civil servants have chosen to stay in Yangon, at least until roads and services in Naypyidaw are further along. So far, the new capital consists of little but wide highways, modern apartment buildings, and a big military parade ground. The U.S. maintains sanctions against Myanmar because of its continuing detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.