Bangladesh–Myanmar Border
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The Bangladesh–Myanmar border is the international border between the countries of
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
and
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
(formerly ''Burma''). The border stretches , from the
tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...
with India in the north to the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...
in the south. About of the border is fenced, with the
government of Myanmar Myanmar ( formerly Burma) () operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests. P ...
announcing in 2017 that it was planning to fence off the rest of the border. On 9 December 2024,
Arakan Army The Arakan Army (; Abbreviation, abbreviated AA), sometimes referred to as the Arakha Army is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnic-List of insurgent groups in Myanmar, armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded in April 2009, the Ara ...
captured all of the
Burmese military The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence (Myanmar), Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air For ...
outposts and seized control of Myanmar's border with Bangladesh after an intense battle in Maungdaw.


Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with
Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...
, India. It then proceeds southwards overland before turning west at a point west of Paletwa. The border then proceeds to the west, north-west and then south in a broad arc before reaching the
Naf River The Naf River ( ''Naf Nodi'' ; ; ) is an international river marking part of the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar. Geography The Naf's average depth is , and maximum depth is . Its width ...
. The border then follows this wide river southwards out to the Bay of Bengal. At present, the border from the Myanmar side is closed to foreign nationals.


History

Historically the border region has been a contested area located at the edge of the various Indian and Burmese empires. Britain had begun conquering
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
(including modern Bangladesh) in the 17th century, and gradually took control of most of the country, forming
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
. From the 1820s-80s, Britain also gradually conquered
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
; by the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, which ended the First Anglo-Burmese War, Burma recognised British control over
Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
,
Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
, Rakhine (
Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...
), and the Taninthayi coast, thereby delimiting much of the Indo-Burmese modern boundary in general terms. Large swathes of Burma were annexed following the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852–53. The remainder of Burma was
conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...
in 1885 and incorporated into British India. Further Indo-Burmese boundary modifications were made in 1894, 1896, 1901, 1921 and 1922. In 1937, Burma was split off from India and became a separate colony. In 1947, India gained independence; however, the country was split into two states (India and
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
), with the southernmost section of the Burma-India border becoming that between Burma and
East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...
(modern Bangladesh). Burma gained independence in 1948. In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan after a war and thereby inherited the border with Burma. Since then, the boundary area has often been unstable owing to armed conflicts such as the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict (1977–1997) in south-east Bangladesh and the
Rohingya conflict The Rohingya conflict is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing conflict in the northern part of Rakhine State, Myanmar (formerly known as Arakan, Burma), characterised by Sectarianism, sectarian violence between the Rohingya people, Ro ...
in Myanmar's
Rakhine state Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...
. The latter has been ongoing for decades yet has reached a particular intensity since 2016. The latest round of fighting has resulted in Rohingya refugees crossing the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to close their borders during sudden influxes of Rohingya refugees. On Myanmar's side of the border in Maungdaw District, 80 percent of the population is Rohingya. On 9 December 2024, the Arakan Army (AA) gained full control of Myanmar's 270-kilometer-long border with Bangladesh, capturing Maungdaw Township and the Border Guard Police Battalion No. 5 after months of intense fighting. With this victory, the AA currently controls all three Burmese townships bordering Bangladesh: Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Paletwa. Bangladeshi Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam stated that Bangladeshi traders have to now pay taxes twice when importing goods from Myanmar, first to its government at
Sittwe Sittwe (, ), formerly Akyab (), is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptying into the Bay of Bengal. As of 2019 the cit ...
and then to the Arakan Army at the Naf River between the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.


Incidents

On 28 May 2014, members of the Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) opened fire on a Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) patrol, killing one. In a flag-meeting between the border forces of the two countries, Myanmar regretted the killing and admitted that they had mistaken the patrol for Rohingya separatists. In 2015, an armed clash occurred on the border between the Arakan Army and the BGB. In 2022, Myanmar Armed Forces (
Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...
) bombed the Bangladesh border after the Arakan Army seized a Myanmar police outpost in Maungdaw town in Rakhine State, according to a ''
Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...
'' news report. In February 2024, during combat between Arakan Army and BGP, at least 264 Myanmar military personnel sought refuge in Bangladesh, where they were disarmed and sheltered by the BGB. In mid-January 2025, the Arakan Army seized three cargo vessels on the
Naf River The Naf River ( ''Naf Nodi'' ; ; ) is an international river marking part of the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar. Geography The Naf's average depth is , and maximum depth is . Its width ...
that were transporting goods from
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
to
Teknaf Teknaf () is a municipality of Teknaf Upazila of Cox's Bazar District in south-eastern Bangladesh. It forms the southernmost point in mainland Bangladesh ( St. Martin's Island is the southernmost point). The name of the region comes from the Naf ...
port in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. These vessels were carrying approximately 50,000 bags of dried fish, betel nuts, coffee, and other products, with an estimated value of Tk 40 crore. The Arakan Army is also used to detaining Bangladeshi fishermen along the border, abducting over 150 since December 2024. They have reportedly also shot at Bangladeshi civilians and seized boats and goods during these incidents. There have also been a number of incidents over the years involving fishermen on the Naf river allegedly illegally crossing the boundary.


See also

* Bangladesh–Myanmar relations * Transport in Bangladesh * Transport between India and Bangladesh


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangladesh-Myanmar border Fences Border barriers Borders of Bangladesh Borders of Myanmar International borders