kan-daw-gyi at sunset

Burma ⁱ/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə, also known as Myanmar ⁱ/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ myahn--mar, is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km² (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 60.28 million people.

Kandawgyi Lake (Burmese: ကန်တော်ကြီး pronounced [kàndɔ̀dʑí]; literally "great royal lake", formerly Royal Lake), is one of two major lakes in Yangon, Burma (Myanmar). Located east of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the lake is artificial; water from Inya Lake is channelled through a series of pipes to Kandawgyi Lake. It was created to provide a clean water supply to the city during the British colonial administration. It is approximately 5 miles (8 km) in circumference, and has a depth of 20 to 45 inches (50 to 115 cms).

The 150-acre (60.7-hectare) lake is surrounded by the 110-acre (44.5-hectare) Kandawgyi Nature Park, and the 69.25-acre (28-hectare) Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park.

The lake itself is bounded by Natmauk Street to its north and east, Bahan Street to its west, and Kanyeiktha Street to its south. Along the eastern shorelines of the lake is the famous Karaweik, a concrete replica of a Burmese royal barge built in 1972. It houses a buffet restaurant today.

On 16 April 2010, three bombs exploded in a park by the lake in the afternoon during the Burmese New Year festival; 24 people were killed and 60 injured.

Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်; MLCTS: rankun mrui, pronounced [jàɴɡòʊɴ mjo̰]; also known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is a former capital of Burma (Myanmar) and the capital of Yangon Region. Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial centre.

Yangon's infrastructure is undeveloped compared to those of other major cities in Southeast Asia. Yangon has the largest number of colonial buildings in Southeast Asia today. While many high-rise residential and commercial buildings have been constructed or renovated throughout downtown and Greater Yangon in the past two decades, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be deeply impoverished.