The conical hat, sedge hat, rice hat, paddy hat or coolie hat is a simple style of straw hat originating in East and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea, Cambodia, Philippines, and Indonesia. It is also worn in some parts of Bangladesh and India. It has a conical shape and is kept on the head by a cloth (often silk) chin strap; an internal band of the same material keeps the hat itself from resting on the wearer's head. Conical hats are used primarily as protection from the sun and rain. When made of straw or matting, it can be dipped in water and worn as an impromptu evaporative-cooling device.

Because of its distinctive shape, it is used often in the depiction of East Asians. Recently, as part of international one day cricket matches in Australia, the conical hat has been a fashion phenomenon amongst spectators, with many decorated in Australian green and gold livery. Given that spectators are exposed for long periods in direct sunlight, the conical hat is a logical sunsafe device.

In mainland China and Taiwan, it is called dǒu lì (斗笠; literally, a one-dǒu bamboo hat, 笠帽, 竹笠). In Japan, the hat is called sugegasa (菅笠^?). In Korea, it is called satgat (삿갓), mostly worn by Buddhist monks; in Vietnam, the name is Nón lá (leaf hat). The conical hat varieties in Vietnam are notable for their romantic and timelessly crafted adornments. Special conical hats in Vietnam contain colourful hand-stitch depictions or words while the Huế varieties are famous for their 'poem conical hats'. These contain random poetic verses and oriental symbols which can be revealed when the hat is directed above one's head in the sunlight.

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in Indochina (mainland Southeast Asia). The country is bordered by China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometres (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

The country's culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements. Burma's diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times, and the country continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. The military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Burma remains under the tight control of the military-led State Peace and Development Council.

Rakhine State (Burmese: ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်; formerly Arakan) is a state of Burma. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State in the north, Magway Division, Bago Division and Ayeyarwady Division in the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between latitudes 17°30' north and 21°30' north and east longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50' east. The Arakan Yoma mountain range, which rises to 3,063 m at Victoria Peak, separates Rakhine State from Burma Proper. Its area is 36,762 km² and its capital is Sittwe.

The estimated population in 2000 was 2.7 million of which the ethnic Arakanese or Rakhine make up the slight majority. The Rohingya make up approximately 25% of the state's population (about 723,000 in 2009) but are not counted as citizens by the military government.

Thandwe (Burmese: သံတွဲမြို့; MLCTS: samtwai: mrui.; pronounced [θàndwɛ́ mjo̰]) is a town in the Rakhine State of westernmost part of Myanmar.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Burma, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The following is an overview of the demographics of Burma (or Myanmar), including statistics such as population and religious affiliation.

At the time of the last official census in Burma, 31 March 1983, the population was 35,442,972. As of July 2003^[update], this was estimated by the CIA World Factbook to have increased to 47,758,180; however, many other estimates put this much higher, at around 50-60 million. Britain based human rights agencies place the population as high as 70 million. Estimates for the country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

No trustworthy census has occurred since the 1930s. In the 1940s, the detailed census results were destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1942. Census results after that time have been flawed by civil wars and a series of military governments. The last official census in 1983 occurred at a time when parts of the country were controlled by insurgent groups and inaccessible to the government.

The Rakhine (Burmese: ရခိုင်လူမျိုး; MLCTS: ra. khung Lu myo; formerly Arakanese), is a nationality of Myanmar, and form the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 4% or more of Myanmar's population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of Bangladesh, especially in Chittagong Division. A group of Arakanese descendants, living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, since the 16th century AD are known as Marma people. These Arakanese descendants have been living in that area since the Arakanese kingdom's control of Chittagong region. Arakanese descendants also spread as far north as Tripura state in India during the ascent of Arakanese kingdom when Tripura was ruled by the Arakanese kings in the same century. In India, these Arakanese people are called as Mog while the Arakanese and Marma (an ethinc Arakanese descendants) from Bangladesh are generally known in Bengali as Magh people.