Which is the youngest country in Asia: Myanmar, Pakistan or Palestine?

Answer

Dear Ines,

It kind of depends on how you look at it.

Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947. It then consisted of West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) and East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh); East Pakistan split off – becoming Bangladesh – in 1971.

Burma, which was also part of the British Empire, gained its independence in 1948. In 1989 the name was changed to Myanmar by the military administration. However, the name change was not accepted by countries and political groups challenging the legitimacy of military rule, such as the US, UK and domestic dissidents (including Aung San Suu Kyi), but by the UN. Since the formal end of the military dictatorship in 2011, opposition to the new name seems to be waning.

Palestine (comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem) was declared an independent state by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1988 – although the resistance movement had no control over the territory at the time – but is awaiting recognition by a significant part of the international community, including most western countries and, of course, Israel, which has occupied the Palestinian territories since 1967. In 2012, Palestine obtained the status of acting non-member state within the UN, but this new status does not immediately de facto independent Palestinian state. Only direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians can effectively lead to this (via the two-state solution to the conflict), but that peace process is currently completely deadlocked.

If by “the youngest country” of the three you mean the youngest de facto independent, sovereign state, then the answer to your question is Myanmar/Burma (1948); however, if you’re not after de facto independence and full UN membership, then it’s Palestine (1988/2012) – unless you care about the name itself (even if it’s controversial) and the UN recognition of Palestine in 2012 is not taken into account: then it is Myanmar (1989).