Timeline: Burma

1948: Burma, which Britain annexed in 1852, initially as part of India, becomes independent, with nationalist leader U Nu as prime minister.

1962: A government led by U Nu, elected two years before, is overthrown in a military coup.

1988: Protests in August against political oppression and the government mishandling of the economy are brutally suppressed, leaving 3,000 people dead. The current ruling junta seizes power in the aftermath and the National League for Democracy is formed.

1989: The junta declares martial law and changes the country's name to Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947, is held for "endangering the state". Others NLD leaders are arrested.

1990: The NLD wins a landslide victory in an election allowed by the junta, but the results are then ignored by the military government.

1991: Aung Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace prize.

1992: The reclusive Than Shwe becomes the leading general in the regime.

1995: Aung San Suu Kyi is freed from house arrest.

2000: Aung San Suu Kyi put under house arrest again for flouting a travel ban.

2002: Aung San Suu Kyi freed again, but later placed in "protective custody" after a pro-government mob attacked her supporters.

2006: The government moves the capital from Rangoon (which it has renamed Yangon) to Naypyidaw, a newly built city in the jungle.

August 2007: Fuel prices rise sharply after fuel subsidies are scrapped. Within days, thousands take part in rallies in Rangoon, later joined by Buddhist monks.

September 2007: The protests escalate into a broader pro-democracy demonstration. Protesters greet Aung San Suu Kyi outside her home, the first sighting of her in public since 2003.

September 24: Up to 100,000 people march in Rangoon, the biggest anti-government protest since 1988. Two days later a violent crackdown begins, with troop raiding monasteries and arresting protesters. Some demonstrators and a Japanese journalist are shot dead.

October 2007: A UN envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, meets both Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi, urging the regime to negotiate with opposition leaders. Later that month, talks take place but without any apparent breakthrough.

May 2008: Cyclone Nargis devastates large parts of Burma, particularly the Irrawaddy delta region, killing an estimated 130,000 people. The junta faces severe international criticism after it refuses permission for outside aid agencies to enter the country and assist the millions of people affected, a stance it later softens slightly.

Amid the global attention on the country there is speculation that Aung San Suu Kyi might be released when her house arrest order expires at midnight on May 17. However, the junta extends this shortly before the deadline.