Burmese becomes Google's 74th Gmail language

Google said Wednesday that Gmail is now available in Burmese, marking the 74th language for the popular email service.

"As a country of 53 million, Myanmar's recent opening-up has triggered an explosion of people coming online," Google product manager Brian Kemler said in a blog post.

"As recently as 2011, a mere 500,000 Myanmar citizens were able to access the Internet, which was less than one percent of the population," he added.

He said the number of people in Myanmar who can get online has grown to 2.6 million, as the availability of mobile phones has increased.

Kemler noted that "our team has been working hard to ensure Google is ready to support this new community in their own language."

"To capture the nuances of this language and make sure the translations were accurate, consistent and complete, we relied on an array of Myanmar speakers from within the country, and around the world," he said.

"In April 2013 we launched Google Search in Myanmar, and today we're excited to announce that Gmail now supports Myanmar (Burmese), our 74th language."

A quasi-civilian regime that came to power in 2011 has ushered in a new era of political openness in the Asian country but a clause under the junta-era constitution still bars Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency.