Already riven by decades of civil war, military rule and more recently coronavirus , the fragile state of Myanmar is once again in turmoil.

In the early hours of Monday, the countrys military launched a coup and detained the democratically-elected leader of the nation.

The takeover is a sharp reversal of the partial yet significant progress toward democracy Myanmar has made in recent years, following five decades of military rule and international isolation that began in 1962.

This is what you need to know:

The democratically elected leader

Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, came to power at the head of the National League for Democracy party (NLD) after a 2015 election win that followed decades of house arrest and struggle against the junta that made her an international icon.

She was praised around the world for her pivotal role in bringing democracy to her country, but just four years later would be at the Hague facing charges of genocide but well come to that a bit later.

The daughter of independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated when she was two years old, Suu Kyi spent much of her youth overseas.

At Oxford University, she met British academic Michael Aris, who would become her husband. They had two sons and settled in Oxford.