Some says the breed was introduced in Europe at the year of 1916, coming from the SouthEast Asia. Other says that this is a breed developed by the French, early on the XX Sigle. The only certain thing is that it was recognized as breed, for the first time, in 1925 by the French Feline Federation .
As many other breeds, they were almost extinct during the Second World War, whem only one couple has survived.
To maintain the breed, some crossings were done with other kinds of long and short hair cats.
The Birman arrived at the USA during 1959, at England on 1965 and at Brasil during the 70´s. A german named Gunther Holderer was the one responsible for bringing the Birmans to Brasil.

The Birmans are very kind, loving, sweet and extremely socialized with people. Their temper is really charming. They are very intelligent and easy to adapt to other animals, mainly with dogs.