  Many 3D N-body barred models of the Galaxy extending beyond the Solar circle
are realised by self-consistent evolution of various bar unstable axisymmetric
models. The COBE/DIRBE K-band map, corrected for extinction, is used to
constrain the location of the observer in these models, assuming a constant
mass-to-light ratio. The resulting view points in the best matching models
suggest that the inclination angle of the Galactic bar relative to the
Sun-Galactic centre line is 28+-7 degree. Scaling the masses according to the
observed radial velocity dispersion of M giants in Baade's Window, several
models reproduce satisfactorily the kinematics of disc and halo stars in the
Solar neighbourhood, as well as the disc local surface density and scale
parameters. These models have a face-on bar axis ratio b/a=0.5+-0.1 and a bar
pattern speed Omega_p=50+-5 km/s/kpc, corresponding to a corotation radius of
4.3+-0.5 kpc. The HI terminal velocity constraints favour models with low disc
mass fraction near the centre. The large microlensing optical depths observed
towards the Galactic bulge exclude models with a disc scale height hz<250 pc
around R=4 kpc, arguing for a constant thickness Galactic disc. The models also
indicate that a spiral arm starting at the near end of the bar can contribute
as much as 0.5x10^(-6) to the optical depth in Baade's Window. The mass-to-K
luminosity ratio of the Galactic bulge is probably more than 0.7 (Solar units),
and if the same ratio applies outside the bar region, then the Milky Way should
have a maximum disc.
