| Arakan Mountains | |
|---|---|
| Rakhine Mountains | |
 View of the Arakan Mountains inMaungdaw district rising above the banks of theNaf River | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mount Victoria |
| Elevation | 3,094 m (10,151 ft) |
| Coordinates | 21°25′46.36″N93°49′10.75″E / 21.4295444°N 93.8196528°E /21.4295444; 93.8196528 |
| Naming | |
| Native name | ရခိုင်ရိုးမ (Burmese) |
| Geography | |
  Arakan Mountains The Arakan Mountains are an elongated range in western Myanmar | |
| Country | Myanmar |
| State | Rakhine State |
| Range coordinates | 21°16′N93°57′E / 21.267°N 93.950°E /21.267; 93.950 |
| Geology | |
| Rock type(s) | metamorphic and tightly folded sedimentary rocks over crystalline basement |
TheArakan Mountains, natively referred asRakhine Yoma (Burmese:ရခိုင်ရိုးမ) and technically known as theSouthern Indo-Burman Range, are amountain range in westernMyanmar, between the coast ofRakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows theIrrawaddy River. It is the most prominent of a series of parallel ridges that arc throughAssam,Nagaland,Manipur,Mizoram and Myanmar.
The Arakan Mountains run fromCape Negrais in the south toManipur, India in the north. They include theNaga Hills, theChin Hills, and thePatkai range which includes theLushai Hills.[1] The mountain chain is submerged in theBay of Bengal for a long stretch and emerges again in the form of theAndaman and Nicobar Islands.
The wordArakan is derived from theSanskrit wordRakshasa (राक्षस) meaningdemon, a term used to refer to the inhabitants of the region.[2]
The Arakan Mountains and the parallel arcs to the west and east were formed by compression as theIndian Plate collided with theEurasian Plate approximately along the boundary between India and Myanmar which produced the Naga-Patkai foldbelt.[3][4]
The Arakan Mountain Range is over 600 miles (950 km) long,[1] with about 250 miles (400 km) of actual mountains. The highest point in the range isKhonu Msung (or Mount Victoria) at 3,094 metres (10,151 ft).[citation needed]
The Arakan Mountains are crossed by a road betweenAnn andMinbu and by an all-weather road from Taungup toPyay on the Irrawaddy.[citation needed]
The Arakan Mountains divide the Rakhine coast from the rest of Myanmar, and thus have acted as a barrier between the peoples of central Myanmar and those of the Indian subcontinent. This played a role in fostering the separate development of theRakhine people, both linguistically and culturally, from theBurmese. The Arakan Mountains also served as a barrier inhibiting Burmese invasions, and allowing Arakan to develop as a separate political entity. Thus the coastal cities, such asMrauk U andWaithali, formed the core of Arakan civilization.[citation needed]
There were fierce battles in these mountains between January 1943 and March 1944 during theJapanese occupation of Burma. The Japanese 33rd and 55th Divisions faced the British military on the coastal side of the range. The British forces won.[citation needed]
The Arakan Mountains act as a barrier to the southwestern monsoon rains and thus shield the central Myanmar area, making their western slopes extraordinarily wet during the monsoon with typically over 1 metre (39 in) of rain per month, and the eastern slopes much drier.[1] They include theChin Hills-Arakan Yoma montane forests ecoregion which is home to anelephant population and also the critically endangeredArakan forest turtle which was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1994.[5]