Sagaing စစ်ကိုင်းမြို့ Zeyapura | |
|---|---|
City | |
 TheYadanabon Bridge on the Irrawaddy | |
  Sagaing Location in Myanmar | |
| Coordinates:21°52′56″N95°58′43″E / 21.88222°N 95.97861°E /21.88222; 95.97861 | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region |  Sagaing Region |
| Region | Sagaing District |
| Region | Sagaing Township |
| Population (2023)[1] | 83,949 |
| • Religions | |
| Time zone | UTC+6.30 (MMT) |
Sagaing (Burmese:စစ်ကိုင်းမြို့,MLCTS:cac kuing: mrui.,pronounced[zəɡáɪɰ̃mjo̰]) is the capital city ofSagaing Region ofMyanmar. It is located on theIrrawaddy River, 20 km (12 mi) to the south-west ofMandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerousBuddhistmonasteries, is an important religious and monastic centre. Thepagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous hills along the ridge running parallel to the river. The central pagoda, Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, is connected by a set of covered staircases that run up the 240 m (790 ft) hill.
Today, with about 70,000 inhabitants, the city is part ofMandalay metropolitan area, home to more than 1,022,000 inhabitants as of 2011. It is a frequent tourist destination for day trippers, usually as part of the "three former capitals" itinerary alongsideAmarapura andInnwa.
The city is home to five institutions of higher learning: theSagaing Institute of Education,Sagaing Education College,Sagaing Technological University,Sagaing University of Co-operative and Management, and Sagaing University. The latter was established on 11 February 2012; it is located in Pakatoe Quarter,Sagaing Township, with an area of 121.55 ha (300.35 acres).
The classical name of Sagaing isZeyapura (ဇေယျာပူရ;Pali:Jayapura), which literally translates to "city of victory."[2]
Sagaing was the capital ofSagaing Kingdom (1315–1364), one of the minor kingdoms that rose up after the fall ofPagan dynasty, where one ofThihathu's sons, Athinkhaya, established himself.[3]: 227 During theAva period (1364–1555), the city was the commonfief of the crown prince or senior princes. During the reign of KingNaungdawgyi, Sagaing briefly became the royal capital between 1760 and 1763.
On 8 August 1988, Sagaing was the site of mass public protests in support of the8888 Uprising, which were brutally crushed by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed by local police forces.[4]
Despite its name, the town is not the capital of Sagaing Region.[5] However, groups including the civil society group "Steering Committee for the Return of All Regional Offices to Sagaing City in Accordance with the Constitution" object to this saying that the use ofMonywa as the regional capital is unconstitutional per the2008 Constitution of Myanmar.[6]
As the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude2025 Sagaing earthquake, the city suffered loss of life as well as extensive damage to its buildings and infrastructure alongside neighbouring Mandalay. TheAva Bridge, one of two road-rail bridges connecting Sagaing to Mandalay, has partially collapsed.[7] The city's fire station also collapsed, hampering relief efforts and trapping many.[8] More than 100 bodies were recovered from the rubble of destroyed builings and 90 percent of structures were destroyed.[9][10] An estimated over 150 Muslim worshippers in the city died across three collapsed mosques.[11] Out of the five mosques in Sagaing, four collapsed due to the earthquake.[12] The Min Street Mosque is feared to have collapsed with over 100 people inside. Several monastic schools and a nunnery in the city were also damaged, likely killing people in the hundreds and trapping over 900 monks across four schools.[13]
In 2014, the city had 81,432 people within its city limits. The broaderSagaing Township had 307,194 people.[14] In 2019, the city's population dropped to 79,944 people[15] before returning to 83,939 people in 2023. However, the broader Sagaing township area had fallen in population to 295,195 people.[1]
Located in the rain shadow of theArakan Mountains, Sagaing has a borderlinehot semi-arid climate (KöppenBSh) just short of atropical savanna climate (Aw). The city receives less than a third of the rainfall thatChittagong has at a similar latitude on theBay of Bengal. Unlike most monsoonal semi-arid climates, the rainy season is relatively long at around five to six months, while variability and extreme monthly and daily rainfalls are much lower than usual with this type of climate.[16]
| Climate data for Sagaing (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.5 (94.1) | 37.7 (99.9) | 42.0 (107.6) | 45.5 (113.9) | 45.2 (113.4) | 40.5 (104.9) | 40.0 (104.0) | 38.4 (101.1) | 38.8 (101.8) | 38.0 (100.4) | 37.0 (98.6) | 36.5 (97.7) | 45.5 (113.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.5 (85.1) | 32.6 (90.7) | 36.4 (97.5) | 38.3 (100.9) | 36.0 (96.8) | 34.4 (93.9) | 33.7 (92.7) | 33.0 (91.4) | 33.2 (91.8) | 32.8 (91.0) | 31.4 (88.5) | 29.2 (84.6) | 33.4 (92.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.0 (71.6) | 24.5 (76.1) | 28.6 (83.5) | 31.4 (88.5) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.3 (86.5) | 29.9 (85.8) | 29.5 (85.1) | 29.4 (84.9) | 28.5 (83.3) | 25.9 (78.6) | 22.6 (72.7) | 27.8 (82.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.5 (58.1) | 16.5 (61.7) | 20.8 (69.4) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.8 (78.4) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.5 (77.9) | 24.2 (75.6) | 20.4 (68.7) | 16.0 (60.8) | 22.2 (72.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.7 (51.3) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.5 (56.3) | 18.7 (65.7) | 19.3 (66.7) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.0 (68.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 19.2 (66.6) | 16.7 (62.1) | 14.0 (57.2) | 12.3 (54.1) | 10.7 (51.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 5.0 (0.20) | 3.5 (0.14) | 5.4 (0.21) | 40.6 (1.60) | 148.6 (5.85) | 82.1 (3.23) | 66.2 (2.61) | 126.2 (4.97) | 158.9 (6.26) | 134.3 (5.29) | 28.4 (1.12) | 4.8 (0.19) | 804.0 (31.65) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 9.5 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 9.3 | 11.0 | 8.5 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 59.0 |
| Source 1:World Meteorological Organization[17] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Meteomanz(record since 2014)[18] | |||||||||||||
TheKaunghmudaw Pagoda (Burmese:ကောင်းမှုတော် ဘုရား[káʊɴm̥ṵdɔ̀pʰəjá]; Yaza Mani Sula Kaunghmudaw (ရာဇမဏိစူဠာ ကောင်းမှုတော်); Pali: Rājamaṇicūḷā) is a large pagoda on the northwestern outskirts of Sagaing.
Sagaing | ||
| Preceded by | Capital of Sagaing Kingdom June 1315 – April 1364 | Succeeded by End of Kingdom |
| Preceded by New Kingdom | Capital of Ava Kingdom April – September 1364 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Capital of Burma 26 July 1760 – 23 July 1765 | Succeeded by |
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