Magway Region မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး | |
|---|---|
| Myanma transcription(s) | |
| • Burmese | ma. kwe: tuing: desa. kri: |
 Border of Magway Region and Naypyidaw Union Territory | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location of Magway Region in Myanmar | |
| Coordinates:20°15′N94°45′E / 20.250°N 94.750°E /20.250; 94.750 | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region | Upper |
| Capital | Magway |
| Largest city | Pakokku |
| Government | |
| • Chief Minister | Tint Lwin |
| • Cabinet | Magway Region Government |
| • Legislature | Magway Region Hluttaw |
| • Judiciary | Magway Region High Court |
| Area | |
• Total | 44,820.6 km2 (17,305.3 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 4th |
| Highest elevation | 2,703 m (8,868 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 3,917,055 |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 87/km2 (230/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Magwegian |
| Demographics | |
| • Ethnicities | Bamar,Chin,Rakhine,Shan,Karen |
| • Religions | Buddhism 98.8% Christianity 0.7% Islam 0.3% Hinduism 0.1% animism 0.1% |
| Time zone | UTC+06:30 (MST) |
| HDI (2017) | 0.560[2] medium ·6th |
Magway Region (Burmese:မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး,pronounced[məɡwétáiɰ̃dèθa̰dʑí]; formerlyMagway Division) is anadministrative division in centralMyanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of 44,820 km2 (17,306 square miles). Pa Del Dam (ပဒဲဆည်) is one of the dams inAunglan Township, Magway Division. The capital and second largest city of the Magway Division isMagway. The largest city isPakokku. The major cities of Magway Division areMagway,Pakokku,Aunglan,Yenangyaung,Taungdwingyi,Chauk,Minbu,Thayet andGangaw.
Magway Region sits approximately between north latitude 18° 50' to 22° 47' and east longitude 93° 47' to 95° 55'. It is bordered bySagaing Region to the north,Mandalay Region to the east,Bago Region to the south, andRakhine State andChin State to the west.
Fossils of the earlyprimates over 40 million years old were excavated in the Pondaung and Ponnya areas from Pakokku District in Magway Region, leading the government to proclaim that Myanmar as "the birthplace of humanity in the world," a claim which is unsupported by anthropologists. An ancient city of thePyu, Peikthano-myo, about 2,000 years old, is located in Taungdwingyi Township, Magway Region.
The history of Magway Region mirrors that of the other divisions of central Burma. The ancient name of Magway Region is Minbu Region (or) Minbu Province. Minbu Region was established with 3 districts. They are Minbu District, Thayet District, and Yenangyaung District. Its capital city wasYenangyaung. In 1950,Chauk township was moved to Yenangyaung District from Myingyan District.
On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military. A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974.
The name ofMinbu Region was changed toMagway Region and Yenangyaung District was abolished.Magway District was established with 6 townships.Pakokku Hill Tracts (or)Pakokku Province was abolished, andPakokku District was added to the Magway Division andMindat District was added to theChin state. Magway Region was then divided into 4 districts:Magway District,Minbu District,Thayet District andPakokku District. Its capital city was changed fromYenangyaung toMagway.
In 4 April 1996,Pakokku District was divided into two districts:Pakokku District andGangaw District. Currently, Magway Region has a total of 5 districts and 25 townships.
Magway Region's districts areMagwe,Minbu,Thayet,Pakokku andGangaw, comprising 25 townships and 1,696 ward village tracts. Its capital city isMagwe (2020 urban population estimated as 85,214) and its largest city isPakokku (2020 urban population estimated as 107,890).
Other major cities areAunglan (2020 urban population estimated as 52,431),Yenangyaung (2020 urban population estimated as 49,938),Taungdwingyi (2020 urban population estimated as 47,739),Chauk (2020 urban population estimated as 47,568) andMinbu (2020 urban population estimated as 40,304).
| Rank | City | District | 2014 Census (2020 Estimate) | 1993 Estimate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pakokku | Pakokku District | 107,890 | 90,783 | +18.84% |
| 2 | Magway | Magway District | 85,214 | 72,388 | +17.72% |
| 3 | Aunglan | Thayet District | 52,431 | 43,223 | +21.30% |
| 4 | Yenangyaung | Magway District | 49,938 | 90,845 | −45.03% |
| 5 | Taungdwingyi | Magway District | 47,739 | 52,335 | −8.78% |
| 6 | Chauk | Magway District | 47,568 | 67,845 | −29.89% |
| 7 | Minbu | Minbu District | 40,304 | 42,809 | −5.85% |
| 8 | Yesagyo | Pakokku District | 24,428 | 23,329 | +4.71% |
| 9 | Salin | Minbu District | 20,329 | 12,158 | +67.21% |
| 10 | Thayet | Thayet District | 20,182 | 46,361 | −56.47% |
| 11 | Natmauk | Magway District | 14,523 | 14,737 | −1.45% |
| 12 | Gangaw | Gangaw District | 12,829 | 13,955 | −8.07% |
| 13 | Minhla | Thayet District | 12,577 | 12,510 | +0.54% |
| 14 | Myothit | Magway District | 9,197 | 8,080 | +13.82% |
| 15 | Seikphyu | Pakokku District | 9,165 | 9,081 | +0.93% |
| 16 | Myaing | Pakokku District | 8,328 | 7,706 | +8.07% |
| 17 | Pauk | Pakokku District | 8,048 | 7,286 | +10.46% |
| 18 | Pwintbyu | Minbu District | 6,575 | 5,350 | +22.90% |
| 19 | Saw | Gangaw District | 5,944 | 7,078 | −16.02% |
| 20 | Sidoktaya | Minbu District | 5,862 | 6,514 | −10.01% |
| 21 | Mindon | Thayet District | 5,401 | 5,098 | +5.94% |
| 22 | Kamma | Thayet District | 5,146 | 5,202 | −1.08% |
| 23 | Sinbaungwe | Thayet District | 5,025 | 4,996 | +0.58% |
| 24 | Htilin | Gangaw District | 4,810 | 4,348 | +10.63% |
| 25 | Ngape | Minbu District | 4,223 | 6,514 | −35.17% |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(July 2015) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(July 2015) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(July 2015) |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 2,634,757 | — |
| 1983 | 3,243,166 | +23.1% |
| 2014 | 3,917,055 | +20.8% |
| Source: 2014 Myanmar Census[1] | ||
The population of Magway Region is 3,912,711 in 2014. Over 95% the people areBamar, with very small numbers of minorities includingChin,Rakhine,Karen,Shan, and a tinyAnglo-Burmese population. During colonial times, this part of Burma had a largeAnglo-Burmese population, descended from Western oil workers and their Burmese partners.
According to the2014 Myanmar Census,Buddhists make up 98.8% of Magway Region’s population, forming the largest religious community there.[4] Minority religious communities includeChristians (0.7%),Muslims (0.3%),Hindus (0.1%), andanimists (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Magway Region’s population.[4]
According to theState Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee’s 2016 statistics, 31,349 Buddhist monks were registered in Magway Region, comprising 5.9% of Myanmar's totalSangha membership, which includes both novicesamanera and fully-ordained bhikkhu.[5] The majority of monks belong to theThudhamma Nikaya (97%), followed byShwegyin Nikaya (2.4%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other smallmonastic orders.[5] 2,473thilashin were registered in Magway Region, comprising 4.1% of Myanmar’s total thilashin community.[5]
TheIrrawaddy River is the major transportation system in Magway Region, both in terms of volume of goods and population served. Most major towns in the region are river ports on the Irrawaddy; among them areMagway,Pakokku,Minbu,Yenangyaung,Chauk,Allanmyo, andThayetmyo.Pakokku's river port is a major port of Magway Region and the third most important river port in Myanmar afterYangon port andMandalay port.
The major form of transport for non-Irrawaddy areas is by road. The road system is less developed on the western side of the river. The towns are connected with two-lane roads. Most towns have regular bus transportation toRangoon (Yangon) andMandalay.Pakokku Bridge is part of theIndia–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway and is the longest bridge in Myanmar.
ThePyay toNyaung-U,Pakokku andMyingyan railway runs through eastern Magway with connections to the capitalNaypyidaw,Rangoon andMandalay. The major stops in Magway on that line areTaungdwingyi andNatmauk. In addition, there are two rail lines running north from the Irrawaddy port ofKyangin, one toChaung-U inSagaing Region and the other to theMyittha River valley pastMyaing andKyaw.[7]
The capital Magway has a small non-commercial airport with air traffic for the city of Magway mostly coming in through Bagan Airport atNyaung U some 113 km to the north along the Irrawaddy. There are commercial airports atGangaw,Kyauktu,[8]Pakokku, andPauk.[7] As of 2018[update], however, none of them have regularly scheduled flights.Pakokku airport, however, plans to upgrade to an international airport soon.
The principal product of Magway Region ispetroleum. It produces most of the oil andnatural gas in Burma. Magway Region's oil fields are located in Mann, Yenangyaung, Chauk, Kyauk-khwet, Letpando and Ayadaw.[9]
In May 2002,Russia agreed to help Myanmar build a 10-megawattnuclear reactor and two laboratories in the region.[10] Other industries includecement,cottonweaving, andtobacco,iron andbronze. Magway Region produces a large quantity ofedible oil as well as petroleum, hence gaining its reputation as the "oil pot of Myanmar".
Pakokku is the largest rice market city ofUpper Myanmar (Burma). Agriculture is another important practice, the major crops beingsesamum andgroundnut. Other crops grown arerice,millet,maize,sunflower,beans andpulses,tobacco,toddy,chili,onions, andpotatoes. Famous products of Magway Region includeThanaka (Limonia acidissima) andPhangar (Chebulicmyrobalan) fruit.
Only Pakokku and Yenangyaung have industrial zones.
Pakokku is the biggest rice market in Upper Myanmar due to the rice requirement of the region itself and being a door to Chin State which also needs rice. Of the incoming rice to Pakokku, 70% is from the Ayeyawady Region (Myaungmya, Hinthada and Myanaung) and 30% is from Shwebo and Ye-U of the Sagaing Region. Some 20% of rice coming into the market of Pakokku is consumed by Pakokku itself, and the remaining 80% is sent to other township markets. Most buyers are from Myaing, Yesagyo, Pauk, Myingyan, Kalaymyo and Chin State. In the Pakokku market, consumption is 15% for top class, 50% for middle class and 35% for lower class rice. There are about 5 large rice wholesalers and 10 small rice wholesalers. A large rice wholesaler sells 500 to 1,500 bags per day, so it can sell 180,000 to 200,000 bags (9,000-10,000 tons) a year. Due to the smooth transportation and the booming market, the rice price becomes very high. Thus, the rice market in Pakokku has increased to double that of the Mandalay market.
As of 2002, Magway Region have 3859 schools, of which only 70 are high schools.[11] Only about 10% of the division's primary school students reach high school.
| AY 2002-2003 | Primary | Middle | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools | 3605 | 184 | 70 |
| Teachers | 14,800 | 3730 | 1377 |
| Students | 428,000 | 128,000 | 44,000 |
Most of 12 colleges and universities in the division are located inMagway,Pakokku andYenangyaung.
The general state of health care in Myanmar is poor. The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on health care, consistently ranking among the lowest in the world.[12][13] Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals lack many of the basic facilities and equipment. Moreover, the health care infrastructure outside ofYangon andMandalay is extremely poor. As of 2003, Magway Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region with a slightly greater population.[14]
| 2002–2003 | # Hospitals | # Beds |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist hospitals | 0 | 0 |
| General hospitals with specialist services | 3 | 550 |
| General hospitals | 25 | 750 |
| Health clinics | 36 | 576 |
| Total | 64 | 1916 |
{{cite news}}:Check|url= value (help)Places adjacent to Magway Region | |
|---|---|
Capital:Magway | ||
| Gangaw District |  | |
| Magway District | ||
| Minbu District | ||
| Pakokku District | ||
| Thayet District | ||
| Main cities and towns | ||
| States |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Regions | ||
| Self-Administered Zones | ||
| Self-Administered Divisions | ||
| Union Territories | ||
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|
