Ayeyarwady Region ဧရာဝတီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး | |
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| MLC transcription(s) | |
| • Burmese | erawa.ti tuing: desa. kri: |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location of Ayeyarwady Region in Myanmar | |
| Coordinates:16°50′N95°10′E / 16.833°N 95.167°E /16.833; 95.167 | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region | Lower |
| Capital | Pathein |
| Government | |
| • Chief Minister | Tin Maung Win |
| • Cabinet | Ayeyarwady Region Government |
| • Legislature | Ayeyarwady Region Hluttaw |
| • Judiciary | Ayeyarwady Region High Court |
| Area | |
• Total | 35,140 km2 (13,570 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 10th |
| Highest elevation (Taungni) | 1,225 m (4,019 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 6,184,829 |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| • Density | 180/km2 (460/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Ayeyarwadian |
| Demographics | |
| • Ethnicities | Bamar,Rakhine,Indians,Karen |
| • Religions | Buddhism 92.1% Christianity 6.3% Islam 1.4% Hinduism 0.1% Others 0.1% |
| Time zone | UTC+06:30 (MST) |
| HDI (2017) | 0.530[2] low ·11th |
| Website | www |
Ayeyarwady Region (Burmese:ဧရာဝတီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး[ʔèjàwədìtáiɰ̃dèθa̰dʑí],S'gaw Karen:ထံထၣ်စွ့,Pwo Western Karen:ထံၫထၪကျိၩ့; formerlyAyeyarwady Division andIrrawaddy Division) is aregion ofMyanmar, occupying the delta region of theAyeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is bordered by theRakhine State to the northwest, theBago Region to the north, Bago Region andYangon Region to the east, and theBay of Bengal to the south and west.
The region lies between approximately latitude 15° 40' and 18° 30' north and between longitude 94° 15' and 96° 15' east. It has an area of 35,140 square kilometres (13,566 sq mi). The estimated 2022 population is more than 6.5 million. According to the 2014 Burmese National Census the population of the Ayeyarwady Region was 6,184,829, making it the second most populous of Burma's states and regions after Yangon Region.
Ayeyarwady Region is flanked by theRakhine Yoma (Arakan Mountains) range in the west. Large areas have been cleared for paddy cultivation, leading to its preeminent position as the main rice producer in the country, a position it has retained into the 21st century.
It has also a number of lakes. Of the rivers branching out from the mightyAyeyarwady,Ngawun,Pathein andToe are famous.
The capital city of Ayeyarwady division isPathein.
Chaungtha Beach andNgwesaung Beach are popular resorts for both foreigners and the Burmese.They are in the west of the Ayeyarwady Region, an hour fromPathein city and four hours fromYangon city by road.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 4,156,673 | — |
| 1983 | 4,994,061 | +20.1% |
| 2014 | 6,184,829 | +23.8% |
| 2024 | 6,330,000 | +2.3% |
| Source: 2014 Myanmar Census[1] | ||
Bamar 4,873,027 (76.98%) andKaren 1,426,973 (22.5%) form the majority of the population, with a small minority ofRakhine (0.47%) in western coastal regions.Burmese is thelingua franca. The majority of the people areBuddhist, with small minorities ofChristians,Muslims,Hindus andBaháʼís.
According to the2014 Myanmar Census,Buddhists make up 92.2% of Ayeyawady Region's population, forming the largest religious community there.[4] Minority religious communities includeChristians (6.3%),Muslims (1.4%), andHindus (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Ayeyawady Region's population.[4] 0.1% of the population listed no religion, other religions, or were otherwise not enumerated.[4]
According to theState Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee's 2016 statistics, 42,494 Buddhist monks were registered in Ayeyawady Region, comprising 7.9% of Myanmar's totalSangha membership, which includes both novicesamanera and fully-ordained bhikkhu.[5] The majority of monks belong to theThudhamma Nikaya (80.1%), followed byShwegyin Nikaya (8.3%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other smallmonastic orders.[5] 5,520thilashin were registered in Ayeyawady Region, comprising 9.1% of Myanmar's total thilashin community.[5]
Ayeyarwady Region is heavily forested and wood products are an important component of the economy. The principal crop of Ayeyarwady Region isrice, and the division is called the "granary of Burma". In addition to rice, other crops includemaize,sesame,groundnut,sunflower,beans,pulses, andjute. Fishery is also important; Ayeyarwady Region produces fish,prawn, fish-paste, dry fish, dry prawn, and fish sauce.
Despite the importance of agriculture to the region, landlessness is high in rural households. Most farms are small; nearly half are under 5 acres. Rice paddy agriculture is dominant during themonsoon but irrigation is limited, especially in smaller farms, during the dry season. Seeds are sourced from own reserves rather than from specialized traders. Yields from farms average 3.3 tons per hectare, lower than other Asian countries.[6]
Ayeyarwady Region also has considerable tourist potential. The city ofPathein has numerous historic sights and temples. Outside Pathein are the beach resorts of Chaungtha Beach and the lake resort of Inye Lake. Inye lake is located inKyonpyaw township, 59 miles (95 km) north east of Pathein. Inye lake is also well known for fishery, as the major supplier of fresh water fish. Chaungtha is located in Pathein township. However, hotel and transportationinfrastructure is still very poorly developed.
The Ayeyarwady delta region was Historically part of theMon kingdoms like theHanthawaddy Kingdom. This area fell under Burmese (and occasionalArakanese and Mon) rule from the 11th century AD onwards. Its subsequent history mirrors that of the rest of lower Burma.
An ancient overland pre-Tang trade route fromSichuan (modernYunnan Province) toBengal passed through Ayeyarwady.[7]
Ayeyarwady Region was the site of heavy devastation whenCyclone Nargis made landfall in early May2008. Thecyclone made landfall on the town of Wagon near Haigyi Island.[8]Labutta Township was most heavily struck with around 80,000 deaths. The cyclone's path devastated the low-lyingdelta regions going through south-central Ayeyarwady Region andBogale before entering neighbouring Yangon Region. Nargis was the most expensive tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean at the time, costing $12 billion in aid.[9]
Burma's state-controlled news media reported that Nargis left more than 66,000 people dead or missing after it struck the Irrawaddy Delta region May 2, unleashing torrential rains, 120 mph sustained winds and a 12-foot (3.7 m)storm surge. Foreign relief officials and diplomats said the death toll could exceed 100,000,[10] making it the worstnatural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar.[11] The final death toll was at least 146,000 with 90,000 confirmed dead and 56,000 or more missing.[12]
Ayeyarwady Region consists of eight districts:
Labutta District was formed in August 2008, three months afterCyclone Nargis hit the region. Kyonpyaw District and Myanaung District are the newest districts, formed in 2019 in the lead up to the2020 Elections
Pathein is the capital city and capital. The region consists of 26 townships and 29 cities. In the townships there are 219 wards, 1912 village groups and 11651 villages.
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Ayeyarwady Region is served byPathein Airport.
Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities ofYangon andMandalay. According to official statistics, less than 10% of primary school students in the division reach high school.[13]
| AY 2002–2003 | Primary | Middle | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools | 5623 | 270 | 102 |
| Teachers | 17,600 | 5700 | 1800 |
| Students | 708,000 | 181,000 | 61,000 |
Pathein University is the main university in the state, and until recently the only four-year university in the state. In recent years, themilitary government, which closed down universities and colleges in the 1990s to quell student unrest, has "upgraded" former colleges and two-year institutes. The government now requires that students attend their local universities and colleges, such asHinthada University andMaubin University.
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.[14][15] 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 of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. For example, in 2003, Ayeyarwady Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region although Ayeyarwady Region had a slightly greater population.[16]
| 2002–2003 | # Hospitals | # Beds |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist hospitals | 0 | 0 |
| General hospitals with specialist services | 2 | 450 |
| General hospitals | 24 | 910 |
| Health clinics | 45 | 720 |
| Total | 71 | 2080 |
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Media related toAyeyarwady Region at Wikimedia Commons
Places adjacent to Ayeyarwady Region | |
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