Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region,

Myanmar (Burma) Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the

Pathein River This is a list of rivers in Myanmar (also known as Burma). This list is arranged by drainage basin from east to west, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Indian Ocean * Nāf River * Kaladan River * Lemro Ri ...

(Pathein), which is a western branch of the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Orig ...

, the city has a population of 237,089 (2017 census). Although once a part of the Mon kingdom, Pathein has few ethnic

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

residents today. The majority are of Bamar with a significant

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

, Burmese Indian, Rakhine and

Burmese Chinese Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke, are a Burmese citizens of full or partial Chinese ancestry. They are group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). As of 2012, the Burmese Chinese population is estimated to be as h ...

populations .

Etymology

The city's name is believed to derive from the Old Mon name, (). "pha" means great or wide and sī/sɛm means river or sea. Pha-sɛm means a big sea. The name was corrupted to ''Bassein'' during the British colonial period. An alternate theory holds that the city's name comes from the classical name of Pathein, Kusimanagara, a name used by ancient writings and the Kalyani inscriptions. Pathein itself is a corruption of

"Kuthen," which itself is a contraction of Kusimanagara. This is supported by the fact that the Portuguese call Pathein "Cosmim."

History

Pathein was part of the Mon kingdom. The British built a fort and established a garrison in 1826, after the First Anglo-Burmese War. The 1983 census recorded a population of 144,092.

Geography and economy

Lying at the western edge of the

Ayeyarwady River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indo-Aryan languages, Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important comm ...

delta, on the Pathein (Ngawan) River west of Yangon, Pathein is accessible to large vessels and despite its distance from the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

, it is the most important delta port outside of Yangon. The city is also a terminus of a branch of the main

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

line which connects it to

Hinthada Hinthada ( my, ဟင်္သာတမြို့; formerly Henzada) is a city located on the Irrawaddy River in Ayeyarwady Region, Burma (Myanmar). In the 1983 census the city itself had a population of 82,005. By 2010 it had grown to 170,312. ...

Letpadan Letpatan or Letpadan United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Tharrawaddy District, Pegu region in Burma (Myanmar). It is the administrative seat of Letpadan Township Letpatan Township ( my, လက်ပတန်း� ...

and Yangon. In the 1990s, the road network along the Irrawaddy to

Monywa Monywa (; ) is the largest city in Sagaing Region, Myanmar, located north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the River Chindwin. Monywa is one of the largest economic cities in Myanmar. It is also known as Neem city because many of the c ...

was improved. The coastline along the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

is surrounded by the

Arakan Mountains The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...

. In the area is Inye Lake, long and wide, which is known for its fishing. There is also an offshore reef at Diamond Island that is popular with bathers. Diamond Island is also noted as a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

breeding ground. The city is a

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

-milling and export centre. Aside from several rice mills, the town has numerous sawmills and umbrella workshops. The colourful handmade parasols made in Pathein are widely known throughout Burma. They are known locally as " Pathein hti". Pathein is also known for its pottery and colourful hand-made baskets and buckets. Among Pathein's most prominent industries also include production of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

, mats, and Pathein halawa. The textiles produced in Pathein Industrial Zone is, however, the largest industry economy of the city. The surrounding area of Pathein are employed in agriculture and primarily cultivates

. Other crops include

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

s, groundnuts,

jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is '' Corchorus ol ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

pulse (legume) A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livesto ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, chilies as well as a wide variety of fruits like banana and

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabacea ...

Climate

Pathein has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(''Am'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system. Pathein experiences a sustained period of extraordinary rainfall from June through August. The dry season which runs from December through April, begins with noticeably cooler temperatures than the remainder of the year, but becomes sweltering as the wet season approaches in March and April.

Demographics

2014

The 2014 Myanmar Census reported that Pathein had a population of 169,773, representing 59.1% of Pathein Township's total population. Pathein is subdivided into 15 urban wards.

Landmarks

Pathein has a scenic waterfront and many

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temples, including the main sight of Shwemokhtaw Pagoda. * Tagaung Mingala Pagoda * Settawya pagoda * Phaung Daw U Pagoda * Clock Tower * St Peter's Cathedral * Pathein University * Pathein Cultural Museum

Education

The city is home to the

Pathein Education College Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...

for elementary teachers and

Pathein University Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...

for arts and science students. The Computer University (Pathein) which is administered by Ministry of Science and Technology offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

, and

computer technology Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

. Technological University (Pathein) which was founded in 1999, offers engineering courses.

Sports

The 6,000-seat Ayar Stadium is one of the main venues for popular local football tournaments. The stadium is the home of

Ayeyawady United F.C. Ayeyawady United Football Club ( my, ဧရာဝတီယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း) is a Burmese association football, football club, based at Pathein Stadium in Pathein, Myanmar. The club was a founding m ...

, a

Myanmar National League The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional football league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the Myanmar Premier League, which co ...

(MNL) football club.

Health care

Pathein, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (4)

Pathein General Hospital serves people in Pathein and its surrounding districts.

Notable people

Ba U Sir Ba U ( my, ဘဦး, ; 26 May 1887 – 9 November 1963), was a Burmese politician and lawyer. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Burma from 1948 to 1952, and the second president of Burma from 16 March 1952 to 13 March 1957 ...

, 2nd president of Myanmar (1952–1957) was born in Pathein in 1887. *Mahn Win Maung, 3rd president of Myanmar (1957–1962) was born in a town near Pathein in 1916. *8th president Thein Sein was also born in a village near Pathein in 1945 and studied his high school education in Pathein. *10th president Win Myint was also born in Danuphyu town near Pathein in 1945 and started his political life in Pathein.

References

{{Most populous cities in Myanmar Populated places in Ayeyarwady Region Old Cities of Mon people Township capitals of Myanmar