The Pegu Range (; Pegu Yoma or Bago Yoma) is a range of low mountains or hillsSeekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland
page 357
and uplands between the Irrawaddy and the Sittaung River in central Burma (Myanmar). The range runs from Mount Popa in the north to Singuttara Hill (Theingottara Hill) in the south. Both the Pegu River and the Sittaung River originate in the Pegu Range.

High points

Among the notable peaks or hilltops are high Mount Popa, a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

,Moore, Elizabeth H. (2007) ''Early landscapes of Myanmar'' River Books, Bangkok, page 44, Sinnamaung Taung 2,693 feet (820 m), Shwenape Taung 2,631feet (802 m), TALAN Taung 2,050 feet (625 m), Binhontaung ,topographic map, 1:250,00
Thayetmyo, Burma, NE 46-4
Series U542, United States Army Map Service, October 1959 Kodittaung , Phoe-Oo Taung and Singguttara Hill (Theingottara Hill).

Geology

The Pegu Range consists of folded and faulted

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

marine sediments Marine sediment, or ocean sediment, or seafloor sediment, are deposits of insoluble particles that have accumulated on the seafloor. These particles either have their origins in soil and rocks and have been transported from the land to the sea ...

combined with more recent

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

History

The

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ; ), officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' (, , ), and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanma ...

was built sometime before 1000 A.D. on Singuttara Hill. The Pegu Range was the original site of the 1930–1931 Saya San uprising against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. Saya San raised the flag of independence on Alantaung Hill near Tharrawaddy. Later the Pegu Range became a center for the

Communist Party of Burma The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is an underground communist party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country. Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fo ...

Ecology

The northern end of the Pegu merges into the Burmese Dry Zone'','' while in the south there is over of rainfall a year.Stamp, L. Dudley (1930) "Burma: An Undeveloped Monsoon Country" ''Geographical Review'' 20(1): pp.86-109, page 105 The hills of the Pegu Range were originally heavily forested with

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

and other commercially exploitable hardwoods. The southern forests were "ironwood forests", while the central and northern forests were teak.de Terra, Hellmut (1944) "Component Geographic Factors of the Natural Regions of Burma" ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' 34(2): pp. 67-96, page 82 Extensive logging has caused the present

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

and increased erosion in the area. In 2016, the National League for Democracy government imposed a one-year moratorium on logging throughout the country, and was extended to a decade for the Pegu Range due to the extent of deforestation there. In the aftermath of the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

, illegal logging of

and deforestation of the mountain's forests has intensified, involving both the

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

and the resistance People's Defence Force.

Notes

{{reflist Mountain ranges of Myanmar