Ingapu Township () is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Myanaung District Myanaung District is a district of the Ayeyarwady Region in Myanmar. The Myanaung District is a newer district grouping three townships formerly part of Hinthada District. The main administrative GAD office was opened on July 1, 2022. The Distr ...

in the

Ayeyarwady Division Ayeyarwady Region ( , , ; formerly Ayeyarwady Division and Irrawaddy Division) is a region of Myanmar, occupying the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is bordered by the Rakhine State to the northwest, the Bago Region to ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. It is located in southern Myanaung District bordering Myanaung Township to the north. To the south, it borders

Hinthada Township Hinthada Township () is a Townships of Myanmar, township of Hinthada District in northern Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. The township has 3 towns, the principal town of Hinthada as well as the new towns of Duya, Ayeyarwady Region, Duya and Talokhtaw r ...

's townships of

and Lemyethna Township. The Township borders

Letpadan Township Letpatan Township () is a township in Tharrawaddy District in the Bago Region of Burma.

and Monyo Township in

Bago Region Bago Region (, ; formerly Pegu Division and Bago Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region and Mandalay Region to ...

to the east and

Gwa Township Gwa Township () is a township of Thandwe District in Rakhine State, Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Sout ...

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

to the west. Ingapu township consists of 3 towns, 12 wards, 72 village tracts and 639 villages. The township's three towns are the principal town Ingapu and the towns of Htoogyi and Mazaligone.

History

The

lost city In the popular imagination, a lost city is a real, once-prosperous and well-populated area of human habitation that fell into terminal decline and whose location was later forgotten. Lost City, The Lost City, or Lost Cities may also refer to: Pl ...

described as Pinle Pyu () is recorded as being located next to the sea. Unlike many other small Pyu sites, the city is speculated to be large in size located downstream from the

Sri Ksetra Kingdom , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , common_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , era = Classical Antiquity , status = City-state , event_start = Founding of kingdom , year_start = c. 3rd – 9th century CE , date_start = , ...

. Some archaeologist believe that a walled religious complex in Gyogon, Ingapu Township may be the location of Pinle Pyu. The complex uses

Brahmi script Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...

indicating its potential age. The ancient ruin was excavated in 2014 dated to determine if the 2,000-year-old artifacts were of the Pyu culture or not. Early human footprints were found in Taungnyo mountain near Kyauktalone village 2 miles west of the main site. These fossils along with other artifacts from the Taungnyo site including Paleolithic tools may indicate that the Ingapu site is older than other

Pyu city-states The Pyu city-states ( ) were a group of city-states that existed from about the 2nd century BCE to the mid-11th century in present-day Upper Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman languages, ...

. The city of Ingapu was named as one of the 32 surrounding villages of

Pathein Pathein ( ; , ; , ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathein River—a western branc ...

by the ancient king Samuddha Gotha's wife Omar Dhanti. By the time of the Konbaung Dynasty the group of villages was known as Okhpo when it was given to Thihaboh Min after

Alaungpaya Alaungpaya (, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder and first emperor of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. By the time of his death from illness during his Burmese–Siamese War (1759–60), campaign in Siam, this ...

's conquests. The name Okhpo originates, by legend, from the village's role baking bricks for the

Shwemokhtaw Pagoda Shwemokhtaw Pagoda () is a Buddhist pagoda in Pathein, Myanmar (formerly Bassein, Burma). It is bounded by Merchant St, Strand, Mahabandoola Road and Shwezedi Road. At its southern pavilion is a revered image of the Buddha, Thiho-shin Phondawpyi ( ...

in Pathein during the time of Omar Dhanti. The town was renamed in 1852 to its ancient name of Ingapu after the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Empire during the 19th century. The war resulted in a British victory with more ...

by the British to distinguish it from

Okpho Okpho (; also spelt Okpo) is a small town and seat of Okpho Township, Tharrawaddy District, in the Bago Region of southern-central Myanmar. It lies south of Gyobingauk and north of Minhla. It contains a hospital, a pagoda, and an open ground in ...

in Bago Region. The township was first established independent from Myanaung Township in 1972 under the first township administrator Maung Tin.

Geography

Ingapu Township is located within the

Irrawaddy Delta The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar (Burma) that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mout ...

and includes part of the

Arakan Mountains The Arakan Mountains, natively referred as Rakhine Yoma () and technically known as the Southern Indo-Burman Range, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irra ...

in its west. The highest point in the town reaches over on the border with

. The elevation slopes from the foothills in the central-western part of the township towards the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

on the Township's eastern border with

. The primary waterway serving the town of Ingapu is the

Ngawun River The Pathein River (), formerly called the Bassein River, is the westernmost distributary of the Irrawaddy river in the Irrawaddy delta of Myanmar flowing through Ayeyarwady Region. The river is also interchangeably known as the Ngawun River (). ...

. The township typically sees 88.5 days of rain a year totalling an average of of rain a year. Erosion and flood damage destroyed over 300 homes between 2015 and 2019. The township has 8 major dams. The waterways within the township are volatile and changing significantly as quickly as within four years. The forested foothills of the Arakan mountains in the township's west is home to many species with little human development. The township has 60% forest cover with 25% being protected natural areas. Among others, the township has

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 ...

, '' Kanyin'' and Burmese laurel trees are notable tree species. The township is home to

elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...

tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

, wild boars, black bears and deer among others. The township is also a

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

-endemic region.

Demographics and Economy

Ingapu Township is overwhelmingly rural with 89.8% (196,017 people) of the township living outside of the singular town of Ingapu as of 2019. The gender ratio is 1.006 with more men than the national average. 92.67% of the township are

Bamar The Bamar people (Burmese language, Burmese: ဗမာလူမျိုး, ''ba. ma lu myui:'' ) (formerly known as Burmese people or Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). With an esti ...

and 92.4% of the population is

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. The second largest religion is

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

concentrated mostly within Ingapu town. The mean household size is 3.7 people. In 2023, the population of the township dropped, losing 8,109 people between 2022 and 2023. By 2023, two other villages were designated as towns. Ingpau remains the largest town with 19,412 people followed by Htoogyi with 8439 people and Mazaligone with 6945 people.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

is the primary industry of Ingapu Township. The main crop grown is

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

with

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s and various

lentils The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

as secondary off-season crops. There is also a small but significant

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

industry in the township.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and fisheries also make up a significant portion of the town's economic output. The heavily wooded landscape of western Ingapu Township sees some forestry, but is limited by environmental protection areas. The township has transportation infrastructure by waterway and roads connecting it to its main market,

Hinthada Hinthada (; formerly Henzada) is a town located on the Irrawaddy River in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. It is the principal town of Hinthada Township and Hinthada District. The trade of locally grown rice and grain goes through the port of Hinthad ...

References

{{Ayeyarwady Division Townships of Ayeyarwady Region

History

Geography

Demographics and Economy

See also

References