Magway Region (, ; formerly Magway Division) is an

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

in central

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 the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa-de Dam (ပဒဲဆည်) is one of the dams in

Aunglan Township Aunglan Township (), formerly Myayde Township () is a township of Aunglan District in southern Magway Region, Myanmar. Its administrative seat is Aunglan. It is the southeasternmost township in Magway Region. The township has two towns, Aunglan ...

, Magway Region. The capital and second largest city of the Magway Region is Magway. The largest city is

Pakokku Pakokku (, ) is the largest city in the Magway Region of Myanmar. It is situated about 30 km northeast of Bagan on the Irrawaddy River. It is the administration seat of Pakokku Township, Pakokku District and Gangaw District. Pakokku Bridge ...

. The major cities of Magway Region are Magway,

, Aunglan, Yenangyaung,

Taungdwingyi Taungdwingyi ( ) is a town located in Magway Region, Myanmar. Town scape The town is divided into ten main quarters. They are Ohndaw Quarter 1, Ohndaw Quarter 2, Taungbyin Quarter 1, Taungbyin Quarter 2, Shwe-oh Quarter 1, Shwe-oh Quarter 2, M ...

, Chauk, Minbu, Thayet and

Gangaw Gangaw (, ) is a town of Gangaw Township in Gangaw District in the Magway Division in Myanmar. Gangaw is also known as the City of Yaw, a certain region in Myanmar including Gangaw (), Tilin (), Saw () and villages around them. Gangaw District an ...

Geography

Magway Region sits approximately between north latitude 18° 50' to 22° 47' and east longitude 93° 47' to 95° 55'. It is bordered by

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...

to the north,

Mandalay Region Mandalay Region (, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to the west, Shan State to the ...

to the east,

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 south, and

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 ...

and

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to th ...

to the west.

History

Fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

of the early

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s 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 the Pyu, Peikthano-myo, about 2,000 years old, is located in Taungdwingyi Township, Magway Region. The history of Magway Region mirrors that of the other regions 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 was Yenangyaung. 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 of Minbu Region was changed to Magway Region and Yenangyaung District was abolished.

Magway District Magway District () is a district in eastern Magway Region (formerly Magway Division) in central Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is ...

was established with 6 townships. Pakokku Hill Tracts (or) Pakokku Province was abolished, and

Pakokku District Pakokku District (, ; also Pagukku District) is a district of the Magway Division in central Myanmar (Burma). It is situated in northern part of Magwe Region. The administrative centre is the city of Pakokku. Pakokku is a largest city of M ...

was added to the Magway Division and

Mindat District Mindat District () is a district in the Chin State of Myanmar. It consists of two townships and 840 villages. History In 1948, after the formation of the constitution for the Union of Burma, Pakokku province was created with two districts - P ...

was added to the

Chin state Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to th ...

. Magway Region was then divided into 4 districts:

, Minbu District,

Thayet District Thayet District (; also Thayetmyo District) is a district of the Magway Region in central Myanmar. The administrative centre is the town of Thayet. History Upon the annexation of Pegu by the British in 1852–53, Thayet was a subdivision of ...

and

. Its capital city was changed from Yenangyaung to Magway. On 4 April 1996,

was divided into two districts:

and

Gangaw District Gangaw District (, ) is a district of the Magway Division in central Myanmar. Pakokku is the capital city of Pakokku District and Gangaw District. In 1926, it became a part of Pakokku Hill Tracts Districts of British Burma until 1948, and was ad ...

. Currently, Magway Region has a total of 5 districts and 25 townships.

Administrative divisions

Magway Region's districts are Magwe, Minbu, Thayet,

and

, comprising 25 townships and 1,696 ward village tracts.

Major cities and towns (2020)

Its capital city is Magwe (2020 urban population estimated as 85,214) and its largest city is

(2020 urban population estimated as 107,890). Other major cities are Aunglan (2020 urban population estimated as 52,431), Yenangyaung (2020 urban population estimated as 49,938),

(2020 urban population estimated as 47,739), Chauk (2020 urban population estimated as 47,568) and Minbu (2020 urban population estimated as 40,304).

Government

Executive

The region is administered by the Magway Region Government

Legislature

Judiciary

Magway Region High Court is the region's highest-level court.

Demographics

The population of Magway Region is 3,912,711 in 2014.

Ethnic makeup

The Bamar make up the majority of the region's population. The Chin are the region's largest minority. Other minorities include the Rakhine, Karen, Shan, and a tiny Anglo-Burmese population. During colonial times, this part of Burma had a large Anglo-Burmese population, descended from Western oil workers and their Burmese partners. After the 2014 Census in Myanmar, the Burmese government indefinitely withheld release of detailed ethnicity data, citing concerns around political and social concerns surrounding the issue of ethnicity in Myanmar. In 2022, researchers published an analysis of the

General Administration Department The General Administration Department (, abbreviated GAD) is a civil service body that staffs all regional and state-level governments in Myanmar and provides administration for the country's myriad districts and townships. It also plays a centra ...

's nationwide 2018-2019 township reports to tabulate the ethnic makeup of the region.

Religion

According to the 2014 Myanmar Census,

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

make up 98.8% of Magway Region’s population, forming the largest religious community there. Minority religious communities include

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

(0.7%),

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

(0.3%),

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

(0.1%), and animists (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Magway Region’s population. According to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee’s 2016 statistics, 31,349 Buddhist monks were registered in Magway Region, comprising 5.9% of Myanmar's total

Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

membership, which includes both novice

samanera A (Pali; ), is a novice male monk in a Buddhist context. A female novice nun is in , and in or . In Tibetan Buddhism, a female novice nun is known by the Tibetan language term , and a male novice monk is a . The majority of monks belong to the Thudhamma Nikaya (97%), followed by Shwegyin Nikaya (2.4%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other small

monastic orders Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

. 2,473

thilashin A (, ,(, ), "possessor of morality", from Pali ''Śīla, sīla'') is a female Renunciation, renunciant in Buddhism in Myanmar, Burmese Buddhism; a Burmese Theravada Buddhist nun. They are not fully ordained nuns (''bhikkhuni''), as the full ordi ...

were registered in Magway Region, comprising 4.1% of Myanmar’s total thilashin community.

Transport

IRRAWADDY FERRY JOURNEY RAILWAY BRIDGE NEAR BAGAN STEAMING TO MANDALAY MYANMA FEB2013

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 ...

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 are Magway,

, Minbu, Yenangyaung, Chauk, Allanmyo, and Thayetmyo.

's river port is a major port of Magway Region and the third most important river port in Myanmar after

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

port and

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

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 to Rangoon (Yangon) and

. Pakokku Bridge is part of the India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway and is the longest bridge in Myanmar. Myanmar Railways station map Division 10 Pakokku

Myanmar Railways station map Division 10 Pakokku

The

Pyay Pyay, and formerly anglicised as Prome, is the principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Ayeyarwady Delta, Centr ...

to Nyaung-U,

and

Myingyan Myingyan (, ) is a city and district in the Mandalay Division of central Myanmar, previously, it was a district in the Meiktila Division of Upper Burma. It is currently the capital of Myingyan Township and lies along the National Highway 2. ...

railway runs through eastern Magway with connections to the capital

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

and

. The major stops in Magway on that line are

and Natmauk. In addition, there are two rail lines running north from the Irrawaddy port of Kyangin, one to Chaung-U in

and the other to the Myittha River valley past

Myaing Myaing ( ) is a town and seat of Myaing Township in the Magway Region of central Myanmar. Transport It was connected to the Myanmar Railway network in 1998. See also * Transport in Myanmar References Township capitals of Myan ...

and Kyaw."Map of Magway Division"
Myanmar's Net The capital Magway has a small non-commercial airport with air traffic for the city of Magway mostly coming in through Bagan Airport at Nyaung U some 113 km to the north along the Irrawaddy. There are commercial airports at

, Kyauktu,

, and Pauk. , however, none of them have regularly scheduled flights.

airport, however, plans to upgrade to an international airport soon.

Economy

The principal product of Magway Region is

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

. It produces most of the oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

in Burma. Magway Region's oil fields are located in Mann, Yenangyaung, Chauk, Kyauk-khwet, Letpando and Ayadaw. In May 2002,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

agreed to help Myanmar build a 10-megawatt

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

and two laboratories in the region. Other industries include

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, and

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 ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. Magway Region produces a large quantity of edible oil as well as petroleum, hence gaining its reputation as the "oil pot of Myanmar". Pakokku is the largest rice market city of

Upper Myanmar Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including M ...

(Burma). Agriculture is another important practice, the major crops being

sesamum ''Sesamum'' is a genus of about 20 species in the flowering plant family Pedaliaceae. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with edible seeds. The best-known member of the genus is sesame, ''Sesamum indicum'' (syn. ''Sesamum orientale''), th ...

and groundnut. Other crops grown are

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 ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

and pulses,

, toddy, chili,

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified ...

, and

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

. Famous products of Magway Region include Thanaka (Limonia acidissima) and Phangar (Chebulic myrobalan) fruit. Only Pakokku and Yenangyaung have industrial zones.

Rice market

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.

Education

As of 2002, Magway Region have 3859 schools, of which only 70 are high schools. Only about 10% of the region's primary school students reach high school. Most of 12 colleges and universities in the region are located in Magway,

and Yenangyaung.

Health care

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. 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

and

is extremely poor. As of 2003, Magway Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region with a slightly greater population.

Notable sites

* Fort Min Hla and Fort Kway Chaung: Two late- Konbaung-era forts built to resist a British invasion. The first is situated in the town of Minhla, while the latter is located at opposite bank of the Irrawaddy river. *

Thihoshin Pagoda Thihoshin Pagoda () is a famous Buddhist pagoda in Pakokku, Magway Region, Myanmar. The pagoda was initiated and offered by King Vijayabahu I(Ashoka Rama), king of Sri Lanka, who reigned until 1110. It was completed during the reign of King Ala ...

: Famous Buddhist pagoda in Pakokku, built by King

Alaungsithu Alaungsithu or Sithu I ( ; also Cansu I; 1090–1167) was king of Pagan Dynasty of Burma 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 ...

References

{{Authority control Regions of Myanmar