Maubin Township ( ), alternatively spelt Ma-ubin 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 ...

Maubin District Maubin District ( ), formerly known as Thun-Khwa, is a district in Ayeyarwady Division, Myanmar. It consists of 39 wards, 235 village groups and 1642 villages organized into four townships - Maubin, Pantanaw, Nyaungdon and Danuphyu. The distr ...

in the

Ayeyarwady Region 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 ...

. The Township borders

Kyaiklat Township Kyaiklat Township () is a Townships of Myanmar, township of Pyapon District in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar. Townships of Ayeyarwady Region {{Ayeyarwady-geo-stub ...

Pyapon District Pyapon District () is a district of the Ayeyarwady Division in southwestern Myanmar. It consists of 4 cities. They are Pyapon, Bogalay, Kyaiklat and Dedaye. Townships The district contains the following township A township is a form of hu ...

to its south. Its western border is defined by 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 ...

with

Wakema Township Wakema Township ( ) is a township of Myaungmya District in central Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. The first Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu was born in the principal town, Wakema. Wakema Township is bordered to its west by the other townships within ...

Myaungmya District Myaungmya District () is a district of the Ayeyarwady Division in south western Myanmar. It consists of 5 cities. Myaungmya is the chief town of the district. Myaungmya district in Ayeyarwady region Pantanaw Township to the northwest. Its north and northwest borders are within Maubin District with

Nyaungdon Township Nyaungdon Township ( ), also spelt Nyaung Tone Township and formerly Yandoon, is a township of Maubin District in the eastern Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. Nyaungdon Township is bordered to the west by the rest of Maubin District and to its east by ...

completing the northeastern border. The township's eastern border follows the Khittaya-yaykyaw stream until it meets the Toe River, which it then follows.

Yangon Region Yangon Region (, ; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in central Myanmar, the region is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, and Ayeyarwady ...

's Twantay Township borders it to the east bank of these water bodies. There are 12 urban wards and 76

village tracts A village tract (; also spelt village-tract), also called overvillage, is a fourth-level administrative subdivision of Myanmar's rural townships. As of August 2015, there are 13,602 village tracts in Myanmar, consisting of 70,838 villages. The eq ...

totaling 442 villages in the township. The principal town of the township is

Maubin Maubin ( ) is a town in the Ayeyarwady Division of south-west Myanmar. It is the seat of the Maubin Township in the Maubin District. The population as of 2021 was 51,542. The inhabitants of the town, as well as the district are mainly Bamar and Kar ...

. Maubin is the birthplace of

Ba Maw Ba Maw (, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977), known honorifically as Dr. Ba Maw, was a Burmese lawyer and politician, active during the interwar period and Second World War. He was the first Burma Premier (1937–1939) and head of State of Bu ...

, first premier of British Burma and head of the

State of Burma The State of Burma (; , ''Biruma-koku'') was a Japanese puppet state established in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II. Background During the early stages of World War II, the Empire of Japan invaded British Burma ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

In 1852, following 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 ...

Lower Burma Lower Myanmar (, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta ( Ayeyarwady, Bago and Yangon Regions), as well as coastal regions of the country ( Rakhine and Mon States and Tanintharyi ...

was incorporated as Pegu District with the village of Maubin being organized within Dala subtownship. In 1875, Pegu District was split into 3 districts, and S.T. Smith set up administrative headquarters in Maubin, combining three smaller villages into the town of Maubin within Irrawaddy District. In 1903, the

Twante Canal The Twante Canal ( ) is a canal that connects the Irrawaddy River and the Yangon river in Myanmar. The canal is a heavily used short cut between the city of Yangon and the Irrawaddy Division. The canal is named after the town of Twante, located n ...

opened connecting the Yangon River to the Toe River at Maubin Township's eastern edge. The vast majority of inland carrier traffic would continue through the township connecting

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 ...

with cities further up the

. In 2008,

Cyclone Nargis Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis (; , ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday ...

devastated the Irrawaddy Delta. The Burmese military offered convoys to refugees to Maubin Township to escape the devastation in the worst-hit areas. Large swaths of the township were inundated with water, especially hitting the eastern half of the township significantly.

Geography

Maubin Township is located in the low-lying

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 ...

Lower Myanmar Lower Myanmar (, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta ( Ayeyarwady, Bago and Yangon Regions), as well as coastal regions of the country ( Rakhine and Mon States and Tanintharyi Regi ...

along the

Ayeyarwady 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 ...

. There are many streams and rivers within the township, generally flowing from north to south. The most prominent rivers are the

Irrawaddy Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Irrawaddy, an alternative spelling of Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'' ...

Toe Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plantigrade''; ...

and Yazutaing River. Most water resources in the town are freshwater, with the main river channels reaching a low depth of in the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

, remaining navigable for most ships. The township is largely dominated by agricultural land with 74.86% of the township's land used for agriculture. A significant portion of remaining lands are wetlands or utilized for irrigation. Within those areas, the township is home to many kokko,

karoi Karoi is a town in Zimbabwe. Location Karoi is located in Karoi District, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland West Province, in central northern Zimbabwe. It is located approximately , by road, northwest of Chinhoyi, the nearest large town, and the ...

, mango, palm and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

trees as well as the township's eponymous Ma-u trees. The township government has been engaged in conservation attempts, including planting more trees on the sides of roads and rice paddies. Despite this, the township has few notable fauna. The rivers of the town is home to many freshwater fish, including the bronze featherback which is an important food source in the area. Ma-ubin Township is located in a hot tropical zone with a heavy

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

presence. Over the 2010s decade, average highs and lows ranged between 37.5 °C and 13.8 °C, respectively. The average year saw 120 days of rain with an average rainfall of per year. High winds from tropical storms remain an issue in the township with 397 houses destroyed during 2019.

Demographics

Maubin Township is relatively rural with 87.2% of the population in 2019 living outside of

, which is the only town in the township. The predominant religion is

Buddhism 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 ...

, practiced by 79.23% of the population with the second largest religious group being

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 ...

at 20.1%. The median age in the eastern portion of the town is 26.8 years with a mean household size of 4.3 persons. There are 95 males for every 100 females in the township. In 2014, only 4.4% of households had access to electricity and 47.5% of households relied on natural streams for their household water usage. Some prominent places of worship in the town are Shwe Phone Myint Pagoda, dating back to 1890 in Maubin's 2nd ward, and the Paw Taw Mu Pagoda, an ancient pagoda situated in the southern part of the town on the Toe River. The old Paw Taw Mu pagoda fell in 2002 following river erosion of the bank but it was rebuilt on 22 May 2005 under government guidance. The town is also home to St. Rita's

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Church established in 1903 by the Foreign Missions of Paris serving 8,902 Catholics in the immediate Maubin area today.

Economy

The economy of Maubin Township is predominantly

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 ...

, like much of the Irrawaddy delta. Its primary exports to

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 ...

and meats- primarily

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

and fish. Farmers in the township use chicken manure, combined with NPK fertilizer, to achieve high yields of the TheeHtet Yin variety of

jasmine rice Jasmine rice (; ; ) is a long-grain variety of fragrant rice (also known as aromatic rice). Its fragrance, reminiscent of ''pandan'' ('' Pandanus amaryllifolius'') and popcorn, results from the rice plant's natural production of aroma compounds, ...

. The township's close proximity to Yangon city fuels its meat and fish industry while its well-connected roads help its rice,

mungo bean The black gram or urad bean (''Vigna mungo'') is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the genus ''Phaseolus'' to ''Vigna''. The product sold as black gram is usually the whole urad bean, wher ...

and

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring rec ...

industries. Less prominent but significant products of the township's agriculture include

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

, black pelun beans,

limes Limes may refer to: * ''Limes'' (Roman Empire), a border marker and defense system of the Roman Empire * ''Limes'' (Italian magazine), an Italian geopolitical magazine * ''Limes'' (Romanian magazine), a Romanian literary and political quarterly ma ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

and freshwater fish from

fish farms Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of aquat ...

. The fishery sector has seen the greatest development in the 21st century, with land use for fish farming growing faster than other industries in the township. Rare job opportunities, low income from agricultural work, inaccessible education services and preference for non-rural work have driven significant out-migration from the township. Mechanization of agriculture in the township has kept agricultural productivity at the same level. However,

remittances A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes ...

became a new significant source of income in the township with 95% of emigrants sending money back to their families in the township. Although those receiving remittances saw an increase in

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

, the township's elderly still have a low daily activity level and quality of life, which may impact the township's higher prevalence of

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

and

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. The township has 18 dams and 3 reservoirs, irrigating the townships' many fields. There are three factories within the township that produce

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

products and milled rice.

List of Village Tracts

The following are Maubin Township's 76

in the township, which group together 470 recognised villages as of 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maubin Township Townships of Ayeyarwady Region