Singu () 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 ...

of Thabeikkyin District, Mandalay Division,

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 capital is Singu.

Geography

Singu Township is located between 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 west and the

Shan Hills The Shan Hills (; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous peaks separated mostly by narrow valleys, as well as a few ...

on the east. Among the main hills located in the township are Bodaw-taung and Ngwe-o-baw. Average yearly rainfall is between about 63.5 and 76 cm.

History

In 1901, Singu Township was part of Madaya district, with its southern border defined by the Chaung-ma-gyi stream. Its northern border was with the Ruby Mines district. The township's estimated population at that point was about 45,000 people. About 60% of the population was employed in agriculture, primarily growing rice and several varieties of

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, ...

. The township was self-sufficient in rice production, except in years with poor rainfall. Fishing was also an important economic activity, employing "many hundreds" of people. Fish caught in the Irrawaddy and its tributary streams were exported to Madaya,

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 ...

, and

Shwebo Shwebo ( ) is a city in Sagaing Region, Burma, 110 km north-west of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city was the origin of the Konbaung Dynasty, established by King Alaungpaya in 1752, that was the dominant politic ...

. Ngapi was also manufactured and exported to the Shan States and to the Ruby Mines district. In the Sagyin hills, where high-quality

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

was extracted, there was also a small sculpture industry; most of the sculptures produced were exported to Mandalay.

References

Townships of Mandalay Region {{Mandalay-geo-stub