Thanlyin (; or ; , ; formerly Syriam) is a major port city of

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 ...

, located across Bago River from the city of

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 ...

. Thanlyin comprises 17 quarters. It surrounding Thanlyin Township is home to the largest port in the country, Thilawa port, as well as the Thilawa Special Economic Zone and various prominent universities.

History

Thanlyin became a prominent port city in during the Hanthawaddy Kingdom when the port of Bago became silted in the 15th century. In 1599, the city was conquered by the

Kingdom of Mrauk U The Kingdom of Mrauk-U (Arakanese language, Arakanese: မြောက်ဦး ဘုရင့်နိုင်ငံတော်) was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan coastal plain from 1429 to 1785. Based in the capital Mrauk-U, near t ...

's Portuguese mercenaries. The leader of the mercenaries

Filipe de Brito e Nicote Filipe de Brito e Nicote or Burmese honorifics, Nga Zinga (, ; c. 1566 – April 1613) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese adventurer and mercenary in the service of the Rakhine people, Arakanese kingdom of Mrauk U, and later of the Thai people, ...

was made governor of the city. However, in 1603, De Brito declared independence and. after defeating the invading Arakanese navy in 1604 and 1605, successfully established Portuguese rule over Syriam (or Sirião in Portuguese) under the Portuguese viceroy of Goa. 10 years later,

Anaukpetlun Anaukbaklun ( ; 21 January 1578 – 9 July 1628) was the sixth king of Taungoo Burma and was largely responsible for restoring the kingdom after it collapsed at the end of 16th century. In his 22-year reign from 1606 to 1628, Anaukpetlun comple ...

of the restored Taungoo Dynasty retook the city, and executed de Brito by

impalement Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetrating trauma, penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in respon ...

. Thanlyin remained the major port of the Taungoo kingdom until the mid-18th century. In the 1740s, Thanlyin was made the base of the French East India Company for their help in the Mon's reestablishment of Hanthawaddy Kingdom. The arrangement lasted until 1756 when King

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 ...

of Konbaung dynasty captured the city. From then on, the importance has shifted to

across the river, which Alaungpaya founded just a year earlier. Thanlyin became part of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The British made the city into the oil refinery center of the country in the early 20th century to process the oil shipped from central Burma. The refinery was destroyed during

World War II 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 ...

. The Thanlyin refinery was rebuilt in 1957, and underwent expansion in 1979 with Japanese assistance. In 1979 a pipeline was completed between Syriam and the Mann oilfield. Since the 1990s, the city has undergone major changes. Thanlyin was finally connected to Yangon by road in 1993 when the Thanlyin Bridge was built. In the late 1990s, Thilawa Port was built to handle the container ships away from Yangon's ports. The city's population has increased from 43,000 in 1983 to 123,000 in 1996. As of 2023, the town had a population of 78,667 people.

Transport

Thanlyin is connected to the country's highway network. The Thanlyin Bridge carries Highway 6, which links Yangon with the Thilawa port and the Thanlyin Industrial Zone. The Thanlyin Bridge 2, under construction since 2003, will link Thanlyin to Highway 2, the Yangon-Mandalay highway. River ferries to the Irrawaddy delta over 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 ...

are available from Yangon's passenger ports.

Economy

Thilawa Port, located just from the town's centre. is the largest deep water sea port in the country, and handles the majority of the shipped imports and exports to/from the country.

Education

Thanlyin's metro area is home to Myanmar Maritime University, one of the most selective universities in Burma. Since the early 2000s, students from Thanlyin and surrounding suburbs have to attend local universities: the University of East Yangon for liberal arts and sciences, Technological University, Thanlyin for engineering and Co-operative University, Thanlyin for business. All four universities are located just outside the boundaries of Thanlyin town itself.

Points of interest

* Kyaik Khauk Pagoda

References

External links

* {{Administrative divisions of Myanmar Populated places in Yangon Region Townships of Yangon Region Township capitals of Myanmar