Bago Region

Bago Region (Burmese: ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, pronounced [bəɡó táɪɰ̃ dèθa̰ dʑí]; formerly Pegu Division and Bago Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region and Mandalay Region to the north; Kayin State, Mon State and the Gulf of Martaban to the east; Yangon Region to the south and Ayeyarwady Region and Rakhine State to the west. It is located between 46°45'N and 19°20'N and 94°35'E and 97°10'E. It has a population of 4,867,373 (2014).

Bago Region

ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး
Division
Myanma transcription(s)
 • Burmesepai: hku: tuing: desa. kri:
Seal
Location of Bago Region in Myanmar
Coordinates: 18°15′N 96°0′E
Country Myanmar
RegionLower
CapitalBago
Government
 • Chief MinisterWin Thein (NLD)
 • CabinetBago Region Government
 • LegislatureBago Region Hluttaw
 • JudiciaryBago Region High Court
Area
 • Total39,402.3 km2 (15,213.3 sq mi)
Area rank6th
Population
 (2014)[1]
 • Total4,867,373
 • Rank6th
 • Density120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Bagoan
Demographics
 • EthnicitiesBamar, Kayin, Mon, Shan, Indians, Chinese, Pa'O
 • ReligionsBuddhism 93.50%
Christianity 2.90%
Hinduism 2.00%
Islam 1.30%
Others 0.30%
Time zoneUTC+06:30 (MST)
HDI (2017)0.547[2]
low · 9th
Websitebagoregion.gov.mm

History

According to legend, two Mon princes from Thaton founded the city of Bago in 573 AD. They saw a female goose standing on the back of a male goose on an island in a huge lake. Believing this was an auspicious omen, the princes built a city called Hanthawady (Pali: Hamsavati) on the edge of the lake.

The earliest mention of this city in history is by the Arab geographer Ibn Khudadhbin around 850 AD. At the time, the Mon capital had shifted to Thanton. The Bamar from Bagan ruled the area in 1056. After the collapse of Bagan to the Mongols in 1287, the Mon regained their independence.

From 1369–1539, Hanthawady was the capital of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, which covered all of what is now lower Burma. The area came under Burman control again in 1539, when it was annexed by King Tabinshwehti of Kingdom of Taungoo. The kings of Taungoo made Bago their royal capital from 1539–1599, and used it as a base for their repeated invasions of Siam. As a major seaport, the city was frequently visited by Europeans, who commented on its magnificence. The Burmese capital was relocated to Ava in 1634. In 1740, the Mon revolted and briefly regained their independence, but Burmese King Alaungpaya sacked and completely destroyed the city (along with Mon independence) in 1757.

Burmese King Bodawpaya (1782–1819) rebuilt Bago, but by then the river had shifted course, cutting the city off from the sea. It never regained its previous importance. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the British annexed Bago in 1852. In 1862, with the formation of the province of British Burma, the capital was moved to Yangon.

Administrative divisions

Bago Region occupies an area of 39,400 square kilometres (15,214 sq mi) divided into the four districts of Bago, Pyay, Tharrawaddy and Taungoo. Bago, the divisional capital, is the fourth largest town of Burma. Other major cities include Taungoo and Pyay.

Bago Region's seal are two sibling hintha (mythical ducks), due to historic Mon influences in the area.

Government

Executive

Bago Region Government

Legislature
See also: Bago Region Hluttaw

Judiciary

Bago Region High Court

Transport

Bago Region is served by Pyay Airport.

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1973 3,179,604—    
1983 3,799,791+19.5%
2014 4,867,373+28.1%
Source: 2014 Myanmar Census[1]

The total population of Bago Region is 4,863,455 according to 2014 Burma Census with Bamar, Karen, Mon, Chin, Rakhine, Shan, South Asians, Chinese, and Pa-O ethnic groups represented. The majority of the people are Buddhists. Burmese language is the lingua franca.

Religion

Religion in Bago Region (2014)[3]

  Buddhism (93.5%)
  Christianity (2.9%)
  Hindu (2%)
  Islam (1.2%)
  Other religion (0.3%)
  Tribal religion (0.1%)

Economy

The division's economy is strongly dependent on the timber trade. Taungoo, in the northern end of the Bago Region, is bordered by mountain ranges, home to teak and other hardwoods. Another natural resource is petroleum. The major crop is rice, occupying over two-thirds of the available agricultural land. Other major crops include betel nut, sugarcane, maize, groundnut, sesamum, sunflower, beans and pulses, cotton, jute, rubber, tobacco, tapioca, banana, Nipa palm and toddy. Industry includes fisheries, salt, ceramics, sugar, paper, plywood, distilleries, and monosodium glutamate.

The division has a small livestock breeding and fisheries sector, and a small industrial sector. In 2005, it had over 4 million farm animals; nearly 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of fish and prawn farms; and about 3000 private factories and about 100 state owned factories.[4]

The major tourist sites of the Bago Region can be reached as a day trip from Yangon.

Hydropower plant

The Shwegyin Dam is in the eastern part Bago Region. It is a 478 metres (1,568 ft) long, 41 metres (135 ft) wide and 0.8 metres (2.5 ft) thick zone-type dam with a water storage capacity of 2,078,417 megalitres . The three concrete conduit pipes are 538 metres (1,765 ft) in length, 5 metres (16 ft) in width and 6 metres (20 ft) in height each. The intake infrastructure is 37 metres (121 ft) long, 39 metres (127 ft) wide and 42 metres (137 ft) high. The spillway is 775 metres (2,542 ft) long, 41 metres (135 ft) wide and 18 metres (58 ft) high. Two compressed steel pipe lines at the dam are 8 metres (25 ft) in diameter and 335 metres (1,100 ft) in length each. The power plant is 90 metres (295 ft) long, 29 metres (94 ft) wide and 21 metres (70 ft) high. It is equipped with four 18.75-MW Francis vertical shaft turbines. It can generate 262 million KW hours per year.

The construction of the dam was launched in 2003. The first power station was opened on 29 December 2009, the second on 25 March 2011, the third on 2 June 2011 and the fourth on 21 July 2011. It was inaugurated on 22 October 2011.[5]

Education
  • Bago University, Bago
  • Computer University, Pyay
  • Computer University, Taungoo
  • Pyay Education College
  • Pyay Technological University
  • Pyay University
  • Taungoo Educational College
  • Taungoo University
  • Technological University, Taungoo
  • Paku Divinity School

Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of Yangon and Mandalay. In 2005, Bago Region had 578 post-primary schools, 119 middle schools and 132 high schools.[4] The following is a summary of the division public school system for the academic year of 2002–2003.[6]

AY 2002–2003 Primary Middle High
Schools 3972 227 95
Teachers 17,400 6600 2000
Students 544,000 194,000 71,000

The division is home to one national university, Pyay Technological University and two local universities, Pyay University and Taungoo University.

Health

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.[7][8] 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 Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. For example, in 2003, Bago Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region whose population was just slighter greater.[9] More shocking still, in 2005, this division of five million had only 399 doctors in its public hospitals.[4]

2002–2003 # Hospitals # Beds
Specialist hospitals 0 0
General hospitals with specialist services 2 400
General hospitals 28 958
Health clinics 46 736
Total 76 2094

Notable sites
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References
  1. Census Report. The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census. 2. Naypyitaw: Ministry of Immigration and Population. May 2015. p. 17.
  2. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR (July 2016). The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Census Report Volume 2-C. Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR. pp. 12–15.
  4. "Members of Bago Division (West) USDA implementing development tasks in rural areas". The New Light of Myanmar. 12 May 2005. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007.
  5. http://www.mrtv3.net.mm/newpaper/2310newsm.pdf Archived 25 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine Page 8 Col 3
  6. "Education statistics by level and by State and Division". Myanmar Central Statistical Organization. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  7. "PPI: Almost Half of All World Health Spending is in the United States". 17 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011.
  8. Yasmin Anwar (28 June 2007). "Burma junta faulted for rampant diseases". UC Berkeley News. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012.
  9. "Hospitals and Dispensaries by State and Division". Myanmar Central Statistical Organization. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
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