Mandalay Division
(2002 est. pop. 6.6 million). The Mandalay Division plays a pivotal role in the life of Myanmar (Burma) and accounts for approximately 15 percent of the national economy. With an area of 37,024 square kilometers (14,295 square miles), it is located on the major transport and communication crossroads between the north and south of the country. Consisting of 29 townships and 1,796 wards or village tracts, its 1992 population was calculated at 5.54 million, the majority of whom were ethnic Burmans. The political and economic hub is Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city.
The main economy is agriculture. Lying in the dry zone, various dams and reservoirs have been constructed to promote irrigation, including thirty new such projects since 1988. The main crops are paddy rice, wheat, maize, peanut, sesame, cotton, legumes, tobacco, chili, and vegetables. A number of industries are also located within the division, including the Mandalay Brewery, textile mills at Meiktila and Paleik, and the sugar mill at Pyinmana. In addition, the division contains the important gem mines at Mogok.
Mandalay is the main tourist center. There are also the remains of other royal capitals at Amarapura, Ava (Innwa), and Pagan. Other destinations include the 4,981-foot (1,518-meter) Mount Popa, which has been a center of nat (spirit) worship and pilgrimage for centuries, and the former British hill station at Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin), which is situated on the main trade road to Shan State and China.
Further Reading
Bunge, Frederica M., ed. (1983) Burma: A Country Study. Washington, DC: American University Foreign Area Studies, U.S. Government Printing Office.
O'Connor, Vincent C. Scott. (1907) Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past in Burma. London: Hutchinson.
Tinker, Hugh. (1967) The Union of Burma: A Study of the First Years of Independence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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