Everything about Rakhine State totally explained
Rakhine State (
formerly Arakan) is a
state of
Myanmar. Situated the western coast, it's bordered by
Chin State in the north,
Magway Division,
Bago Division and
Ayeyarwady Division in the east, the
Bay of Bengal to the west, and the
Chittagong Division of
Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between latitudes 17°30' north and 21°30' north and east longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50' east.
The
Arakan Roma mountain range, which rises to 3,063 m at Victoria Peak, separates Rakhine State from Myanmar proper. Its area is 36,762 km² and its capital is
Sittwe (formerly
Akyab). The estimated population in 1985 was 2,698,000 and it's inhabited primary by one main group of people, the
Rakhine also known as
Arakanese.The second largest ethnic group are
Rohingya Arakanese. The remaining ethnic groups are Mro, Khami(Khumi), Kaman Muslim, Dienet, Marmagri and a few others.
Name
Demographics
Ethnographers classify up to 11
ethnic groups (not including ethnic sub-groups) as native to Rakhine State. The
Rakhine or
Arakanese live in valleys and on
Rambye(Ramree) and
Manaung (Cheduba) islands. The
Chin inhabit the mountain regions of the north. The
Mro,
Thet,
Khami,
Dainet,
Maramagri,
Bangl,Khumi live on mountain ranges in the west and north. Each group is also known by more than one name, and data on the smaller ethnic groups is insufficient. Ethnicity in Rakhine State is a complex issue, made more complex by the current political situation.
Organization
Arakan State consists of five districts: Sittwe, Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Kyaukpru and
Thandwe. Combined, these districts have a total of 17 townships and 1,164 village-tracts.
Economy
Rakhine State receives much rain, so
rice is the main crop, occupying around 85% of the total agricultural land.
Coconut and
nipa palm plantations are also important.
Fishing is a major industry, with most of the catch transported to
Yangon, but some is also exported. Wood products such as timber,
bamboo and fuel wood are extracted from the mountains. Small amounts of inferior-grade
crude oil are produced from primitive, shallow, hand-dug wells, but there's yet unexplored potential for
petroleum and
natural gas production.
Tourism is slowly being developed. The ruins of the ancient royal town
Mrauk U and the beach resorts of
Ngapali are the major attractions for foreign visitors, but facilities are still primitive, and the transportation infrastructure is still rudimentary.
History
The natives of Arakan trace their history as far back as 2666 B.C., and give a lineal succession of 227 native princes down to modern times. According to them, their empire had at one period far wider limits, and extended over Ava, part of China, and a portion of Bengal. This extension of their empire is not, however, corroborated by known facts in history. According to recorded history, a kingdom called
Dhanyawadi arose in the Arakan region in the 1st century AD. The famous
Mahamuni Buddha (located in
Mandalay) was cast in Dhanyawady in around 150 AD.
The kingdom of
Waithali (Rakhine:
Wai-tha-li) was the successor to Dhanyawady from the 3rd century AD.
Arakan reached the zenith of its power in the
Bay of Bengal during the
Waithali (Vesali),
Lemro and
Mrauk U periods, but the country steadily declined from the
seventeenth century onwards.
Chittagong, which was part of Arakan, was invaded and occupied by the
Mughal Empire in
1666. Internal instability and dethroning of kings was very common. The Portuguese, during the era of their greatness in Asia, gained a temporary establishment in Arakan; but on December 28th
1784 the province was finally conquered by the Burmese.
The famous Mahamuni Buddha image was taken as a war trophy by King
Mindon to his capital of
Amarapura (The image was relocated to Mandalay in 1853 when he relocated the capital to Mandalay). The Burmese, after conquering Arakan, came directly into contact with British interests in east India. Burmese seizures of Arakan's neighbouring states of
Assam and
Manipur and the assault on Shinmaphyu Isle, which was a
British outpost in
Bengal was the instigating causes of the
First Anglo-Burmese War (1824 to 26). Under the
Treaty of Yandabo (1826), Burma ceded Arakan and
Tenasserim to
British India. Arakan was thus one of the first Burmese territories to be ceded to the British. The British made
Akyab capital of Arakan, and retained the traditional divisions of the country into the districts of Akyab, Kyaukpyu and Sandoway (Ramree) with a district officer in charge of each. Akyab district originally included the Arakan Hill Tracts, which were detached
1865 and made into a separate district (and which is now
Chin State).
With independence and the formation of the Union of
Burma (now Myanmar) in 1948, the three districts became Arakan Division, on equal footing with the majority Burmese administrative divisions.
From the 1950s, there was a growing movement for
secession and restoration of Rakhine independence. In part to appease this sentiment, in 1974, the Burmese government of
Ne Win constituted Rakhine State from Arakan Division giving at least nominal acknowledgment of the majority
Rakhine ethnic group.
Further Information
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