Loikaw (, ) is the capital of Kayah State in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. It is located in the

Karen Hills The Karen Hills, () also known as Kayah-Karen Mountains, are one of the main hill ranges in eastern Burma. They are located at the SW corner of Shan State and in Kayah State, a mountainous region where the only relatively flat area is Loikaw, t ...

area, near the State's northern tip, just above an embayment on the

Pilu River This is a list of rivers in Myanmar (also known as Burma). This list is arranged by drainage basin from east to west, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Indian Ocean * Nāf River * Kaladan River * Lemro Riv ...

. The inhabitants are mostly Kayah ( Karenni). Myanmar's largest

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

plant built (by the Japanese as war reparation) is located about east of Loikaw at Lawpita Falls. The town of Loikaw comprises 13 urban wards, namely Naungya, Daw-ukhu, Mainglon, Mingala, Dhammayon, Zaypaing, Shwetaung, Landama, Dawtanma, Dawnoeku, Shansu, and Minsu wards.

History

left, 345px, Landscape of Loikaw in 1922. The bridges look flimsy, but were so substantial that elephants walked over them. Loikaw was the Headquarters of the Political Officer in Charge of the

Karenni States The Karenni States, also known as Red Karen States, was the name formerly given to the states inhabited mainly by the Red Karen, in the area of present-day Kayah State, eastern Burma. They were located south of the Federated Shan States and ea ...

, part of the Princely States of British Burma, in 1922 during

British rule in Burma ( Burmese) , conventional_long_name = Colony of Burma , common_name = Burma , era = Colonial era , event_start = First Anglo-Burmese War , year_start = 1824 , date_start = ...

. The town was located in the only flat part of the Karenni area. In 1892 it numbered four huts. As an Agent of the British government he was exercising control over the local Karenni Rulers, being supervised by the Superintendent at Taunggyi.Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 36.
/ref> The headquarters of the

American Baptist Mission International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States. History The so ...

to Hill Karens was also located in Loikaw. As with the rest of Kayah State, outsider access to Loikaw has been restricted post-independence, with special permits required to secure entry. Since the 2021 coup, Loikaw has been the scene of intense fighting between the Burmese military and ethnic armed groups opposed to military control, forcing many of the city's residents to flee.

Demographics

2014

The

2014 Myanmar Census Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

reported that Loikaw had a population of 51,349, constituting 40.0% of Loikaw Township's total population.

Climate

Loikaw has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

( Köppen ''Aw'') bordering on a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cwa'').

Transport

Air Loikaw is linked to

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

by air.

Rail Loikaw is linked by the newly constructed Aungpan-

Pinlaung Pinlaung is a town above sea level and seat of Pinlaung Township, in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone of Shan State of eastern-central Burma. It lies along National Road 54, north-west by road from Loikaw. Running through the city center is a rai ...

-Loikaw rail line. Loikaw Station

Buses There are express buses from loikaw to Yangon, Mandalay and other towns.

Education

The town is home to

Loikaw University Loikaw University ( my, လွိုင်ကော်တက္ကသိုလ်) is a university situated in Loikaw Township, Kayah State, Myanmar. History In 2014, along with other Burmese universities, the Loikaw university engaged in r ...

Technological University, Loikaw Technological University, Loikaw ( my, နည်းပညာ တက္ကသိုလ် (လွိုင်ကော်)) is in part 260, Pangan village track, in the east of Ywatan Shay village, Loikaw Township, Kayah State, Myanmar. It offers ...

, Computer University, Loikaw. Loikaw Education College

Health care

Loikaw General Hospital serves not only locals in the state but also to those in the southern part of neighbouring

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

. The existing buildings of the hospital were built in 1964. Due to increase demands, new two two-storey buildings were constructed with the 1.945 billion yen funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Naung Yah Lake

References

External links

* {{Authority control Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Kayah State