Myitkyina (, ; (Eng; ''mitchinar'') Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ) is the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

of Kachin 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 Wells explai ...

(Burma), located from

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 from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of the

Ayeyarwady River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Orig ...

, just below from Myit-son (Burmese for confluence) of its two headstreams (the

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

and N'mai rivers). It is the northernmost river

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

terminus in Myanmar. The city is served by

Myitkyina Airport Myitkyina Airport is an airport in Myitkyina, Myanmar . Airlines and destinations History Built before World War II as Myitkyina Airfield, the airfield was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army on 8 May 1942 during the Japanese conquest of ...

History

Myitkyina has been an important trading town between China and Myanmar since ancient times. American Baptist missionary George J. Geis and his wife arrived in Myitkyina in the late 1890s and in 1900 they requested permission to build a mansion in the town. The building was named Geis Memorial Church. It is one of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) churches in Myitkyina. Japanese forces captured the town and nearby airbase during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1942. In August 1944, Myitkyina was recaptured by the Allied forces under General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking o ...

after a prolonged

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

and heavy fighting between Nationalist Chinese divisions, the

Chindits The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate form ...

, and

Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South ...

of the

Northern Combat Area Command The Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) was a subcommand of the Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) during World War II. It controlled Allied ground operations in northern Burma. For most of its existence, NCAC was commanded by United States ...

and the besieged elements of the 33rd

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

under General

Masaki Honda was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Biography Masaki Honda was born in Nagano prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1910 and the Army War College in 1917. He was an instructor and ...

. The town was strategically important not only because of its rail and water links to the rest of Burma, but also because it was on the planned route of the

Ledo Road The Ledo Road (from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China) was an overland connection between India and China, built during World War II to enable the Western Allies to deliver supplies to China and aid the war effort against Japan ...

Climate

Myitkyina has a borderline

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Am'') bordering upon both 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 ...

(''Aw'') and a humid subtropical climate (''Cwa''). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year, although the winter months from December to February are milder. There is a winter dry season from November to April and a summer wet season from May to October.

Air quality

The city residents dispose of the majority of their waste by burning it in small piles by the roadside. Most waste is disposed in this way, including plastics. Almost every block in the city has one small fire every evening. Burning usually starts late-afternoon, and by 6.00pm the city air is often quite smoky. Burning can start earlier at the weekend. The air quality in Myitkyina in the evenings can be poor, which can make being outside unpleasant. Sometimes, due to atmospheric pressure, the air will still be smoky in the morning. The only time of year that this does not happen is during the monsoon season, when it is reported that the air is fresh.

Population

As the capital of the state, it has government offices, and a greater population than other cities in the state. The city has a population of approximately 150,000, with a mix of Kachin, Shan,

Bamar The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of th ...

Burmese Gorkha Burmese Gurkhas ( my, ဂေါ်ရခါးလူမျိုးများ; ne, गोरखाली) are a group of Nepali language speaking Burmese people of Khas/Gurkha ethnic group living in Myanmar (formerly Burma). While the Gurkhas ...

and some

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and Indians. The

Kachin language Jingpho (''Jinghpaw'', ''Chingp'o'', ''Jìngphòʔ gà'' / ဈိာင်ဖေါစ်) or Kachin ( my, ကချင်ဘာသာ, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sal branch mainly spoken in Kachin State, Burma and Yunnan, China. Th ...

is the common language among the Kachin. There are a lot of meaning for Jinghpo word. In Jinghpo language, Jinghpo means People. Some people can speak English and Nepali while the town's people mostly speak in Burmese which is the national language of Myanmar. Foreigners are now free to visit Myitkyina without prior government permission.

Religion

Major religions are

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, Christianity (Roman Catholic and Baptist are major denominations), and other religions such as

animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and Islam.

Economy

Myitkyina is the business center of Kachin State, with many natural resources like jade,

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In ...

and

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

, as well as

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

and agricultural products. As per government data, almost US$2 billion in jade were exported yearly in 2010 and 2011 Now, due to fighting between

Kachin Independence Army The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''ShangLawt Hpyen''; my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a pol ...

rebels and the government, most businesses in the region have gone down.

Transportation

is the main airport serving the city. It connects the cities of Putao, Mandalay and also

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

on Mondays. It takes almost 24 hours to go from Mandalay to Myitkyina by train. The railway has been used for 100 years. This railway is a major method of transportation for both farmers and traders to deliver goods. It also connects

Laiza Laiza ( my, လိုင်ဇာ ''Laingza'') is a remote mountainous town in the Kachin State, Myanmar. It lies on the border with China, the other side is . Laiza is the capital of the Kachin Independence Organisation since 2005. History L ...

Bhamo Bhamo ( my, ဗန်းမော်မြို့ ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw; shn, မၢၼ်ႈမူဝ်ႇ; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥨᥝᥱ; zh, 新街, Hsinkai) is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the ...

, China, and

Sumprabum Sumprabum ( my, ဆွမ်ပရာဘွမ်မြို့) is a town in the Kachin State of the northernmost part of the Myanmar. Climate Sumprabum has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate clas ...

by car. The Myitkyina-Tanai-

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

road, also known as the

, was constructed by the British.

Education

The city is home to Myitkyina University, a Christian theological

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

, a college for teachers, a training school for nurses, a college for the study of computers and other rare type of colleges affiliated with several seminaries in the United States and Asia, notably Kachin Theological College and Seminary(KTCS)-Nawng Nang. It is also home to the branch I.L.B.C. (International Language Business Center) a chain of private schools for English learners in the Myanmar. It has also many non-government institutions such as Naushawng development institute, Pinnya Tagar, Ningshawng and Kachinland School of Arts & Sciences, which has a University vision in 2024.

* Computer University, Myitkyina * Myitkyina University *Myitkyina Education College * Technological University, Myitkyina

Healthcare

Public hospitals

* Myitkyina General Hospital * Myitkyina Narcotic Hospital

Military

*Northern SOC (HQ at Myitkyina) *Nanpong / Nanpong Air Base headquarters (formerly 503 Air Base)

Notes

External links

Satellite Map of Myitkyina from Google Map
''Asterism'' *http://www.kachinstate.com *http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0834638.html {{Authority control World War II sites in Burma Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Kachin State Irrawaddy River