Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
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 ...
(Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by
Chin State
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur t ...
to the north,
Magway Region
Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, ...
,
Bago Region
Bago Region ( my, ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; 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
Ayeyarwady Region
Ayeyarwady Region ( my, ဧရာဝတီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး , , ; formerly Ayeyarwady Division and Irrawaddy Division), is a region of Myanmar, occupying the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is bor ...
to the east, the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
to the west and the
Chittagong Division
Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...
of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
to the northwest. It is located approximately between latitudes 17°30' north and 21°30' north and longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50' east. The
Arakan Mountains
The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...
or
Rakhine Yoma
The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...
separated Rakhine State from central Burma from North to South. Off the coast of Rakhine State there are some fairly large islands such as
Ramree
Ramree or Ramarwaddy ( my, ရမ်းဗြဲမြို့, ) also known as Yanbye is a town in Kyaukpyu District, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Ramree (locally pronounced Ram Bray) is situated on Ramree Island. Ramree is the capital of the townsh ...
,
Cheduba
Cheduba Island ( my, မာန်အောင်ကျွန်း; also known as Manaung Island) is an island in the Bay of Bengal close to Ramree Island and belongs to Myanmar, formerly Burma. It has a maximum length of , with an area of approxi ...
and
Myingun.
Rakhine State has an area of and its capital is
Sittwe
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
.
Etymology
The term ''Rakhine'' is believed to have been derived from the
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
word ''Rakkhapura'' (Sanskrit Raksapura), meaning "Land of
Ogre
An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...
s" (
Rakshas
Raksha may refer to:
Film and literature
* ''Raksha'' (1982 film), a 1982 Hindi action film
* ''Raksha'' (2008 film), a 2008 Telugu horror film
* ''Rakshas'' (film), a 2018 Marathi fantasy film
* Raksha (''The Jungle Book''), a character from R ...
), possibly a pejorative referring to the original Australoid inhabitants. The Pali word "Rakkhapura" ("Rakkhita") means "land of the people of Rakhasa" (also ''Rakkha'', ''Rakhaing''). They were given this name in honour of their preservation of their national heritage and ethics or morality. The word Rakhine means, "one who maintains his own race". In the
Arakanese language
, pronunciation =
, ethnicity = Rakhine, Kamein
, states = Myanmar, Bangladesh, India
, region = * Rakhine State (Myanmar)
* Bandarban, Khagrachari, Patuakhali, Barguna (Bangladesh)
* Tripura (India)
, speaker ...
, the land is called ''Rakhinepray'', the ethnic
Rakhine are called ''Rakhinetha''.
The term Arakan was introduced when the Arakan Kingdom was established and has continued to be used until recent times and is still popularly used in English. Many English language users
[For example, see Staff (2009]
"An Introduction To The Toponymy Of Burma"
The Permanent Committee of Geographic Names (PCGN), United Kingdom eschew the name changes promulgated by the military government.
History
![Silver coin of king Nitichandra Arakan Brahmi legend NITI in front Shrivatasa symbol reverse 8th century CE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Silver_coin_of_king_Nitichandra_Arakan_Brahmi_legend_NITI_in_front_Shrivatasa_symbol_reverse_8th_century_CE.jpg)
The history of the region of
Arakan
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
(now renamed Rakhine) State can be roughly divided into seven parts. The first four divisions and the periods are based on the location of the centre of power of the main polities in the northern Rakhine region, especially along the Kaladan River. Thus, the history is divided into the
Dhanyawadi
Kingdom of Dhanyawaddy ( my, ဓညဝတီ; pi, Dhaññavatī) was the capital of the first Arakanese Kingdom, located in what is now Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. The name is a corruption of the Pali word ''Dhannavati'', which means "large ...
,
Waithali
Waithali ( my, ဝေသာလီမြို့, , pi, Vesālī) located in today's northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, was the capital of the Waithali Kingdom from 788 to 1018. The former capital site is approximately north-east of Sittwe, and e ...
,
Laymro
Rakhine State occupies the northern coastline of Myanmar up to the border with Bangladesh and corresponds to the historical Kingdom of Arakan. The history of Rakhine is divided into 7 parts - the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi, Waithali, L ...
and
Mrauk U
Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...
. Mrauk U was conquered by the
Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
of Burma in 1784–85, after which Rakhine became part of the Konbaung kingdom of Burma. In 1824, the first Anglo-Burmese war erupted and in 1826, Rakhine (alongside
Tanintharyi
Tanintharyi or Taninthayi (widely known during the British occupation and since as Tenasserim) is a small town in Taninthayi Township, Myeik District, in the Tanintharyi Region of south-western Myanmar. It is the administrative seat for the town ...
) was ceded to the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
as
war reparations
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
R ...
by the Burmese. Rakhine thus became part of the province of Burma in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. In 1948, Burma was given independence and Rakhine became part of the newly independent state.
Independent kingdom
Beginning in the 900s, the
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 ...
began migrating westward, crossing the
Arakan Mountains
The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...
and settling in what is now Rakhine State.
By the 1100s, they had consolidated control of the region, becoming a tributary state of the
Pagan Empire
The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...
until the 13th century.
Over time, these Bamar migrants formed a distinct cultural identity, eventually becoming the
Rakhine people
The Rakhine people ( my, ရက္ခိုင်လူမျိုး, : , ), also known as the Arakanese people, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine Stat ...
(also known as the Arakanese).
According to Rakhine legend, the first recorded kingdom, centred around the northern town of
Dhanyawadi
Kingdom of Dhanyawaddy ( my, ဓညဝတီ; pi, Dhaññavatī) was the capital of the first Arakanese Kingdom, located in what is now Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. The name is a corruption of the Pali word ''Dhannavati'', which means "large ...
, arose in the 34th century BCE and lasted until 327 CE. These polities were likely inhabited by
Indo-Aryan peoples
Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of Indo-European peoples speaking Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent. Historically, Aryan were the Indo-European pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia and intr ...
. Rakhine documents and inscriptions state that the famed
Mahamuni Buddha image was cast in Dhanyawady in around 554 BCE when the Buddha visited the kingdom. After the fall of Dhanyawadi in the 4th century CE, the centre of power shifted to a new dynasty based in the town of Waithali. The Waithali kingdom ruled the regions of Rakhine from the middle of the 4th century to 818 CE. The period is seen as the classical period of Rakhine culture, architecture and Buddhism, as the Waithali period left behind more archaeological remains than its predecessor. A new dynasty emerged in four towns along the
Lemyo River
The Lemyo River ( my, လေးမြို့မြစ်), corrupt from pali word of Lahu Mayi, is located in Burma and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Sittwe. It is situated on the side of the ancient Arakanese kingdom, Mrauk-U Township, in ...
as Waithali waned in influence, and ushered in the Lemro period, where four principal towns served as successive capitals.
After its partial dominance by the Islamic
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). and
Bengal Sultanate
The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...
, the final
Kingdom of Mrauk U
The Kingdom of Mrauk-U ( Arakanese: မြောက်ဦး နေပြည်တော်,) was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan littoral from 1429 to 1785. Based out of the capital Mrauk-U, near the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, t ...
was founded in 1429 by
Min Saw Mon
Narameikhla Min Saw Mon ( Arakanese:နရမိတ်လှ မင်းစောမွန်; , Arakanese transliteration: Meng Sao Mwan, Arakanese pronunciation: ; also known as Suleiman Shah; 1380–1433) was the last king of Launggyet Dynas ...
. It is seen by the Rakhine people as the golden age of their history, as Mrauk U served as a commercially important port and base of power in the Bay of Bengal region and involved in extensive maritime trade with Arabia and Europe.Part of it, along
Bengal Subah
The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Ben ...
's
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
, was later conquered by the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
.
The country steadily declined from the 18th century onwards after its loss to the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
. Internal instability, rebellion and dethroning of kings were very common. The Portuguese, during the era of their greatness in Asia, gained a temporary establishment in Arakan.
Burmese rule
On 2 January 1785, the internally divided kingdom fell to invading forces of the Konbaung dynasty. The Mahamuni Image was taken away by the Burmese Forces as war loot. Thus, an expansionist Burma came into direct territorial contact with territories of the British East India Company, which set the stage for future flaring of hostility. Various geopolitical issues gave rise to the
First Anglo-Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...
(1824–26). As the image of Mahamuni had been taken as war loot by the Burmese, this time the huge bell of the temple was taken by the
Presidency armies
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presidenc ...
and awarded to an Indian soldier, Bhim Singh, a Risaldar in the 2nd Battalion of the
Bengal Army
The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.
The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...
, for his bravery. This inscribed huge bell is still installed in a temple at village Nadrai near
Kasganj
Kasganj is a city and the district headquarters of Kasganj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district was formed by grouping three Tehsils at 17 April 2008 .
History
Kasganj, which lies in the historical region of Braj, was al ...
town in present-day Kanshiram Nagar District of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
India. In the
Treaty of Yandabo
The Treaty of Yandabo ( my, ရန္တပိုစာချုပ် ) was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The treaty was signed on 24February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5March 1824, by ...
(1826), which ended hostilities, Burma ceded Arakan alongside
Tanintharyi
Tanintharyi or Taninthayi (widely known during the British occupation and since as Tenasserim) is a small town in Taninthayi Township, Myeik District, in the Tanintharyi Region of south-western Myanmar. It is the administrative seat for the town ...
(Tenasserim) to British India. The British made Akyab (now Sittwe) the capital of Arakan. Later, Arakan became part of the province of Burma of the
British Indian Empire
The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Q ...
, and then part of
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
when Burma was made into a separate
crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
. Arakan was administratively divided into three districts along traditional divisions during the Mrauk U period.
British rule
Rakhine was the centre of multiple insurgencies which fought against British rule, notably led by the monks
U Ottama
, image = Ven.Ottama.png
, caption =
, birth_name = Paw Tun Aung
, birth_date = 28 December 1879 1st waning of Pyatho 1241 ME
, birth_place = Rupa Village, Sittwe District, Arakan Division, British Burma
, death_date = 11th waning of Wag ...
and
U Seinda
U or u, is the twenty-first and sixth-to-last Letter (alphabet), letter and fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide ...
. During the Second World War, Rakhine was given autonomy under the
Japanese occupation of Burma
The Japanese occupation of Burma was the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was occupied by the Empire of Japan. The Japanese had assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army, and trained the Thirty Comrades, who ...
and was even granted its own army known as the Arakan Defense Force. The Arakan Defense Force went over to the allies and turned against the Japanese in early 1945.Rakhine (Arakan) was the site of many battles during the Second World War, most notably the
Arakan Campaign 1942–43
The Arakan Campaign of 1942–43 was the first tentative Allied attack into Burma, following the Japanese conquest of Burma earlier in 1942, during the Second World War. The British Army and British Indian Army were not ready for offensive act ...
and the
Battle of Ramree Island
The Battle of Ramree Island ( Burmese:ရမ်းဗြဲကျွန်း တိုက်ပွဲ, (also called Operation Matador) took place from 14 January to 22 February 1945, in the Second World War as part of the offensive on the Sout ...
.
Burmese independence
In 1948, Rakhine became a division within the Union of Burma, and the three districts became Arakan Division. From the 1950s, there was a growing movement for
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
and restoration of Arakan independence. In part to appease this sentiment, in 1974, the socialist government under General
Ne Win
Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...
constituted "Rakhine State" from Arakan Division giving at least nominal acknowledgment of the regional majority of the
Rakhine people
The Rakhine people ( my, ရက္ခိုင်လူမျိုး, : , ), also known as the Arakanese people, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine Stat ...
.
2010 onwards (after 2008 constitution)
Since 2010, Rakhine state has had two chief ministers: Hla Maung Tin and Major General Maung Maung Ohn.
Hla Maung Tin ( January 2011 – 20 June 2014) was an elected Rakhine
State Hluttaw
Myanmar ( also known as ''Burma'') is divided into twenty-one administrative subdivisions, which include seven states (; ''pyi ne'', ), seven regions (; ''taing detha gyi'', ), five self-administered zones and one self-administered division (Wa ...
member representing USDP from
Ann Township
Ann Township ( my, အမ်းမြို့နယ်) is a township of Kyaukpyu District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The principal town is Ann. Founded in 1333 AD in King Min Hti.
"Ann Creek" Hydropower Project is being implemented by the ...
in 2010 general election. He resigned from the post after recurrent intense inter-communal conflicts between Muslims and Rakhine ethnic groups in 2012–14. In 2014, he was replaced by Major General Maung Maung Ohn (30 June 2014 – present). Ohn was Deputy Minister for Border Affairs and head of the Rakhine State's Emergency Coordination Center before he was named to become a military-appointed Rakhine State Hluttaw member by Election Commission on 21 June 2014. His appointment as Chief Minister was formalised on 30 June 2014 although Arakan National Party opposed it.
2012 Rakhine State riots
The 2012 Rakhine State riots were a series of conflicts between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhines who are majority in the Rakhine State. Before the riots, there were widespread and strongly held fears circulating among Buddhist Rakhines (who were a large majority) that they would soon become a minority in their ancestral state. The riots finally came after weeks of sectarian disputes including the death of ten Burmese Muslims by Rakhines and murder of a Rakhine by Rohingyas.
From both sides, whole villages were "decimated".
According to the Burmese authorities, the violence, between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, left 78 people dead, 87 injured, and up to 140,000 people have been displaced.
The government has responded by imposing curfews and by deploying troops in the region. On 10 June 2012, a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was declared in Rakhine, allowing the military to participate in the administration of the region. Rohingya NGOs overseas have accused the Burmese army and police of targeting Rohingya Muslims through arrests and participating in violence.
However, an in-depth research conducted by the International Crisis Group shows that both communities are grateful for the protection provided by the military. A number of monks' organisations have taken measures to block aid from NGOs that help Rohingyas.
In July 2012, the Burmese Government did not include the Rohingya minority group in the census—classified as
stateless Bengali Muslims
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...
from Bangladesh since 1982. About 140,000 Rohingya in Burma remain confined in IDP camps.
The official of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
have described the persecution of the Rohingya as
ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
.
The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar reported "the long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya community... could amount to
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
",
["UN expert alarmed at worsening human rights situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state"](_blank)
7 April 2014, United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
News Centre, retrieved 18 September 2017 and there have been warnings of an unfolding
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
.
Yanghee Lee
Yanghee Lee (, born 24 July 1956) is a South Korean developmental psychologist and professor at Sungkyunkwan University. She is most noted for her work in international human rights organisations.
Education
Lee earned her undergraduate (B.S.) de ...
, the UN special investigator on Myanmar, believes the country wants to expel its entire Rohingya population.
Resurgence of armed conflict (2016–present)
Political repression by the Myanmar government
The NLD government refused to share executive power at state level after the Arakan National Party won a majority of votes in Rakhine State in the 2015 election. The Arakanese repeatedly complained that their proposals in parliament are frequently rejected or not addressed.
On 16 January 2018, thousands of Mrauk U residents
staged a protest after officials banned a memorial event to mark the 233rd anniversary of the end of the Mrauk U kingdom. Local police opened fire on the crowd, killing seven and wounding 12. Two speakers of the event-Aye Maung, a prominent Rakhine politician, was charged under section 17(1) of Unlawful Associations Act and Sections 121 and 505 of the Penal Code, which relate to high treason and incitement and Wai Hun Aung, a Sittwe-based activist, was filed with public mischief charges under the Penal Code. Eight rakhine youths who were wounded in the protest were detained and charged under Article 6 (1) for allegedly destroying government property and public asset.
In 2017, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the
Tatmadaw
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
rejected national-level political dialogue, which was a mandatory step of the
Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), officially the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations ( my, တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး ပစ် ...
(NCA), where regional stakeholders discuss suggestions at large-scale public consultations, the results of which are shared by representatives at the Union Peace Conference or 21st Century Panglong, to be held in Rakhine State. In February 2017, the
Arakan Liberation Party
The Arakan Liberation Party ( my, ရခိုင်ပြည် လွတ်မြောက်ရေး ပါတီ; ALP) is a Rakhine political party in Myanmar (Burma). The party has an armed wing, the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA), which ...
—which is one of eight NCA signatories—proposed holding ethnic-based national-level political dialogue in Rakhine State, but Aung San Suu Kyi turned down the request, saying the ALP was not yet ready. The ALP made necessary preparations and submitted letters three times to request approval to hold the dialogue, but the government did not reply, and at the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM)
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...
again declined the request, citing sensitive issues involving the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.
![Disenfranchisement of Election in Arakan 2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Disenfranchisement_of_Election_in_Arakan_2020.jpg)
The
Union Election Committee
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
(UEC) announced on 16 October 2020 that the
2020 Myanmar general election
General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2020. Voting occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by or reserved for the military, to elect members to both the upper house - Amyotha Hluttaw (the House of Nationalities ...
would not be held in the townships of
Pauktaw
Pauktaw ( my, ပေါက်တောမြို့) is the principal town of Pauktaw Township in Sittwe District in Rakhine State, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions requi ...
,
Ponnagyun
Ponnagyun ( my, ပုဏ္ဏားကျွန်းမြို့) is a town in Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indi ...
,
Rathedaung
Rathedaung ( my, ရသေ့တောင်မြို့) is the administrative town of Rathedaung Township in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). It is situated beside the Mayu River and is located north of Sittwe. The town is split into four qu ...
,
Buthidaung
Buthidaung (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of the Buthidaung Township. Buthidaung lies on the west bank of the Mayu river, and experienced severe flooding in June 2010 and ...
,
Maung Daw
Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of Buthida ...
,
Kyauktaw
Kyauktaw ( my, ေက်ာက္ေတာ္ၿမိဳ႕ ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar. The famous Mahamuni Buddha image was originally situated near Kyauktaw, in the ruins of the old city of Dhanyaw ...
,
Minbya
Minbya (Mongbra) ( my, မင်းပြားမြို့, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating ...
,
Myebon
Myebon ( my, မြေပုံမြို့ Myebon Township) is a town of Mrauk-U District in Rakhine State, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even ...
,
Mrauk U
Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...
; two quarters and 52 village tracts within
Kyaukphyu Township, three quarters and 29 village tracts within
Ann Township
Ann Township ( my, အမ်းမြို့နယ်) is a township of Kyaukpyu District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The principal town is Ann. Founded in 1333 AD in King Min Hti.
"Ann Creek" Hydropower Project is being implemented by the ...
, four quarters within
Sittwe Township
Sittwe Township ( my, စစ်တွေမြို့နယ်) is a township of Sittwe District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The principal town is Sittwe.http://www.themimu.info/docs/MIMU154v01_100810_Sittwe%20Ts-Rakhine%20State_A1.pdf Map o ...
, and ten quarters and 52 village tracts within
Toungup Township
Taungup or Toungup Township ( my, တောင်ကုတ်မြို့နယ်) is a coastal township of Thandwe District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The administrative centre and principal town is Toungup
Taungup, Toungup or Toung ...
. The UEC argued that holding a free and fair election would not be possible in the townships due to ongoing violence. With the exception of
Toungup Township
Taungup or Toungup Township ( my, တောင်ကုတ်မြို့နယ်) is a coastal township of Thandwe District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The administrative centre and principal town is Toungup
Taungup, Toungup or Toung ...
, Rakhine ethnic parties are overwhelmingly dominant in these townships. The
Rakhine Nationalities Development Party
The Rakhine Nationalities Development Party ( my, ရခိုင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများတိုးတက်ရေးပါတီ; abbreviated RNDP) was a political party in Myanmar (Burma), representing the inter ...
(RNDP) and
Arakan National Party
The Arakan National Party ( my, ရခိုင်အမျိုးသားပါတီ; abbreviated ANP), is a political party in Myanmar (Burma), representing the interests of the Rakhine people in Rakhine State and Yangon Region. The party ...
(ANP) won a majority of the seats in these townships the in 2010 and 2015 general elections. An estimated 1.2 million people in Rakhine State subsequently lost their voting rights.
2019 internet shutdown
The government of Myanmar authorised the shutdown of internet services in nine townships on 21 June 2019, including Ponnangyun, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Mrauk U, Minbya, and Myebon in Rakhine State, as well as Paletwa in
Chin State
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur t ...
.
The restriction was lifted in five of nine townships in September 2019: four in Rakhine State – Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Myebon – and one township in Chin State, Paletwa. However, the restriction was re-imposed in those five townships in February 2020.
Around 100 students gathered in Yangon on 22 February 2020 and demanded an end to the internet cut-off in Rakhine and Chin states, where civilian casualties are mounting as government troops battle ethnic rebels, the
Arakan Army
The Arakan Army ( my, ရက္ခိုင့်တပ်တော်, Rakhaing Tattaw; abbreviated AA) is an ethnic armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded on 10 April 2009, the AA is the military wing of the United Lea ...
. A case has been filed, on nine students who organised the protest, under section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, which outlaws unauthorised assemblies and carries a maximum six-month prison sentence.
Internet services were restored in Maungdaw Township on 1 May 2020.
On 1 August 2020, 2G internet services were permitted in the remaining seven townships – Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk U,
Myebon, Ponnagyun and Rathedaung Townships in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in Chin State. However, 3G and 4G services remained restricted.
On 2 February 2021, a day after the Tatmadaw seized power in a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, mobile internet services were restored in those eight townships in Rakhine State and Chin State.
Demographics
Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan Province), like many parts of Burma, has a diverse ethnic population. Official Burmese figures state Arakan State's population as 3,118,963.
The ethnic
Rakhine make up the majority, followed by a considerable population of
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
Muslims. The Rakhine reside mainly in the lowland valleys as well as
Ramree
Ramree or Ramarwaddy ( my, ရမ်းဗြဲမြို့, ) also known as Yanbye is a town in Kyaukpyu District, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Ramree (locally pronounced Ram Bray) is situated on Ramree Island. Ramree is the capital of the townsh ...
and
Manaung
Manaung ( my, မာန်အောင်မြို့) is a town in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma) on Cheduba Island.
It lies on the left bank of a river in the north-east of the island. The town is served by Manaung Airport.
Climate
Referen ...
(Cheduba) islands. A number of other ethnic minorities like the
Thet,
Kamein
The Kamein ( my, ကမန်လူမျိုး), also known as the Kaman (), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group indigenous to Rakhine State, Myanmar, where they primarily reside in, and who predominantly follow Islam. The name ''Kaman'' comes ...
,
Chin
The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm.
Evolution
The presence of a we ...
,
Mro,
Chakma,
Khami
Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'' or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located 22 kilometres west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butwa of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument, and became a UNES ...
,
Dainet,
Bengali Hindu
Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...
and
Maramagri inhabit mainly in the hill regions of the state.
According to the
State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee
The State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee ( my, နိုင်ငံတော် သံဃာ့မဟာနာယကအဖွဲ့, abbreviated Mahana or in Burmese, SSMNC in English) is a government-appointed body of high-ranking Buddhis ...
's 2016 statistics, 12,943 Buddhist monks were registered in Rakhine State, comprising 2.4% of Myanmar's total
Sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
membership, which includes both novice
samanera
A sāmaṇera (Pali); sa, श्रामणेर (), is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novice is a ''śrāmaṇerī'' or ''śrāmaṇerikā'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sāmaṇerī'').
Etymology
The ''sāmaṇera'' is a ...
and fully-ordained bhikkhu.
The majority of monks belong to the
Thudhamma Nikaya
Thudhamma Nikaya ( my, သုဓမ္မာနိကာယ, ; also spelt Sudhammā Nikāya) is the largest monastic order of monks in Burma.
It is one of 9 legally sanctioned monastic orders (''nikāya'') in the country, under the 1990 Law Co ...
(88.9%), followed by
Shwegyin Nikaya
Shwegyin Nikāya (, ; also spelt Shwekyin Nikāya) is the second largest monastic order of monks in Burma. It is one of nine legally sanctioned monastic orders (''nikāya'') in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations. Sh ...
(3.9%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other small
monastic orders
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...
.
534
thilashin
A ( my, သီလရှင်, ,( mnw, သဳလ, ), "possessor of morality", from Pali ''sīla'') is a female renunciant in Burmese Buddhism; a Burmese Theravada Buddhist nun. They are not fully ordained nuns, as the full ordination is not ...
were registered in Rakhine State, comprising 0.9% of Myanmar’s total thilashin community.
The Rakhine are traditionally
Theravada Buddhists
''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' ...
. As per the 1983 Census, 98.63% of the Rakhine in Rakhine State were Buddhist and another 1.19% were Muslim. The Chin were the 3rd largest ethnic group, contributing 4% of the population in the 1983 Census. At that time, out of the 64,404 Chin in Rakhine, 55.76% were Buddhist and 33.79% were Animist.
[1983_rakhine_census_report](_blank)
''www.dop.gov.mm'' Muslims constituted more than 80–96% of the population near the border with
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and the coastal areas. As per the 1983 Census, 99.82% of the Rohingya, 99.24% of the "Other foreigners", 89.20% of the "Mixed races", 85.50% of the Indians and 67.51% of the "Pakistanis" in Rakhine state were Muslims.
Administrative divisions
![Map of Rakhine (Arakan) State in Myanmar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Map_of_Rakhine_%28Arakan%29_State_in_Myanmar.png)
Rakhine State consists of five districts, as below, showing areas and officially estimated populations in 2002:
*
Sittwe
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
(12,504 km
2; 1,099,568 people)
*
Mrauk-U
Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...
(recently created out of Sittwe District)
*
Maungdaw
Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of Buthida ...
(3,538 km
2; 763,844 people)
*
Kyaukpyu
Kyaukpyu ( my, ကျောက်ဖြူမြို့ ; also spelt Kyaukphyu) is a major town in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar. It is located on the north western corner of Yanbye Island on Combermere Bay, and is 250 miles (400 ...
(9,984 km
2; 458,244 people)
*
Thandwe
Thandwe ("Thandway" in Arakanese; ; formerly Sandoway) is a town and major seaport in Rakhine State, the westernmost part of Myanmar. Thandwe is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Rakhine State, then called Arakan. ...
(10,753 km
2; 296,736 people)
* Total Rakhine State: 36,778 km
2; 2,915,000 people
Combined, these districts have a total of 17 townships and 1,164 village-tracts.
Sittwe
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
is the capital of the state.
Government
United League of Arakan
The United League of Arakan (ULA; my, ရက္ခိုင့်အမျိုးသားအဖွဲ့ချုပ်) is an Rakhine people, Arakanese political organisation based in Laiza, Kachin State, Myanmar. Its armed wing is the Arak ...
Transport
Few roads cross the
Arakan Mountains
The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...
from central Burma to Rakhine State. The three highways that do are the
Ann
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
to
Munbra (
Minbya
Minbya (Mongbra) ( my, မင်းပြားမြို့, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating ...
in Burmese pronunciation) road in central Rakhine,
["Map of Rakhine State"](_blank)
Myanmar's Net the
Toungup
Taungup, Toungup or Toungok ( my, တောင်ကုတ်မြို့) is a principal town of the Taungup Township in the Rakhine State of westernmost part of Myanmar. As of May 2020, there is one case of COVID-19, one of two cases in not ...
to
Pamtaung road in south central Rakhine,
and the
Gwa to
Ngathaingchaung
Ngathaingchaung or Ngathainggyaung and sometimes Nga-thaing Chaung and Ngatheingkhyonng ( my, ငါးသိုင်းချောင်းမြို့) is a town and sub-township (fourth-level administrative division of Myanmar) in Yegyi T ...
road in far southern Rakhine.
Air travel still is the usual mode of travel 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
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 ...
to Sittwe and
Ngapali
Thandwe ("Thandway" in Arakanese; ; formerly Sandoway) is a town and major seaport in Rakhine State, the westernmost part of Myanmar. Thandwe is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Rakhine State, then called Arakan ...
, the popular beach resort. Only in 1996 was a highway from Sittwe to the mainland constructed. The state still does not have a rail line (although
Myanmar Railways
Rail transport in Myanmar consists of a railway network with 960 stations. The network, generally spanning north to south with branch lines to the east and west, is the second largest in Southeast Asia, and includes the Yangon Circular Railway ...
has announced a 480-km rail extension to Sittwe from Pathein via Ponnagyun-Kyauttaw-Mrauk U-Minbya-Ann).
The airports in Rakhine State are
*
Sittwe Airport
Sittwe Airport is an airport in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar. In Burmese it is known as စစ်တွေ လေဆိပ်.
It started as RAF Station Sittwe, a military airfield in World War II. It was handed over to Department of Civil A ...
*
Kyaukpyu Airport
Kyaukpyu Airport is an airport in Kyaukpyu, Myanmar .
The runway of Kyaukpyu Airport was 4,620 feet long and 100 feet wide. It is able to handle Fokker F28 Fellowship
The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner desig ...
*
Thandwe Airport
Thandwe Airport is an airport serving Thandwe, a town in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The IATA code is based on the town's name during British colonial rule, Sandoway.
Airlines and destinations
Accidents and incidents
*On 16 August 1972, a ...
*
Ann Airport
Ann Airport is an airport located at Ann, Myanmar, Ann, Rakhine State of Myanmar.
Airlines and destinations
References
Airports in Myanmar
{{Myanmar-airport-stub ...
*
Manaung Airport
Manaung Airport is an airport in Manaung, Rakhine State, Myanmar. Manaung Airport was constructed in 1969 for Douglas C-47 Skytrain airplanes as a grass landing airstrip. In the 1983-1984 fiscal year, it was upgraded to be all-weather accessibl ...
With Chinese investment, a deep sea port has been constructed in Kyaukphyu to facilitate the transport of natural gas and
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
from the Indian Ocean to China without passing through
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
.
Rivers useful for transportation in Rakhine are
*
Naf River
The Naf River ( bn, নাফ নদী ''Naf Nodi'' ; my, နတ်မြစ် ; rki, ) is an international river marking the border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar.
Geography
The Naf River's average depth is , and ma ...
*
Kaladan River
The Kaladan River ( my, ကုလားတန်မြစ်, ; also Kysapnadi, Beino, Bawinu and Kolodyne) is a river in eastern Mizoram State of India, and in Chin State and Rakhine State of western Myanmar. The Kaladan River is called the Chh ...
*
Lemro River
The Lemro ( my, လေးမြို့မြစ်, ) originally called Aizannadi is a river of Myanmar flowing through Chin State and Rakhine State. It flows into the Bay of Bengal east of Sittwe. The name of the river was given after establish ...
*
Mayu River
Economy
Rakhine is one of the poorest states in Myanmar .
Over 69% of the population live in poverty.
Rice is the main crop in the region, occupying around 85% of the total agricultural land.
Coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
and
nipa palm
''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ms, nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapte ...
plantations are also important. Fishing is a major industry, with most of the catch transported 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 ...
, but some is also exported. Wood products such as timber,
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
and fuel wood are extracted from the mountains. Small amounts of inferior-grade
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
are produced from primitive, shallow, hand-dug wells, but there is yet unexplored potential for petroleum and natural gas production.
Tourism is slowly being developed. The ruins of the ancient royal town
Mrauk U
Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...
and the beach resorts of
Ngapali
Thandwe ("Thandway" in Arakanese; ; formerly Sandoway) is a town and major seaport in Rakhine State, the westernmost part of Myanmar. Thandwe is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Rakhine State, then called Arakan ...
are the major attractions for foreign visitors, but facilities are still primitive, and the transportation infrastructure is still rudimentary.
While most places in Myanmar have chronic power shortages, in rural states like Rakhine the problem is greater. In 2009, the electricity consumption of a state of 3 million people was 30
MW, or 1.8% of the country's total generation capacity.
In December 2009, the military government added three more hydropower plants, Saidin, Thahtay Chaung and
Laymro
Rakhine State occupies the northern coastline of Myanmar up to the border with Bangladesh and corresponds to the historical Kingdom of Arakan. The history of Rakhine is divided into 7 parts - the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi, Waithali, L ...
myit, at a cost of over US$800 million. The three plants together can produce 687 megawatts, with surplus electricity distributed to other states and divisions.
[
]
Education
Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of 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 ...
. The following is a summary of the public school system in the state in academic year 2013–2014.
Sittwe University
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
is the main university in the state.
Health care
The general state of health care in Myanmar
The current population of Myanmar is 54.05 million. It was 27.27 million in 1970. The general state of healthcare in Myanmar (also known as Burma) is poor. The military government of 1962-2011 spent anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP ...
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. 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. In general, the health care infrastructure outside of 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 ...
is extremely poor but is especially bad in remote areas like Rakhine State. The entire Rakhine State has fewer hospital beds than the Yangon General Hospital
The Yangon General Hospital (YGH, my, ရန်ကုန် ပြည်သူ့ ဆေးရုံကြီး) is a major public hospital in a compound in Yangon, Myanmar. The 2,000-bed hospital consists of seven medical wards, three surgical ...
. The following is a summary of the public health care system in the state.
See also
* List of Arakan Kings
The following is a list of monarchs of Arakan, starting from the Lemro period. For monarchs from earlier periods, see List of early and legendary monarchs of Burma.
Lemro (1018–1430)
Unless otherwise noted, the regnal dates in this section ...
* Arakan Campaign 1942-1943
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it access ...
(for the World War II campaign)
* Rakhine State Cultural Museum
The Rakhine State Cultural Museum is a museum that displays figurines of the Rakhine people and their traditional dress, traditional looms and arts of Rakhine people.
It was established in February 1996. The admission fee is 2 US $ and opening h ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* ''The Land of the Great Image: Being Experiences of Friar Manrique in Arakan'', Maurice Collis
Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects.
Life
He was born in Du ...
(1943), (US publication 1958, Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
)
{{Authority control
States of Myanmar
1974 establishments in Burma
States and territories established in 1974
Rohingya-speaking territories