Chauk ( my, ချောက်) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers ...

Magway Region Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa Del Dam (ပဒ� ...

, north-central

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), on the

Irrawaddy 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 ...

. It is located across the river from

Seikphyu Seikphyu ( my, ဆိပ်ဖြူ) is the principal town and administrative seat for Seikphyu Township in Pakokku District in the Magway Division of Myanmar, on the right (western) bank of the Irrawaddy immediately below its confluence with th ...

(ဆိပ်ဖြူ) and is connected by a bridge.

History

In 1902, the Chauk-Lonywa oil field was discovered near Chauk, which is presently a major source of income for the town. On January 2, 2014, Singapore's Interra Resources announced that its jointly controlled entity, Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company Inc., had commenced drilling development well CHK 1177 in the Chauk oil field in Myanmar.

Climate

Located in the “Dry Valley” of central Myanmar in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is ca ...

of 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 ...

, Chauk has a borderline

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

( Köppen ''BSh''), being a little too dry to qualify as 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 ...

(''Aw'') due to the extreme heat and high potential

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transp ...

. Unlike most monsoonal semi-arid climates, the rainy season in the “Dry Valley” is relatively long at around five to seven months, while variability and extreme monthly and daily rainfalls are much lower than usual with this type of climate.See

Earthquake

The 6.8 Mw Myanmar earthquake shook north-central Myanmar on August 24, 2016, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (''Strong''). Four people were killed and several ancient temples were damaged.

Economy

A refinery was built in Chauk for the Chauk-Lonywa oil field that also processes crude oil that comes down a pipeline from Yenangyaung.Bečka, Jan (1995) "Chauk" ''Historical Dictionary of Myanmar'' Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey, p. 58, The Chauk field was still producing

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

as of 1995.

Notes

Populated places in Magway Region Township capitals of Myanmar {{Magway-geo-stub