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| Yangon ရန်ကုန်မြို့ ([yàngòʊn myo̰]) Rangoon |
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| Motto: Yangon Purum Manaw Ra Man | |||
  Yangon
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Burma | ||
| Admin. division | Yangon Division | ||
| Settled | 6th century AD | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Brigadier General Aung Thein Lynn | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 400 sq mi (1,036 km²) | ||
| - Urban | 222.4 sq mi (576 km²) | ||
| Population (2007)[1] | |||
| - City | 6,007,000 | ||
| - Ethnicities | Bamar, Burmese Chinese, Burmese Indians, Kayin | ||
| - Religions | Buddhism, Christianity, Islam | ||
| Area code(s) | 1 | ||
| Website: www.yangoncity.com.mm | |||
Yangon (also known as Rangoon) is the largest city and former capital of Burma. Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006,[2] Yangon, with a population of 6 million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial center.
Yangon's infrastructure is relatively undeveloped compared to those of other major cities in Southeast Asia. Yangon has the largest number of colonial buildings in Southeast Asia today.[3] While many high-rise residential and commercial buildings have been constructed or renovated throughout downtown and Greater Yangon in the past two decades, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be deeply impoverished.
Yangon is a member of Asian Network of Major Cities 21.
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Yangon is a combination of the two words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean "enemies" and "run out of" respectively. It is also translated as "End of Strife". "Rangoon" most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of "Yangon" in the Rakhine dialect of Burmese.
Yangon was founded as Dagon in the 6th century AD by the Mon, who dominated present day Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centered about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, and renamed it "Yangon". The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.
The British Empire seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and Inya Lake. [4] The British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University.
Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East." [5] By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.[6]
Before World War II, almost half of Yangon's population was Indian or South Asian,[7] followed by Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indian populations.citation needed
Yangon incurred heavy damage during World War II.
Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the city's English name to "Yangon", along with many other changes in English transliteration of Burmese names. (The changes have not been accepted by many Burmese who consider the junta unfit to make such changes.)
Since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thuwana and Okkalapa in the 1950s to Dagon Myothit (New Dagon) in the 1990s. Today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 400 square miles (1000 sqkm).
During Gen. Ne Win's isolationist rule (1962-1988), Yangon's infrastructure never kept up with its increasing population, and deteriorated severely. In the 1990s, the current military government's relatively more open market economy attracted an influx of domestic and foreign investment that brought a small degree of modernity to the city's infrastructure. Many colonial-period buildings were demolished to make way for high-rise hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls. (In 1996, to protect some colonial buildings under government jurisdiction, the government devised a "Heritage List".) Some inner city residents were forcibly relocated to new satellite towns. Major road- and bridge-building programs were undertaken, including construction of a bridge across the river to Thanlyin and its industrial hinterland.[8] Still, much of Yangon remains without 24-hour electricity and regular rubbish collection.
Yangon has become much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic makeup since independence. After independence, many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left. Many more South Asians and Anglo-Burmese were forced to leave during the 1960s by Gen. Ne Win's xenophobic government. Nevertheless, sizable South Asian and Chinese communities still exist in Yangon. The Anglo-Burmese have effectively disappeared, having left the country or intermarried with other Burmese groups.
In November 2005, the military government designated the newly developed city of Naypyidaw, 200 miles (322 km) north in Mandalay Division as the new administrative capital. The motives for the move remain unclear. At any rate, Yangon remains the largest city, and the most important commercial center of Burma.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon, causing heavy collateral damage. Unlike the Irrawaddy delta, which had the bulk of the estimated 130,000 deaths, however, the city had relatively few human casualties. But the city's industry was hit hard. The cyclone inflicted total or partial destruction on 70% of Yangon’s 2500 factories. More than 60% of the 496 factories, including power stations, operating in Hlaing Tharya Industrial Zone, Myanmar’s biggest, suffered damage.[9]
Yangon is located in lower Burma at the convergence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers about 19 miles (30 km) away from the Gulf of Martaban at 16°48' North, 96°09' East (16.8, 96.15). Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.
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Yangon has an equatorial monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system.
| Weather averages for Yangon (Rangoon), Burma | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Average high °F | 90 | 94 | 96 | 98 | 92 | 86 | 85 | 85 | 86 | 88 | 89 | 88 | |
| Average low °F | 64 | 66 | 70 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 66 | |
| Precipitation inches | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.60 |
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8.10 | 2.40 | 0.30 | |
| Average high °C | 32 | 34 | 36 | 37 | 33 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 31 | |
| Average low °C | 18 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 19 | |
| Precipitation mm | 5.1 | 2.5 | 7.6 | 15.2 |
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205.7 | 61.0 | 7.6 | |
| Source: The Weather Channel [10] 2008-01-04 | |||||||||||||
Yangon is administered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). YCDC also coordinates urban planning.[11] The city is divided into four districts. The districts combined have a total of 32 townships. The mayor of Yangon currently is Brigadier General Aung Thein Lynn. Each township is administered by a committee of township leaders, who make decisions regarding city beautification and infrastructure. Myo-thit (lit. "New Towns", or satellite towns) are not within such jurisdictions.
All domestic and international traffic goes through Yangon International Airport, located 12 mi (19 km) from downtown. The airport recently opened a new passenger terminal to accommodate larger aircraft. The second largest airport in Myanmar after Mandalay International Airport), Yangon International is the busiest airport in the country. All four domestic airlines are headquartered here.
Yangon Central Railway Station is the gateway to Myanmar's 2,480-mile (3,991 km) rail network whose reach covers Upper Myanmar (Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Shwebo), upcountry (Myitkyina), Shan hills (Taunggyi, Kalaw) and the Taninthayi coast (Mawlamyine, Ye).
A decrepit local commuter rail circuit system connects Yangon's satellite towns. The 28.5-mile (45.9 km) 39-station system is heavily utilized by the local populace, selling about 150,000 tickets daily. The popularity the commuter line has jumped since the government reduced petrol subsidies in August 2007. Rail travel is now considerably cheaper than the city bus service. [12]
The vast majority of Yangonites cannot afford a car and rely on buses to get around. Several public and private bus lines operate crowded buses around the city.
Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens. In addition to the ever rising price of petrol, car prices in Yangon (and in Myanmar) are among the highest in the world as the government allows only a few thousand cars to be imported each year in a country with over 50 million people.[13] As of July 2008, the two most popular cars in Yangon, 1986/87 Nissan Sunny Super Saloon and 1988 Toyota Corolla SE Limited, cost about US$20,000 and US$29,000 respectively. The 1991 Toyota Corolla costs over US$55,000.[14] A sports utility vehicle, imported for around US$50,000, goes for US$250,000.[15] Illegally imported unregistered cars are cheaper--about half the price of registered cars. As of March 2008, Yangon has over registered 173,000 motor vehicles[16] in addition to an unknown number of unregistered ones. Nonetheless, car usage in Yangon is on the rise, and already causes much traffic congestion in highway-less Yangon's streets.
Since 1970, cars are driven on the right side of the road in Myanmar. However, as the government has not required left hand drive (LHD) cars to accompany the right side road rules, many cars on the road are still right hand drive (RHD) made for driving on the left side. Japanese used cars, which make up most of the country's imports, are still come with RHD and are never converted to LHD. As a result, the Burmese drivers have to rely on the passengers when passing other cars.
Within Yangon, it is illegal to drive trishaws, bicycles, and motorcycles.
Central Yangon's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads:
The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 100-foot wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 100-foot wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named. For example, the 100-foot Lanmadaw Road is followed by 30-foot-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 50-foot Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 100 foot wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on.
The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (nee Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomery) Road.
After Burma's independence in 1948, many street names were changed, although some continue to be used interchangeably. The following list presents major thoroughfare name changes within Yangon city limits:
Yangon is the country's hub for the movie, music, advertising, newspaper and book publishing industries. All media is heavily regulated by the military government. (Television broadcasting is off limits to the private sector.) All media content must first be approved by the government's media censor board, Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.[17]
All television channels in the country are broadcast from Yangon. TV Myanmar and Myawaddy are the two main channels, providing Burmese language programming in news and entertainment. Other special interest channels are MRTV3, the English language channel that targets overseas audiences via satellite and via Internet, MRTV4 with a focus on non-formal education programs and movies, and Channel 5, a fee-based channel specializing in broadcasting foreign movies.
Yangon has only two radio stations. The Myanmar Radio National Service is the national radio service and broadcasts mostly in Burmese (and in English during specific times.) Pop-culture oriented City FM specializes in Burmese and English pop music, entertainment programs, live local celebrity interviews, etc.
Nearly all print media and industries are based out of Yangon. All three national newspapers--two Burmese language dailies Myanma Alin and Kyemon, and the English language The New Light of Myanmar are published by the government. Semi-governmental The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Burmese and in English, is mainly geared for Yangon's expatriate community. Over twenty special interest journals and magazines covering sports, fashion, finance, crime, literature (but never politics) are published by private publishers.
Access to foreign media is extremely difficult. Satellite television in Yangon (and in Myanmar) is highly expensive as the government imposes an annual registration fee of one million kyats (780USD).[18] Foreign newspapers and periodicals such as International Herald Tribune and Singapore Straits Times can be found only in a few (mostly downtown) bookstores.
The majority of Yangonites live outside downtown, and typically spend most of their day commuting to-and-from work. For recreation, Yangonites come out at night when the weather is much cooler. Most men of all ages (and some women) spend their time at ubiquitous tea-shops, found in any corner or street of the city. Watching European football (mostly Premier League with occasional La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) matches while sipping tea is a favorite pastime of many Yangonites, rich and poor alike. The average person stays close to his or her neighborhood haunts. The well-to-do tend to visit shopping malls and parks on weekends. Some leave the city on weekends for Chaungtha and Ngwesaung beach resorts in Ayeyarwady Division.
Yangon is also home to many paya pwes (pagoda festivals), held during dry-season months (November-March). The most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracts thousands of pilgrims from around the country.
The city's museums are the domain of tourists and rarely visited by the locals.
Most of Yangon's larger hotels offer some kind of nightlife entertainment, geared towards tourists and the well-to-do Burmese. Some hotels offer traditional Burmese performing arts shows complete with a traditional Burmese orchestra. The pub scene in larger hotels is more or less the same as elsewhere in Asia. Other options include karaoke bars and pub restaurants in Yangon Chinatown.
Yangon is the country’s main center for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. According to official government statistics, the city’s nominal GDP is K2.38 trillion (~2 billion USD) in 2007,[19] about 15% of the country’s GDP of $13.5 billion.
The city is Lower Myanmar’s main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise—from basic food stuffs to used cars. Much of the country’s legal imports and exports go through Thilawa port, the largest and busiest port in Myanmar. Yangon’s external trade is greatly hampered by its underdeveloped banking industry and inconsistent policies.
Manufacturing accounts for a sizable share of employment. The city’s industrial zones, which specialize mostly in light industry and textiles suffer from both structural problems (e.g., chronic power shortages) and political problems (i.e. Western economic sanctions). While Yangon's 2500 factories alone need about 120 MW of power,[20] the chronic power shortages have limited their operating hours between 8 am and 6 pm.[21] (The city receives only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed.)[22]
Construction is a major source of employment in this city of six million although it has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw.[23] New construction activity has declined markedly since. Yangon’s property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites. The apartments priced between K6 million (US$5000) and K10 million (US$8300), and houses priced between K20 million (US$16,600) and K50 million (US$41,600) show the highest demand.[24]
Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by Southeast Asian standards the actual number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low (about 250,000 before Saffron Revolution). Yangon's international standard hotels, built with foreign investment in the 1990s, still await the influx of tourists for which they were built.
Yangon has the best educational facilities and the highest number of qualified teachers in Myanmar where state spending on education is among the lowest in the world.[25] The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts like TTC, Dagon 1 and Latha 2 regularly send the bulk of the students entering the most selective universities in the country. The wealthy bypass the Burmese education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools like the YIEC for primary and secondary education, and abroad (typically Singapore and Australia) for university education.[26]
With over 13000 undergraduate students and 1000 graduate students, University of Yangon, the oldest university in Myanmar, is also its largest. The city's University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, Yangon University of Computer Studies and Yangon Institute of Marine Technology are the most selective in the country.[27] Yangon also attracts many students from around the country as many majors are offered only in its universities.
The general state of health care in Yangon is poor. The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of its GDP on health care.[28][29] Although health care is nominally free, the reality is that patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.
To be sure, wealthier Yangonites still have access to country's best medical facilities and internationally qualified physicians and surgeons in all branches of medicine. (As many Burmese physicians have emigrated abroad, only do Yangon and Mandalay have any sizable number of physicians left.) The well-to-do go to private clinics or hospitals like Pun Hlaing International Hospital and Bahosi Medical Clinic. The Myanmar Times weekly reports that a ten-day private hospital stay costs about K2.5 million (US$2300).[30] The rich and top military brass routinely go abroad (usually Bangkok or Singapore) for treatment.
 Downtown Yangon, facing Sule Pagoda and Hlaing River |
 Downtown Yangon by Night |
 Karaweik Palace on Kandawgyi Lake |
 Downtown Flats |
 Shwedagon Pagoda, a Landmark of Yangon |
Ngahtatgyi Buddha image |
 Downtown Yangon in the Evening |
 Central Yangon |
 Taxi at Yangon City Hall |
 Yangon River Jetty |
