Final Report Chapter 2 Background of the Project CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT 2.1 2.1.1 Socio-Economic Index and Population of Each City National Land and Ethnic Composition The Union of Myanmar is situated between latitude 10 degrees and 28 degrees north and characterized by a national land extending long from north to south. The land borders on China, Thailand, Laos, India, and Bangladesh, and the total length of the border line reaches about 4,600 km. At the sea side, it faces the Gulf of Martaban, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean, and the total length of its shoreline is about 2,000 km. The greater part of the national land belongs to a tropical zone or a subtropical zone, but temperature and precipitation differ greatly area by area. The Ayeyarwady River (total length 2,400 km) flows from north to south through the central area between two mountain ranges extending from north to south and located in the east and west of the national land. The vicinity of its river mouth (Ayeyarwady Region) forms a vast delta area (area about 31,000 km2), and is the largest rice production area of the country. In addition, in the east side, the Thalwin River (total length 2,400 km) is situated. Headstream of it from Tibet far-off north of Myanmar flows through Yunnan Province, China and through Shan plateau of the northeast part of Myanmar, and reaches Andaman Sea. The Thalwin River has a lot of rapid streams and only allows a ship to navigate it to a 119 km point from its river mouth. Because of it, an economic effect from waterway traffic is not expected in its river basin. 2.1.2 Administrative Division Myanmar is divided into 7 Regions (tyne) and 7 States (pyi-ne) as administrative areas. Region is an area where a lot of Burmese (share about 7 out of 10 people) mainly reside in, and State is an area where ethnic minorities other than Burmese mainly reside in. The capital city is Nayptitaw (meaning king's city, relocated from old capital Yangon in November 2005) situated in the southern part of Mandalay Region. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Region Ayeyarwady Sagaing Tanintharyi Bago Magway Mandalay Yangon Region capital Pathein Sagaing Dawei Bago Magway Mandalay Yangon State Kachin Kayah Kayin Shan Chin Mon Rakhine State capital Myit-kyi-na Loikaw Hpa-an Taunggyi Hakha Maw-la-myine Sittwe Fig. 2.1-1 Local administrative division of Myanmar Myanmar is a multiethnic nation, and it is said that Burmese account for 2/3 of the population, and more than 100 ethnic minorities account for 1/3 (Shan 9%, Kayin 7%, Rakhine 3.5%, Chinese descent 2.5%, Mon 2%, Kachin 1.5%, Indian descent 1.25%, 2-1