Magwe (Magway) Division

   One of Burma's 14 states and divisions, with an area of 44,820 square kilometers (17,305 square miles) and an estimated population in 2000 of 4.55 million (1983 census figure: 3,243,166). The divisional capital is Magwe (Magway), and the division has five districts (Magwe, Minbu, Thayet, Gangaw, and Pakkoku) and 25 townships. It is bounded on the north by Sagaing Division, on the northwest by Chin State, on the southwest by Arakan (Rakhine) State, on the south by Pegu (Bago) Division, and on the east by Mandalay Division.

   Located in the Dry Zone, a "rain shadow" formed by the Arakan (Rakhine) Yoma, Magwe Division receives scant rainfall compared to areas to the south, although as much as half a million acres of cropland are devoted to the cultivation of rice. It is Burma's largest producer of millet and groundnuts (peanuts), and the country's second largest producer of sesame seeds, cotton, pulses, and beans. The landscape is rolling or flat and gives the impression of desert or savannah, the horizon interrupted by clumps of shaggy sugar palms. Bisected by the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) River, Magwe Division is a major link in north-south water, road, and rail transportation. Yenaungyaung (Yaynangyoung) and Chauk have been important for the production of oil since before the British colonial era. Industries include petroleum refineries, rice mills, cotton mills, fertilizer and cement plants, and factories for producing machinery and consumer goods. Forestry is economically important, with reforestation projects being implemented. Part of the Burman (Bamar) heartland (Upper Burma), Magwe Division is rather homogeneous ethnically and includes the town of Natmauk, the birthplace of independence hero Aung San. Beikthano (the "City of Vishnu"), a Pyu site, is located southeast of Magwe, and Sale (Salay), located southwest of Chauk, contains interesting but little-investigated monuments dating from the late Pagan (Bagan) Dynasty.