Mingaladon

   (Township)

   Located in northern Rangoon (Yangon), Mingaladon Township is the site of Rangoon's international airport, the country's largest (in terms of traffic). There are also extensive Tatmadaw installations, so that a significant percentage of the township's population is military personnel. Both the airport and the military "cantonments" date back to the British colonial period. MINGUN. A town on the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) River, upriver from Mandalay, best known for the Mingun Pagoda, built by King Bodawpaya (r. 1782-1819). Intended to be the world's tallest pagoda, with a height of 170 meters (553 feet), its construction, which involved thousands of slaves and prisoners of war, was halted at Bodawpaya's death in 1819, and an earthquake damaged it in 1838. The ruins, standing 50 meters (163 feet) high, are still impressive. A 90-ton bronze bell, commissioned by Bodawpaya in 1808, is the largest undamaged bell in the world.