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Yangon: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Yangon
The name Yangon translates to 'End of Strife', a hopeful declaration carved into the city's identity by the combination of the Burmese words for 'enemies' and 'run out of'. This etymology emerged from the early 11th century when the Mon people founded the settlement as Dagon, establishing it as a significant pilgrimage town under the Hanthawaddy kingdom. The city's spiritual heart, the Shwedagon Pagoda, is reputed to be over 2,000 years old, drawing pilgrims for centuries before the British ever arrived. By the 14th century, Dagon had grown into a bustling center of faith, where notable figures like Princess Maha Dewi ruled from 1364 to 1392. Her grandniece, Shin Saw Pu, would later become the only female queen regnant in Burmese history, building a palace next to the pagoda in 1460 and spending her semi-retired life there until her death in 1471. The transformation from a quiet Mon settlement to a major urban center began in 1755 when King Alaungpaya captured Dagon, adding settlements and renaming the enlarged town Yangon. The East India Company opened a factory in the 1790s, and by 1823, the population had swelled to approximately 30,000 people, setting the stage for a dramatic colonial future.
The Garden City of the East
Following the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, the British captured Yangon and all of Lower Burma, transforming the city into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser designed a new city on a grid plan, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. By the 1890s, the growing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake and Inya Lake. The British established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University, creating a city known as 'the garden city of the East'. Before World War II, about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, and only about a third was Bamar. The city boasted public services and infrastructure on par with London, featuring spacious parks and lakes alongside a mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture. The British also sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, to Yangon to live in exile after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, adding a layer of imperial tragedy to the city's colonial narrative. This era of prosperity was shattered when the city was under Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, incurring heavy damage during World War II before being retaken by the Allies in May 1945.
The Burden of Independence
Yangon became the capital of the Union of Burma on the 4th of January 1948 when the country gained independence from British rule, but the city soon faced profound challenges. Soon after independence, many colonial-era names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names, and in 1989, the military junta changed the city's English name to 'Yangon', a change not accepted by many Burmese or foreign nations. During Ne Win's isolationist rule from 1962 to 1988, Yangon's infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance and did not keep up with its growing population. The city became much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic make-up since independence, as many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left, with the latter effectively disappearing through emigration or intermarriage. Yangon was the center of major anti-government protests in 1974, 1988, and 2007. The 8888 Uprising resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese civilians, many of them in Yangon where hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the streets of the former capital city. The Saffron Revolution saw mass shootings and the use of crematoria in Yangon by the Burmese government to erase evidence of their crimes against monks, unarmed protesters, journalists, and students. The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government, most notably during the 1988, 2007, and 2021 mass protests, all of which were started in Yangon itself, signifying its importance as the cultural center of Burma.
What does the name Yangon mean and when was it established?
The name Yangon translates to 'End of Strife' and the settlement was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century by the Mon people. This etymology emerged from the combination of Burmese words for 'enemies' and 'run out of' when the Mon people established the settlement as a significant pilgrimage town under the Hanthawaddy kingdom.
Who was the only female queen regnant in Burmese history and when did she rule?
Shin Saw Pu was the only female queen regnant in Burmese history and she ruled from 1364 to 1392. She built a palace next to the Shwedagon Pagoda in 1460 and spent her semi-retired life there until her death in 1471.
When did the British capture Yangon and what was the population in 1823?
The British captured Yangon following the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852 and the population had swelled to approximately 30,000 people by 1823. Army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser designed a new city on a grid plan bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River.
When did the military government move the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw?
The military government designated Naypyidaw as the new administrative capital in November 2005 and moved much of the government to the newly developed city. This decision left the former capital as a ghost of its former administrative self and Yangon remains the largest city and the most important commercial center of Myanmar.
What is the height limit for buildings in Yangon and what is the height of the Shwedagon Pagoda?
No building in Yangon should be more than 75% the height above sea level of the Shwedagon Pagoda which rises about 99 meters. The city does not have any skyscrapers due to this rule and a luxury housing project was cancelled in 2015 for its proximity to the pagoda.
How many passengers do public buses carry in Yangon each day?
Over 4.4 million passengers are carried daily by over 300 public and private bus lines operating about 6,300 crowded buses around the city. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on this extensive network of buses to get around.
In November 2005, the military government designated Naypyidaw, 129 kilometers north of Yangon, as the new administrative capital, and moved much of the government to the newly developed city. This decision drained an unknown number of civil servants away from Yangon, leaving the former capital as a ghost of its former administrative self. Yangon remains the largest city and the most important commercial, economic, and cultural center of Myanmar, but it suffers from profoundly inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon, and while the city had few human casualties, three-quarters of Yangon's industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, with losses estimated at US$800 million. The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government, most notably during the 1988, 2007, and 2021 mass protests, all of which were started in Yangon itself, signifying its importance as the cultural center of Burma. In the 2020s, life in Yangon was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and 2021 coup d'état. The city was the location of mass protests in response to the coup, and the pandemic and protests prompted the authorities to enforce a series of lockdowns and curfews. The city's economy subsequently slowed, leaving a city that had once been the jewel of the East struggling to maintain its commercial dominance.
The Grid and the Pagoda
Downtown Yangon is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture, boasting the highest number of colonial period buildings in south-east Asia. The former British colonial capital is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings, including the former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School, and the Strand Hotel. Most downtown buildings from this era are four-story mix-use buildings with 12-foot ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market. In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. Unlike other major Asian cities, Yangon does not have any skyscrapers, due to a rule that no building should be more than 75% the height above sea level of Shwedagon Pagoda, which rises about 99 meters. For instance, in 2015, a luxury housing project was cancelled due to its proximity to Shwedagon Pagoda. Critics of the project claimed that the project could cause structural damage to the pagoda. The city's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads, with the east-west grid of central Yangon laid out by British military engineers Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War.
The Struggle for Survival
Yangon's infrastructure suffers from profound inadequacies, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. The city has a 3,000-kilometer road network of all types, but many of the roads are in poor condition and not wide enough to accommodate an increasing number of cars. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on an extensive network of buses to get around, with over 300 public and private bus lines operating about 6,300 crowded buses around the city, carrying over 4.4 million passengers a day. Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens, with car prices among the highest in the world. The city's water is supplied by four reservoirs managed by the YCDC, but Kandawgyi and Inya Lakes no longer function as reservoirs for the city. The general state of health care in Yangon is poor, with the military government spending 0.4% of the national budget on health care, and 40% to 60% on defense. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment. The city's education system is equally strained, with state spending on education among the lowest of the world, and schools having to rely on forced 'donations' and fees from parents for nearly everything. The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city, with wealthy families sending their children to private English language instruction schools or abroad.
The Heart of the Nation
Yangon is the country's main center for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment, and tourism, representing about one fifth of the national economy. The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise, from basic foodstuffs to used cars, although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. Bayinnaung Market is the largest wholesale center in the country for rice, beans, and pulses, and other agricultural commodities. Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through Thilawa Port, the largest and busiest port in Burma. Manufacturing accounts for a sizeable share of employment, with at least 14 light industrial zones ring Yangon, directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010. The city is the center of the country's garment industry, which exported US$292 million in 2008/9 fiscal year. Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city, although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low. The city's property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites, with rents for a typical 40-square-meter apartment in the center and vicinity ranging between K70,000 and K150,000 in 2008. The city's cultural life thrives despite these challenges, with pagoda festivals held during dry-season months, and the most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracting thousands of pilgrims from around the country.