Magway Region (, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa-de Dam (ပဒဲဆည်) is one of the dams in Aunglan Township, Magway Region. The capital and second largest city of the Magway Region is Magway. The largest city is Pakokku. The major cities of Magway Region are Magway, Pakokku, Aunglan, Yenangyaung, Taungdwingyi, Chauk, Minbu, Thayet and Gangaw.
Geography
Magway Region sits approximately between north latitude 18° 50' to 22° 47' and east longitude 93° 47' to 95° 55'. It is bordered by Sagaing Region to the north, Mandalay Region to the east, Bago Region to the south, and Rakhine State and Chin State to the west.
History
Fossils of the early primates over 40 million years old were excavated in the Pondaung and Ponnya areas from Pakokku District in Magway Region, leading the government to proclaim that Myanmar as "the birthplace of humanity in the world," a claim which is unsupported by anthropologists. An ancient city of the Pyu, Peikthano-myo, about 2,000 years old, is located in Taungdwingyi Township, Magway Region.
The history of Magway Region mirrors that of the other regions of central Burma. The ancient name of Magway Region was Minbu Region (or) Minbu Province. Minbu Region was established with 3 districts. They are Minbu District, Thayet District, and Yenangyaung District. Its capital city was Yenangyaung. In 1950, Chauk township was moved to Yenangyaung District from Myingyan District.
On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military. A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974.
The name of Minbu Region was changed to Magway Region and Yenangyaung District was abolished. Magway District was established with 6 townships. Pakokku Hill Tracts (or) Pakokku Province was abolished, and Pakokku District was added to the Magway Division and Mindat District was added to the Chin state. Magway Region was then divided into 4 districts: Magway District, Minbu District, Thayet District and Pakokku District. Its capital city was changed from Yenangyaung to Magway.
On 4 April 1996, Pakokku District was divided into two districts: Pakokku District and Gangaw District. Currently, Magway Region has a total of 5 districts and 25 townships.
Administrative divisions
thumb|right|upright=1.1|alt=Map of Magway Region showing tree-cover loss years, with forest remaining since 2000 in green and loss years shaded yellow through purple.|Tree-cover loss year in Magway Region, 2001-2024, from the [[Global Forest Change dataset.]]
Magway Region's districts are Magwe, Minbu, Thayet, Pakokku and Gangaw, comprising 25 townships and 1,696 ward village tracts.
Major cities and towns (2020)
Its capital city is Magwe (2020 urban population estimated as 85,214) and its largest city is Pakokku (2020 urban population estimated as 107,890).
Other major cities are Aunglan (2020 urban population estimated as 52,431), Yenangyaung (2020 urban population estimated as 49,938), Taungdwingyi (2020 urban population estimated as 47,739), Chauk (2020 urban population estimated as 47,568) and Minbu (2020 urban population estimated as 40,304).
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible"
! Rank
! City
! District
! 2014 Census (2020 Estimate)
! 1993 Estimate
! Change
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|1
| Pakokku
| Pakokku District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|2
| Magway
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|3
| Aunglan
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|4
| Yenangyaung
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|5
| Taungdwingyi
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|6
| Chauk
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|7
| Minbu
| Minbu District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|8
| Yesagyo
| Pakokku District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|9
| Salin
| Minbu District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="FFFF00"|10
| Thayet
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|11
| Natmauk
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|12
| Gangaw
| Gangaw District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|13
| Minhla
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|14
| Myothit
| Magway District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|15
| Seikphyu
| Pakokku District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|16
| Myaing
| Pakokku District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|17
| Pauk
| Pakokku District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|18
| Pwintbyu
| Minbu District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|19
| Saw
| Gangaw District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|20
| Sidoktaya
| Minbu District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|21
| Mindon
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|22
| Kamma
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|23
| Sinbaungwe
| Thayet District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|24
| Htilin
| Gangaw District
|
|-
| align=center bgcolor="F0E68C"|25
| Ngape
| Minbu District
|
|-
|}
Government
Executive
The region is administered by the Magway Region Government
Legislature
Judiciary
Magway Region High Court is the region's highest-level court.
Demographics
According to the 2014 Myanmar Census, Buddhists make up 98.8% of Magway Region's population, forming the largest religious community there. Minority religious communities include Christians (0.7%), Muslims (0.3%), Hindus (0.1%), and animists (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Magway Region's population. The majority of monks belong to the Thudhamma Nikaya (97%), followed by Shwegyin Nikaya (2.4%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other small monastic orders.thumb|[[Myanmar Railways station map <br />Division 10 Pakokku]]
The Pyay to Nyaung-U, Pakokku and Myingyan railway runs through eastern Magway with connections to the capital Naypyidaw, Rangoon and Mandalay. The major stops in Magway on that line are Taungdwingyi and Natmauk. In addition, there are two rail lines running north from the Irrawaddy port of Kyangin, one to Chaung-U in Sagaing Region and the other to the Myittha River valley past Myaing and Kyaw.
The capital Magway has a small non-commercial airport with air traffic for the city of Magway mostly coming in through Bagan Airport at Nyaung U some 113 km to the north along the Irrawaddy. There are commercial airports at Gangaw, Kyauktu, Pakokku, and Pauk.
In May 2002, Russia agreed to help Myanmar build a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor and two laboratories in the region. Other industries include cement, cotton weaving, and tobacco, iron and bronze. Magway Region produces a large quantity of edible oil as well as petroleum, hence gaining its reputation as the "oil pot of Myanmar".
Pakokku is the largest rice market city of Upper Myanmar (Burma). Agriculture is another important practice, the major crops being sesamum and groundnut. Other crops grown are rice, millet, maize, sunflower, beans and pulses, tobacco, toddy, chili, onions, and potatoes. Famous products of Magway Region include Thanaka (Limonia acidissima) and Phangar (Chebulic myrobalan) fruit.
Only Pakokku and Yenangyaung have industrial zones.
Rice market
Pakokku is the biggest rice market in Upper Myanmar due to the rice requirement of the region itself and being a door to Chin State which also needs rice. Of the incoming rice to Pakokku, 70% is from the Ayeyawady Region (Myaungmya, Hinthada and Myanaung) and 30% is from Shwebo and Ye-U of the Sagaing Region. Some 20% of rice coming into the market of Pakokku is consumed by Pakokku itself, and the remaining 80% is sent to other township markets. Most buyers are from Myaing, Yesagyo, Pauk, Myingyan, Kalaymyo and Chin State. In the Pakokku market, consumption is 15% for top class, 50% for middle class and 35% for lower class rice. There are about 5 large rice wholesalers and 10 small rice wholesalers. A large rice wholesaler sells 500 to 1,500 bags per day, so it can sell 180,000 to 200,000 bags (9,000-10,000 tons) a year. Due to the smooth transportation and the booming market, the rice price becomes very high. Thus, the rice market in Pakokku has increased to double that of the Mandalay market.
Education
As of 2002, Magway Region have 3859 schools, of which only 70 are high schools. Only about 10% of the region's primary school students reach high school.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!width="100"|AY 2002–2003
!width="100"|Primary
!width="100"|Middle
!width="100"|High
|-
| Schools
| 3605
| 184
| 70
|-
| Teachers
| 14,800
| 3730
| 1377
|-
| Students
| 428,000
| 128,000
| 44,000
|}
Most of 12 colleges and universities in the region are located in Magway, Pakokku and Yenangyaung.
Health care
The general state of health care in Myanmar is poor. The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on health care, consistently ranking among the lowest in the world. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals lack many of the basic facilities and equipment. Moreover, the health care infrastructure outside of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. As of 2003, Magway Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region with a slightly greater population.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!width="300"|2002–2003
!width="100"|# Hospitals
!width="100"|# Beds
|-
| Specialist hospitals
| 0
| 0
|-
| General hospitals with specialist services
| 3
| 550
|-
| General hospitals
| 25
| 750
|-
| Health clinics
| 36
| 576
|- class="sortbottom"
| Total
| 64
| 1916
|}
Notable sites
- Fort Min Hla and Fort Kway Chaung: Two late-Konbaung-era forts built to resist a British invasion. The first is situated in the town of Minhla, while the latter is located at opposite bank of the Irrawaddy river.
- Thihoshin Pagoda: Famous Buddhist pagoda in Pakokku, built by King Alaungsithu.