Kyonpyaw Township (Burmese: ကျုံပျော်မြို့နယ်) is a township in the south of Kyonpyaw District in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar. The capital is Kyonpyaw town, founded 600 years ago. The township, like others in its district, used to be part of Pathein District until 2022. The Township borders Lemyethna Township and Hinthada Township of Hinthada District to the north. To the east and southeast it borders Danubyu Township and Pantanaw Township of Maubin District respectively. To the south and west, it borders Kyaunggon Township and Yekyi Township respectively. The Township has a significant Karen population and is divided into 1 town, 4 wards, 89 village tracts and 523 villages.
Kyonpyaw Township
ကျုံပျော်မြို့နယ် | |
|---|---|
 Location in Kyonpyaw district | |
  Kyonpyaw Township | |
| Coordinates: 17°18′N 95°12′E / 17.300°N 95.200°E | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region |  Ayeyarwady Region |
| District | Kyonpyaw District |
| Capital | Kyonpyaw |
| Area | |
• Total | 319.7600 sq mi (828.1746 km2) |
| Elevation | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Population (2019) | 253,436[1] |
| • Ethnicities | |
| Time zone | UTC+6:30 (MMT) |
History
editKyonpyaw Township's name derives from Mon Krangpi meaning three streams named in the 15th century. The Township in modern times was founded on the 30th of August 1972.[1]
Tun Myint Oo, the Parliamentary Democracy Party candidate for Kyonpyaw Township for the 2015 elections was arrested in 2018 with a grenade and swords after showing nationalist sympathies working with Arakan groups and with U Wirathu[2]
Geography
editKyonpyaw Township is a flat low-lying delta area with several streams running through it. the Daka river passes through Kyonpyaw town where it meets another major stream, Ahtaung stream, just east of the town. Besides Kyonpyaw, the town of Ahtaung is the next largest, but significantly smaller, center of population. Both the Ahtaung and the Daka meander significantly in the town and lead to elongated rice cultivation land use patterns.[1] The township also hosts Inye Lake, an oxbow lake.[3] Most of the waterways are freshwater with many being navigable by boat for the transportation of the township's people and goods. Prior to the construction of the Yangon-Pathein Highway, the Daka river was the main way to access the town from Yangon.[4]
Despite the township's lack of large natural forests, it has a wide variety of classic southern Burmese trees including lebbek trees, Mango trees, Jackfruit trees, Banyan trees, Bamboo, Coconut trees, Tamarind trees, Burmese plum trees among others. The township also has a significant wildlife population- mostly waterfowl like ducks, cranes and cormorants.
Kyonpyaw Township is located in a hot tropical zone with a heavy monsoon presence. Average highs and lows range between 42°C and 19°C, respectively. Between 2016 and 2019, the average year sees 90.25 days of rain with an average rainfall of 296.71 inches (753.64 cm) per year.[1]
Demographics
edit| Year | Kyonpyaw Township | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 235,727 | — |
| 2018 | 245,352 | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 252,885 | +3.1% |
| Source: Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population[5] and General Administration Department data[1] | ||
Kyonpyaw township is very rural with 90.2% of the population living outside of either Kyonpyaw or Ahtaung. The town has a significant Karen minority accounting for 41.5% of the population. The majority religion is Buddhism with 71.76% of the population adhering to it. The religion with the second most followers is Christianity with 27.92% of the population.[1] The median age is 28.5 and the mean household size is 4.1 people. The township's literacy rate is 89.9% and workforce participation is 86.7% for males and 41.2% for females. Only 66.7% of the township has an official citizenship scrutiny card.[5]
Economy
editThe main industry in Kyonpyaw Township is agriculture with 133,874 acres of farmland. The primary crop is rice and black lentils with peanuts and green peas as the primary cool season crop.[1] The Township also has many orchards of which its major products include bananas.[6]
Notable People
editMahn Win Maung, 3rd president of Myanmar (1957–1962) was born in Hlezeit, Kyonpyaw Township in 1916.
Kenneth Sein's book The Great Po Sein chronicling the famous Burmese dance actor Po Sein, the character of a young Po Sein lives in Kyonpyaw when a dance troupe passes through the town, prompting his interest.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Myanmar Information Management Unit (September 2019). Kyonpyaw Myone Daethasaingyarachatlatmya ကျုံပျော်မြို့နယ် ဒေသဆိုင်ရာအချက်လက်များ [Kyonpyaw Township Regional Information] (PDF) (Report). MIMU. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Moe Myint (11 July 2018). "Nationalist Sympathizer Arrested with Grenade in Rakhine". The Irrawaddy. Yangon. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Inyegyi Chaung". Mindat. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ Thura Htike (1 May 2021). "ချောင်းသုံးခုပေါင်းဆုံရာမြို့" [Town where three creeks meet]. Eleven Myanmar (in Burmese).
- ^ a b Myanmar Information Management Unit (October 2017). The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census, Einme Township Report (PDF) (Report). MIMU. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ 5. Activities carried out
- ^ Sein, Kenneth (1965). The Great Po Sein: A Chronicle of the Burmese Theater. Bloomington, IN: Praeger. ISBN 978-0837187372.