Bago Division (; formerly Pegu Division) is an administrative division of Burma, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Division and Mandalay Division to the north; Kayin State, Mon State and the Gulf of Martaban to the east; Yangon Division to the south and Ayeyarwady Division and Rakhine State to the west. It is located between 46°45'N and 19°20'N and 94°35'E and 97°10'E.

History

According to legend, two Mon princes from Thaton founded the city of Bago in 573 AD. They saw a female goose standing on the back of a male goose on an island in a huge lake. Believing this was an auspicious omen, the princes built a city called Hanthawady (Pali: Hamsavati) on the edge of the lake.

The earliest mention of this city in history is by the Arab geographer Ibn Khudadhbin around 850 AD. At the time, the Mon capital had shifted to Thanton. The Bamar from Bagan ruled the area in 1056. After the collapse of Bagan to the Mongols in 1287, the Mon regained their independence.

From 1369-1539, Hanthawady was the capital of the Mon kingdom of Ramanadesa, which covered all of what is now lower Burma. The area came under Burman control again in 1539, when it was annexed by King Tabinshwehti of Kingdom of Taungoo. The kings of Taungoo made Bago their royal capital from 1539-1599, and used it as a base for their repeated invasions of Siam. As a major seaport, the city was frequently visited by Europeans, who commented on its magnificence. The Burmese capital was relocated to Ava in 1634. In 1740, the Mon revolted and briefly regained their independence, but Burmese King Alaungpaya sacked and completely destroyed the city (along with Mon independence) in 1757.

Burmese King Bodawpaya (1782-1819) rebuilt Bago, but by then the river had shifted course, cutting the city off from the sea. It never regained its previous importance. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the British annexed Bago in 1852. In 1862, with the formation of the province of British Burma, the capital was moved to Yangon.

Administration

Bago Division occupies an area of divided into the four districts of Bago, Pyay, Thayawady and Taungoo. Bago, the divisional capital, is the fourth largest town of Burma. Other major cities include Taungoo and Pyay.

Transport

Bago Division is served by Pyay Airport.

Demographics

The total population of Bago Division is about 5.1 million (2007), with Bamar, Karen, Mon, Chin, Rakhine, Shan, South Asians, Chinese, and Pa-O ethnic groups represented. The majority of the people are Buddhists. Burmese language is the lingua franca.

Economy

The division's economy is strongly dependent on the timber trade. Taungoo, in the northern end of the Bago Division, is bordered by mountain ranges, home to teak and other hardwoods. Other natural resources include petroleum. The major crop is rice, which occupies over two-thirds of the available agricultural land. Other major crops include betel nut, sugarcane, maize, groundnut, sesamum, sunflower, beans and pulses, cotton, jute, rubber, tobacco, tapioca, banana, Nipa palm and toddy. Industry includes fisheries, salt, ceramics, sugar, paper, plywood, distilleries, and monosodium glutamate.

The division also has a small livestock breeding and fisheries sector, and a small industrial sector. In 2005, the division had over 4 million farm animals and nearly of fish and prawn farms; about 3000 private factories and about 100 state owned factories.
The major tourist sites of Bago Division can be reached as a day trip from Yangon.

Education

Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of Yangon and Mandalay. In 2005, Bago Division had 578 post-primary schools, 119 middle schools and 132 high schools.
The following is a summary of the division public school system for the academic year of 2002-2003.

The division is home to one national university, Pyay Technological University and two local universities, Pyay University and Taungoo University.

Health

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. For example, in 2003, Bago Division had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Division whose population was just slighter greater. More shocking still, in 2005, this division of five million had only 399 doctors in its public hospitals.

Notable sites

Kyaik Pun Paya