Mon State (;
Mon:တြဳႝရးဍဳင္မန္၊ ရးမညေဒသ) is an administrative division of
Myanmar. It is sandwiched between
Kayin State on the east, the
Andaman Sea on the west,
Bago Division on the north and
Tanintharyi Division on the south, and has a short border with
Thailand's
Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. The land area is 12,155 km². Mon State includes many small islands along its 566 km of coastline. Its capital is
Mawlamyaing, formerly Moulmein.
History
Humans lived in the region that is now Myanmar as early as 11,000 years ago, but the first identifiable civilisation is that of the
Mon. The Mon probably began migrating into the area eastward from eastern India in the period from 3000 BC to 1500 BC and settled in the
Chao Phraya River basin of southern Thailand around the 6th century AD. The Mon moved westward into the
Irrawaddy Delta of southern Myanmar in the ensuing centuries. Mon tradition holds that the
Suwarnabhumi mentioned in the
Edicts of Ashoka and the
Dîpavamsa was their first kingdom (pronounced Suvanna Bhoum), founded around the port of
Thaton in about 300 BC, however, this is disputed by scholars. Oral tradition suggests that they had contact with
Buddhism via seafaring as early as the 3rd century BC, though definitely by the 2nd century BC when they received an envoy of monks from
Ashoka, and the Mon converted to
Theravada Buddhism sometime before the sixth century , and they adopted the Indian
Pali script. Much of the Mon's written records have been destroyed through wars. The Mons blended Indian and Mon cultures together in a hybrid of the two civilisations. By 825 they had firmly established themselves in southern and southeastern Myanmar and founded the cities of
Bago (Pegu) and
Thaton, and by the mid-9th century, they had come to dominate all of southern Myanmar.
Mon kingdoms (9th-11th/13th-16th/18th centuries)
The first recorded kingdom that can undisputedly be attributed to the Mon was
Dvaravati which prospered until around 1000 AD when their capital was sacked by the
Khmer Empire and most of the inhabitants fled west to present-day Burma and eventually founded new kingdoms. These, too, eventually came under pressure from new ethnic groups arriving from the north.
Advent of the British
Lower Burma, including what is now Mon State, was conquered by
Great Britain in 1824 after the
First Anglo-Burmese War. The Mon assisted the British in the war, in return for promises of their own leadership after the defeat of Burma. Hundreds of thousands of Mons who had migrated into
Siam returned to their homeland when it came under British rule. However, British promises to restore the Mon Kingdom were never fulfilled. During colonial times, Moulmein had a substantial
Anglo-Burmese population; an area of the city was known as 'Little England' due to the large Anglo-Burmese community, however nowadays this has dwindled to all but a handful of families as most have left for the UK or Australia.
Burmese independence
In 1947, the Mon sought
self-determination from the yet unformed
Union of Burma; however Burmese Prime Minister
U Nu refused, saying that no separate national rights for the Mon should be contemplated. The Burmese army moved into areas claimed by the Mon nationalists and imposed rule by force which resulted in a civil war. Mon separatists formed the
Mon Peoples Front, which was later superseded by the
New Mon State Party (NMSP) in 1962. Since 1949, the eastern hills of the state (as well as portions of Thaninthaya Division) have been under control of the NMSP, and its military arm, the
Mon National Liberation Front (MNLF). In addition to fighting the central government, the MNLF has also fought the
Karen people over control of lucrative border crossings into
Thailand.
In 1974, partially to assuage Mon
separatist demands, the theoretically autonomous Mon State, was created out of portions of
Thaninthayi Division and
Bago Division. Resistance continued until 1995, when NMSP and
SLORC agreed a cease-fire and in 1996, the
Mon Unity League was founded. SLORC troops continued to operate in defiance of the agreement. The
human rights situation in Mon State has not improved. International organizations have repeatedly accused the Myanmar government for massive
human rights violations in Mon State, including
forced labor, arbitrary detention,
population transfer, property confiscation, rape, etc.
Demographics and geography
Limestone landscape near Mudon, south of Mawlamyaing.
Although there are no modern figures on the population of Mon State, it is estimated that the population is around 2,466,000 or 8,466,000. The majority are
Mon. However, there is a large number of ethnic
Bamar, as well as members of the
Kayin,and
Pa-O ethnic groups and a small, dwindling
Anglo-Burmese community. Many are isolated and many do not understand or speak
Burmese. There is a
Thai Community in
Kyaikkami. The majority of people are
Buddhist.
Bordering Bago Division in the south of Sittaung River Mouth, Kayin State in the east, Thailand and Taninthayi Division in the south and Andaman Sea and Gulf of Mottama in the West, Mon state is situated between latitudes 14°52' north and 17°32 ' north and east longitudes 96° 51 ' east and 98° 13 ' east.
Climate and weather
Mon State has a tropical climate. It has a temperate weather as it is located in the low latitude zone and near the sea. The state has only slight changes in temperature. The average temperature of Mawlamyine in January is 78°F (25.6°C) and in April is 85°C (29.4°C). Annual rainfall in Mawlamyine is and in Thaton is . Especially. rain is much heavy in July and August.
Economy
Mon State has a cultivated area of nearly 4.5 million acres (18,000 km²), mostly under
rice. The major secondary crop is
rubber. Orchards and rubber plantations are found in the mountainous areas while Coastal fishing and related industries such as production of dried fish,
fish sauce and
agar-agar are in southern part,
Ye district. Production of
Betel nut is also a sustaining business of Mon state, as the Mon pheasants preserved their heredity land onwards along with the government regulations, however, there are some many parts of uncultivated crude land in the area closed to neighbour
Karen state. Moreover, modern business development includes growing of
cashew trees (acajoύ, in Portuguese), from which they collect the cashew nut for market elsewhere.
Mawlamyine Bridge looks un-modernized, but the longest bridge of Myanmar serves the flow of economy south-north.
Other industries include
paper,
sugar, rubber
tires.
Thaton has a major factory (Burmese, Ka-Sa-La) of rubber products run by Ministry of Industry (1). Forests cover approximately half of the area and timber production is one of the major contributors to the economy. Minerals extracted from the area include
salt,
antimony, and
granite.
Natural resources such as forest products, and onshore and offshore mineral resources, are exploited only by top Myanmar military leaders and foreign companies. At the present time one of the biggest
foreign investments into Myanmar is for the exploitation of
natural gas reserves in Mon State. The Yadana Gas project which connected pipelines alongside the towns of Mon state made harassed danger to the native Mon land and
Mon people.
In Mudon, a city near
Mawlamyaing, there is an applied research center for
agricultural science with labouratory bases in rubber plantation and
fertilization of some other species.
In the past during the
socialist regime, the trading of Mon state was exceptional because the Mon business persons had fantastic deals with the foreign enterprises from
Singapore,
Malaysia and
Thailand. Imports and exports of goods from and to that countries were made via seaports of
Mawlamyaing, Ye and
Thanbyuzayat district. Although it seemed to be unofficial trading in the past, it absolutely developed Mon State if compared to the decline economy of the current situation.
The future plans with
tourism will benefit Mon state a lot as it has excellent transportation with the capital Rangoon. Transportation routes include Train, Bus, Sea line and Airlines. The newly opened
Mawlamyaing Bridge gives quick access from southern
Ye to North
Bago and Rangoon by a day journey.
Three Pagoda Pass is an alternative route which communicates Mon state with neighbour
Kanchanaburi province of Thailand.
Transport
Administration
Mon state has a capital of
Mawlamyaing, the third largest citiy in Myanmar. Administrative body is set under
South Eastern Regional Command of
Myanmar Army in Mawlamyine and
Mawyawaddy Navy Command controls coastline security. There are dispersed army infantry
battalions at many towns in Mon state, and
Thaton has a Light Infantry Division (44th). Major districts are divided for example, Mawlamyaing, Thaton, and Ye districts. At present, army infantries are densely placed in the former
neutral territory of
Ye district for future plans. Ye has become the major city for Southern Mon State with Sector Operation Command of Air Defense, and Military Operations Command 19 based headquarters.
Mon State consists of two districts:
Cities and Towns and villages
Education
Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of
Yangon and
Mandalay. The following is a summary of the public school system in the state in the academic year 2002-2003.
All institutions of higher education in the state are located in Mawlamyaing.
Mawlamyaing University is the main university in the state.
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. The following is a summary of the public health system in the state, in the fiscal year 2002-2003.
Even by the low standards of Myanmar, the available health services in Mon State are shockingly low. A state of 2.5 million people has less than 1000 hospital beds.
Notable sites
- Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (or) kyaik-isi-yo pagoda - A famous religious site with a steeple built on a rock covered with gold leaf, precariously balanced on the site of a cliff. Legend says that Buddha's hair was placed inside the pagoda, and its power keeps the rock from falling.
- Thaton - the former capital of an ancient Mon kingdom, much earlier than Bagan.
- Satse and Kyaik-Kami from Thanbyuzayati is a popular beach resort in Myanmar.
- Belu-kyun (Belu island) opposite to Mawlamyaing is rich in chemical resources as well as traditional handmake products business.
