Sagaing Region

Region of Myanmar

Region in Upper, Myanmar

Sagaing Region

စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး

Region

Myanma transcription(s)
• Burmese| cac kuing: tuing: desa. kri:

Flag

Seal

Location of Sagaing Region in Myanmar

Coordinates: 21°30′N 95°37′E﻿ / ﻿21.500°N 95.617°E﻿ / 21.500; 95.617
Country| Myanmar
Region| Upper
Capital| Monywa
Government

• Chief Minister| Myat Kyaw
• Cabinet| Sagaing Region Government
• Legislature| Sagaing Region Hluttaw
• Judiciary| Sagaing Region High Court
Area

• Total

| 93,704.5 km2 (36,179.5 sq mi)
• Rank| 2nd
Highest elevation

(Mount Saramati)

| 3,841 m (12,602 ft)
Population

(2014)[1]

• Total

| 5,325,347
• Rank| 5th
• Density| 57/km2 (150/sq mi)
Demonym| Sagainggese
Demographics

• Ethnicities|

* Bamar
* Shan
* Mizo
* Chin
* Naga
* Khamti

• Religions| Buddhism 92.2%
Christianity 6.5%
Islam 1.1%
Hinduism 0.1%
Animism 0.1%[2]
Time zone| UTC+06:30 (MST)
ISO 3166 code| MM-01
HDI (2017)| 0.547[3]
low · 9th
Website| sagaingregion.gov.mm

Sagaing Region (Burmese: စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, pronounced [zəɡáɪ̯ɰ̃ táɪ̯ɰ̃ dèθa̰ dʑí]; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is bordered by Chin State and India's Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh states to the west and north, Kachin State, Shan State, and Mandalay Region to the east and Mandalay Region and Magway Region to the south. The Ayeyarwady River forms a greater part of its eastern and also southern boundary. Sagaing Region has an area of 93,527 square kilometres (36,111 sq mi), making it the second-largest subdivision of Myanmar. In 1996, it had a population of over 5,300,000, while its population in 2012 was 6,600,000. The urban population 2012 was 1,230,000, and the rural population was 5,360,000.[4] The namesake of Sagaing Region is Sagaing but the administrative capital and largest city is Monywa.[5][6][7]

## History

[edit]

### 1st to 13th centuries

[edit]

Pyu city in red

The Pyu were the first in recorded history to populate the area of Sagaing Region by the first century CE. The Burmans first migrated into Upper Myanmar by the ninth century CE. The area came under the Pagan Kingdom certainly by the middle of the 11th century when the King Anawrahta (r. 1044–1077) founded the Pagan Empire, which encompasses the modern day Myanmar.[citation needed]

Pagan Empire Sagaing state came under territory of Mong Mao in the heyday of the Si Kefa period (1360)

### 13th to 19th centuries

[edit]

Map of Taungoo Empire in 1580 stretched from Manipur in the west to Cambodia in the east

After the fall of Pagan in 1287, the northwestern parts of Upper Myanmar came under the Sagaing Kingdom (1315–1364) ruled by Burmanized Shan kings. The area was ruled by the kings of Ava from 1364 to 1555 and the kings of Taungoo from 1555 to 1752. Konbaung Dynasty (1752–1885), founded by king Alaungpaya in Shwebo, became the last Burmese dynasty before the British conquest of Upper Burma in 1885. The area became Sagaing Division after the Burmese independence in January 1948.[citation needed]

### Modern era

[edit]

Konbaung Empire in 1824

In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Sagaing Region, which is part of the Bamar homeland, emerged as a stronghold of resistance against military rule. Myanmar Armed Forces has engaged in significant military offensives throughout the region to quell resistance and intimidate local villagers. Sagaing Region has since become the site of several high-profile massacres by military forces, including the 2022 Let Yet Kone massacre and the 2023 Tar Taing massacre.[8][9]

In March 2025, a Mw 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck close to the capital city of Sagaing. Significant damage was recorded within the city and throughout the entire region.

## Administrative divisions

[edit]

As of 2022, Sagaing Region consists of 13 districts and 1 Self-Administered Zone, divided into 34 townships[10] with 198 wards and villages. The major cities are Sagaing, Shwebo, Monywa, Ye U, Katha, Kale, Tamu, Mawlaik and Hkamti. Mingun with its famous bell is located near Sagaing but can be reached across the Ayeyarwady from Mandalay.

Hkamti District
| Hkamti Township

|

Homalin District
| Homalin Township
Kale District
| Kale Township • Kalewa Township • Mingin Township
Kanbalu District
| Kanbalu Township • Kyunhla Township
Katha District
| Banmauk Township • Htigyaing Township • Indaw Township • Katha Township
Kawlin District
| Kawlin Township • Pinlebu Township • Wuntho Township
Mawlaik District
| Mawlaik Township • Paungbyin Township
Monywa District
| Ayadaw Township • Budalin Township • Chaung-U Township • Monywa Township
Naga Self-Administered Zone
| Lahe Township • Leshi Township • Nanyun Township
Sagaing District
| Myaung Township • Myinmu Township • Sagaing Township
Shwebo District
| Khin-U Township • Shwebo Township • Wetlet Township
Tamu District
| Tamu Township
Ye-U District
| Tabayin Township • Taze Township • Ye-U Township
Yinmabin District
| Kani Township • Pale Township • Salingyi Township • Yinmabin Township

In August 2010,[11] three former townships of Hkamti District were transferred, in accordance with the 2008 constitution,[12] to a new administrative unit, the Naga Self-Administered Zone.[11]

## Government

[edit]

### Executive

[edit]

Main article: Sagaing Region Government

Sagaing Region is currently under the control of a military junta known as the State Administration Council (SAC), led by General Min Aung Hlaing. This regime seized power following a coup on February 1, 2021, overthrowing the elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD). Since then, the country has been under an extended state of emergency and faces an ongoing civil war between the junta, pro-democracy forces, and various ethnic armed groups.

### Legislature

[edit]

Main article: Sagaing Region Hluttaw

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2019)

|

### Judiciary

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2019)

|

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±%

|
|

1973 | 3,119,054| —
1983 | 3,862,172| +23.8%
2014 | 5,325,347| +37.9%
Source: 2014 Myanmar Census[1]

In 2014, Sagaing Region had a population of 5.3 million people.

### Ethnic makeup

[edit]

Ethnic composition of Sagaing Region

Ethnic group |  | Percentage
Bamar |

| 87.5%
Shan |

| 4.8%
Chin |

| 4.0%
Naga |

| 2.6%
Other |

| 1.1%
Source: 2019 GAD township reports

The Bamar make up the majority of the region's population, living in Anyar, the country's central dry zone and along the Mandalay-Myitkyina Railroad. Other groups, like the Shan and Kachin, form small minorities. The Shan live in the upper Chindwin River valley. Kuki people which includes the Thadou people live in the south and along the Indo-Myanmar Border from Homalin to Tamu-Namphalong axis.

Smaller ethnic groups native to the Region include the Kadu and Ganang, who live in the upper Mu River valley and Meza River valley. There are also an unknown number of Catholic Bayingyi people (at least 3,000), the descendants of 16th and 17th century Portuguese adventurers and mercenaries, who live in their ancestral villages on the expansive plains of the Mu river valley.

After the 2014 Census in Myanmar, the Burmese government indefinitely withheld release of detailed ethnicity data, citing concerns around political and social concerns surrounding the issue of ethnicity in Myanmar.[13][14] In 2022, researchers published an analysis of the General Administration Department's nationwide 2018-2019 township reports to tabulate the ethnic makeup of the region.[15][16]

### Religion

[edit]

Religion in Sagaing (2015)[17]

1. Buddhism (92.2%)
2. Christianity (6.50%)
3. Islam (1.10%)
4. Other religion (0.10%)
5. Hinduism (0.10%)

According to the 2014 Myanmar Census, Buddhists, who make up 92.2% of Sagaing Region's population, form the largest religious community there.[18] Minority religious communities include Christians (6.6%), Muslims (1.1%), and Hindus (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Sagaing Region's population.[18] 0.1% of the population listed no religion, other religions, or were otherwise not enumerated.[18]

According to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee’s 2016 statistics, 55,041 Buddhist monks were registered in Sagaing Region, comprising 10.3% of Myanmar's total Sangha membership, which includes both novice samanera and fully-ordained bhikkhu.[19] The majority of monks belong to the Thudhamma Nikaya (83.8%), followed by Shwegyin Nikaya (16.1%), with the remainder of monks belonging to other small monastic orders.[19] 9,915 thilashin were registered in Sagaing Region, comprising 16.4% of Myanmar's total thilashin community.[19]

## Ecology

[edit]

There are a number of protected areas in Sagaing Region, among them are Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary,[20] Mahamyaing Wildlife Sanctuary,[21][22] and Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary in Homalin Township.[23]

## Transport

[edit]

Sagaing

Hemmed in by two great rivers of Myanmar, the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin, river transport is a common way to move people and cargo. Much of the inland Sagaing Region relies on roads and rail in poor condition.

## Economy

[edit]

Agriculture is the chief occupation. The leading crop is rice, which occupies most of the arable ground. Other crops include wheat, sesame, peanut, pulses, cotton, and tobacco. The region being next to India, depends on the export import business from India. It is the gateway to India for Myanmar. Sagaing is Myanmar's leading producer of wheat, contributing more than 80% of the country's total production. Important minerals include gold, coal, salt and small amounts of petroleum. Industry includes textiles, copper refining, gold smelting, and a diesel engine plant. The Region has many rice mills, edible oil mills, saw mills, cotton mills, and mechanized weaving factories. Local industry includes earthen pots, silverware, bronze-wares, iron-wares and lacquerware.

Forestry is important in the wetter upper regions along the Chindwin River, with teak and other hardwoods extracted. As in other parts of the country, reforestation is not effective enough to maintain sustainable forestry. Since the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, illegal logging of teak and tamalan trees has surged in Sagaing Region, predominantly in key contested battlegrounds, including Kani, Yinmabin, Kantbalu, Indaw and Banmauk townships.[24] Both the Burmese military and resistance groups have profited from the illegal logging trade.[24] Smugglers transport the wood to India in order to circumvent economic sanctions, and use the Myanma Timber Enterprise to license the wood as being sourced from permitted areas.[24][25]

## Education

[edit]

See also: List of universities in Sagaing Division

Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of Yangon and Mandalay. According to official statistics, less than 10% of primary school students in Sagaing Region reach high school.[26]

AY 2002–2003  | Primary  | Middle  | High

|
|
|

Schools  | 3854  | 190  | 84
Teachers  | 16,100  | 5000  | 1600
Students  | 550,000  | 140,000  | 49,000

Sagaing Region has three national "professional" universities in the Monywa University of Economics, Sagaing University of Education and the Sagaing Institute of Education. Monywa University is the main liberal arts university in the region. Sagaing Institute of Education also known Sagaing University of Education is the one of two senior universities of education in Myanmar.

## Healthcare

[edit]

The general state of healthcare 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.[27][28] Although healthcare 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 healthcare infrastructure outside of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. In 2003, Sagaing Region had less than a quarter of the number of hospital beds counted in Yangon Region, with a similar size of population.[29]

2002–2003  | # Hospitals  | # Beds

|
|

Specialist hospitals  | 0  | 0
General hospitals with specialist services  | 2  | 400
General hospitals  | 38  | 1168
Health clinics  | 48  | 768
Total | 88 | 2336

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Highlights of the Main Results Census Report Volume 2 – A" (PDF). The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census - The Union Report - Census Report Volume 2 [EN/MY]. Department of Population Ministry of Immigration and Population. 29 May 2015. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
2. ^ "The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census- The Union Report: Religion" (PDF). myanmar.unfpa.org. Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
3. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
4. ^ http://www.mrtv3.net.mm/newpaper/68newsm.pdf[permanent dead link] Page 3 Col 1
5. ^ "ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး အစိုးရအဖွဲ့ရုံး" [Union of the Republic of Myanmar Sagaing Region Government Office]. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
6. ^ Ko Ko Thett (30 August 2018). "Ask a Local: Ko Ko Thett, Sagaing, Myanmar". The Common.
7. ^ "Conflict in Upper Myanmar reaches outskirts of Sagaing capital". Myanmar Now. 14 June 2023.
8. ^ Maung Shwe Wah (2023-03-11). "In Myanmar's heartland, new horrors from a junta struggling for control". Myanmar NOW. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
9. ^ "The Tabayin School Attack". Myanmar Witness. 2022-11-23. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
10. ^ "Myanmar States/Divisions & Townships Overview Map" Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
11. ^ a b "တိုင်းခုနစ်တိုင်းကို တိုင်းဒေသကြီးများအဖြစ် လည်းကောင်း၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရ တိုင်းနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရ ဒေသများ ရုံးစိုက်ရာ မြို့များကို လည်းကောင်း ပြည်ထောင်စုနယ်မြေတွင် ခရိုင်နှင့်မြို့နယ်များကို လည်းကောင်း သတ်မှတ်ကြေညာ". Weekly Eleven News (in Burmese). 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
12. ^ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ (၂၀၀၈ ခုနှစ်) (in Burmese) [0]=1|2008 Constitution PDF Archived 2011-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^ Jap, Jangai; Courtin, Constant (2022-11-22). Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units. International IDEA. doi:10.31752/idea.2022.57. ISBN 978-91-7671-577-2.
14. ^ Jap, Jangai; Courtin, Constant (2022-11-22). Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units. International IDEA. doi:10.31752/idea.2022.57. ISBN 978-91-7671-577-2.
15. ^ "PoneYate ethnic population dashboard".
16. ^ Jap, Jangai; Courtin, Constant (2022-11-22). Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units. International IDEA. doi:10.31752/idea.2022.57. ISBN 978-91-7671-577-2.
17. ^ Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR (July 2016). The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Census Report Volume 2-C. Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR. pp. 12–15.
18. ^ a b c The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Census Report Volume 2-C (PDF). Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. July 2016. pp. 12–15.
19. ^ a b c "The Account of Wazo Monks and Nuns in 1377 (2016 year)". State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee. 2016. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
20. ^ Aung, Myint (2001) "Ecology and Social Organization of a Tropical Deer (Cervus Eldi Thamin)" Journal of Mammalogy 82(3): pp. 836–847, doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2001)082<0836:EASOOA>2.0.CO;2
21. ^ "Mahamyaing Wildlife Sanctuary" BirdLife IBA Factsheet
22. ^ Brockelman, Warren Y. et al. (2009) "Chapter 20: Census of Eastern Hoolock Gibbons (Hoolock leuconedys) in Mahamyaing Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Region, Myanmar" pp. 435–451 In Lappan, Susan and Whittaker, Danielle (eds.) (2009) The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology Springer, New York, ISBN 978-0-387-88603-9, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-88604-6_20
23. ^ "Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary" BirdLife IBA Factsheet
24. ^ a b c Frontier (2023-03-27). "'No one can stop it': Illegal logging surges in Myanmar's conflict zones". Frontier Myanmar. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
25. ^ "From Taiwan to Turkey and beyond: How Deforestation Inc exposed the teak trade from Myanmar". ICIJ. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
26. ^ "Education statistics by level and by State and Division". Myanmar Central Statistical Organization. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
27. ^ "PPI: Almost Half of All World Health Spending is in the United States". 2007-01-17. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05.
28. ^ Yasmin Anwar (2007-06-28). "Burma junta faulted for rampant diseases". UC Berkeley News.
29. ^ "Hospitals and Dispensaries by State and Division". Myanmar Central Statistical Organization. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2009-04-11.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sagaing Region.

Places adjacent to Sagaing Region

|  | Nagaland,
Manipur,
Arunachal Pradesh,  India |

|
|

|  |
Chin State
India |

Sagaing Region

|  Kachin State
Shan State
|  |
|  Magway Region |  Mandalay Region
Ayeyawady River

* v
* t
* e

Sagaing Region

Capital: Monywa

Hkamti District|

* Hkamti Township (Hkamti)

Homalin District|

* Homalin Township (Homalin)

Kale District|

* Kale Township (Kalaymyo)
* Kalewa Township (Kalewa)
* Mingin Township (Mingin)

Kanbalu District|

* Kanbalu Township (Kanbalu)
* Kyunhla Township (Kyunhla)

Katha District|

* Banmauk Township (Banmauk)
* Htigyaing Township (Htigyaing)
* Indaw Township (Indaw)
* Katha Township (Katha)

Kawlin District|

* Kawlin Township (Kawlin)
* Pinlebu Township (Pinlebu)
* Wuntho Township (Wuntho)

Mawlaik District|

* Mawlaik Township (Mawlaik)
* Paungbyin Township (Paungbyin)

Monywa District|

* Ayadaw Township (Ayadaw)
* Budalin Township (Budalin)
* Chaung-U Township (Chaung-U)
* Monywa Township (Monywa)

Naga Self-Administered Zone|

* Lahe Township (Lahe)
* Leshi Township (Leshi)
* Nanyun Township (Nanyun)

Sagaing District|

* Myaung Township (Myaung)
* Myinmu Township (Myinmu)
* Sagaing Township (Sagaing)

Shwebo District|

* Khin-U Township (Khin-U)
* Shwebo Township (Shwebo)
* Wetlet Township (Wetlet)

Tamu District|

* Tamu Township (Tamu)

Ye-U District|

* Tabayin Township (Tabayin)
* Taze Township (Taze)
* Ye-U Township (Ye-U)

Yinmabin District|

* Kani Township (Kani)
* Pale Township (Pale)
* Salingyi Township (Salingyi)
* Yinmabin Township (Yinmabin)

* v
* t
* e

Administrative divisions of Myanmar

States|

* Chin
* Kachin
* Kayah
* Kayin
* Mon
* Rakhine
* Shan

Regions|

* Ayeyarwady
* Bago
* Magway
* Mandalay
* Sagaing
* Tanintharyi
* Yangon

Self-Administered Zones|

* Danu
* Kokang
* Naga
* Pa Laung
* Pa-O

Self-Administered Divisions|

* Wa

Union Territories|

* Naypyidaw

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