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{{Short description|Geographical region of Myanmar (Burma)}}{{EngvarB|date=November 2015}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}Upper Myanmar ( or {{My|မြန်မာပြည်အထက်ပိုင်း}}, also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses 6 inland states and regions, including Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions, and Chin, Kachin and Shan States. By contrast, Lower Myanmar encompasses the southern and coastal-facing regions of Myanmar. Upper Myanmar is home to several distinct cultural regions, including the homeland of the Bamar in the low-lying central plains, and those of the Chin, Kachin, and Shan peoples in the highlands. Home to over 23 million people, the region's agricultural sector, natural resources, and shared borders with India, China, and Thailand have made Upper Myanmar a major economic hub. Four of Myanmar's ten largest cities, Mandalay, Taunggyi, Monywa, and Myitkyina, are located in the region.

Geography

Upper Myanmar is geographically diverse, bounded by the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau to the north, and the Arakan Mountains to the west, the latter of which separates this region from Rakhine State in Lower Myanmar. Upper Myanmar is home to the country's highest peak, Hkakabo Razi. The region is bisected by the country's primary river, the Irrawaddy River, which runs throughout the length of the country. The eastern stretches of Upper Myanmar are surrounded by the Shan Hills, and the Thanlwin River, which separates parts of Myanmar from China and Thailand. The low-lying central plains (also dubbed the 'Irrawaddy Basin') between the Arakan Mountains and Shan Hills are predominantly inhabited by the Bamar, while the Shan Hills are inhabited by various Shan-speaking ethnic groups and other minorities.

History

The term 'Upper Burma' was first used by the British to refer to the central and northern areas of what is now modern-day Myanmar, a division that accentuated between 1852 and 1885.WEB, Upper Burma {{!, region, Myanmar |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Upper-Burma |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |language=en}} After the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, Lower Burma was annexed by the British Empire, while Upper Burma remained independent under the Konbaung empire until the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. Historically, Upper Burma was predominantly Bamar (whereas Lower Myanmar was historically Mon-speaking until the early 19th century), while the Frontier Areas, as designated by the colonial administration, included areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, such as the Shan States and modern Kachin State.In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Upper Myanmar, including the Bamar heartland, has become a major centre of anti-military resistance and fighting in the ongoing Myanmar civil war (2021–present), due to the presence of People's Defence Forces and ethnic armed organisations.WEB, The Closing Window Problem Facing Myanmar's Pro-Democracy Forces,weblink 2023-03-04, Wilson Center, en,

Administration

Upper Myanmar continues to be used as a geographic designation with respect to government administration and legislation. The national government's Ministry of Home Affairs invokes separate land and revenue laws for Upper and Lower Myanmar.NEWS, 2018-03-08, ချင်း မိရိုးဖလာမြေပိုင်ဆိုင်ခေတ် ကုန်သွားပြီလား, my, BBC News မြန်မာ,weblink 2023-03-04, WEB, မြေယာကဏ္ဍ,weblink 2023-03-04, Ministry of Home Affairs, Myanmar, my, Myanmar's national weather agency, the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, has a dedicated sub-department for Upper Myanmar.WEB, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်ဌာနခွဲ၏လုပ်ငန်းဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များ,weblink 2023-03-04, မိုးလေဝသနှင့်ဇလ‌ဗေဒ ညွှန်ကြားမှုဦးစီးဌာန, my, Likewise, the country's civil service commission, the Union Civil Service Board, operates separate civil service academies for Upper and Lower Myanmar.WEB, Civil Service Academy (Upper Myanmar),weblink 2023-03-04, Union Civil Service Board, WEB, Civil Service Academy (Lower Myanmar),weblink 2023-03-04, Union Civil Service Board, Until 2015, Myanmar's Department of Higher Education was divided into separate departments to support tertiary schools in Upper and Lower Myanmar.Parts of Kachin and Shan States remain contested; they are administered to varying degrees by the central government as well as numerous non-state actors like ethnic armed organisations. Upper Myanmar is also home to all of the country's self-administered zones: Danu, Kokang, Naga, Pa Laung, Pa'O, and Wa.

Cultural regions

Bamar heartland

File:Ethnic_Bamar_men,_Bagan,_Myanmar.jpg|thumb|Men on an ox-drawn cart in BaganBaganAnya ({{my|အညာ}}, {{Lit|upstream}}, also spelt Anyar), the Bamar heartland, is situated around the low-lying central plains of the Chindwin and Irrawaddy Rivers that now comprise Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay regions.JOURNAL, Aung-Thwin, Michael, Michael Aung-Thwin, June 2008, Mranma Pran: When context encounters notion,weblink Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, en, 39, 2, 193–217, 10.1017/S0022463408000179, 1474-0680, 154992861, BOOK,weblink Myanmar-English Dictionary, Myanmar Language Commission, 1993, en, {{Citation |title=Chapter Ii. Burma: The Land and the People |date=1942-12-31 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520351851-005/html |work=Modern Burma |pages=9–22 |access-date=2022-08-22 |publisher=University of California Press |doi=10.1525/9780520351851-005 |isbn=978-0-520-35185-1}} The region has been the homeland of the predominantly Buddhist Bamar people for over a millennia. The Anya region ({{my|အညာဒေသ}}) is often called the 'Central Dry Zone' in English due to its paucity of rainfall and reliance on water irrigation. For 1,100 years, this region was home to a series of Burmese royal capitals, until the British annexation of Upper Burma (the last remaining part of the Konbaung Kingdom) in 1885. Bamar from this region are called anyar thar (အညာသား) in Burmese, while their counterparts from Lower Myanmar are called auk tha ({{my|အောက်သား}}).{{Citation |title=13 Without the Mon Paradigm |date=2020-12-31 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780824874414-014/html |work=The Mists of Rāmañña |pages=299–322 |access-date=2022-08-22 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |doi=10.1515/9780824874414-014 |isbn=978-0-8248-7441-4 |s2cid=242241627}}

Economy

Agricultural cultivation is a mainstay in Upper Myanmar. The region's proximity to major undammed rivers has also made it the site of many hydropower dams. Natural resources also play a big role in the economy, including extraction of timber (including Teak), precious gems (including jade, rubies, sapphires and gems), metals and minerals (including silver, lead, zinc, and gold, barite).WEB, Kean, Thomas, 2016-11-01, Into the Valley of Rubies,weblink 2023-03-05, Frontier Myanmar, en-US, WEB, How the junta plunders Myanmar's Natural Resources,weblink 2023-03-05, Burma News International, en, WEB, Myanmar - Resources and power,weblink 2023-03-05, Britannica, en, Sharing of natural resources remains primary factor driving armed conflict in many parts of Upper Myanmar.WEB, Myanmar's Natural Resources: Blessing or Curse? {{!, Heinrich Böll Stiftung |url=https://www.boell.de/en/2013/12/11/myanmars-natural-resources-blessing-or-curse |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung |language=en}} Upper Myanmar is also home to controversial economic projects, including the Myitsone Dam and Letpadaung Copper Mine.NEWS, 2016-05-06, Hundreds protest restart of China-backed copper mine in Myanmar, en, Reuters,weblink 2023-03-05, WEB, Fishbein, Emily, 2019-02-08, 'It would destroy everything': Thousands protest against Myitsone Dam,weblink 2023-03-05, Frontier Myanmar, en-US, Upper Myanmar's contested border regions, particularly the Golden Triangle and Wa State, are also major global producers of methamphetamines and opium.WEB, Chemicals in, Meth Out in Asia's Booming Golden Triangle Drug Trade,weblink 2023-03-05, VOA, 31 May 2021, en, WEB, Pomfret, Alice, 2023-02-07, From Opium To Meth: How Myanmar Became The World's Leading Producer Of Methamphetamine,weblink 2023-03-05, TalkingDrugs, en,

Agriculture

The Central Dry Zone in Upper Myanmar cultivates 35% of the country's grain crops and occupies two-thirds of arable land in the country.JOURNAL, Tun Oo, Aung, Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, Speelman, Stijn, January 2020, Measuring the Economic Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in the Dry Zone of Myanmar: A Ricardian Approach, Climate, en, 8, 1, 9, 10.3390/cli8010009, 2225-1154, free, 2020Clim....8....9T, 1854/LU-8642837, free, WEB, Improving access to water in Myanmar's Central Dry Zone: Rehabilitation of the Pywat Ywar pump irrigation project,weblink 2023-03-05, Prevention Web, 6 November 2018, en, However, the region is remains food insecure, and is the most water-stressed region of the country, due to lack of regular rainfall (the lowest in the country, at {{Convert|500-1000|mm|abbr=unit}}), inequitable distribution of water, and climate change, which has intensified droughts in the region.JOURNAL, Herridge, David F., Win, Mar Mar, Nwe, Khin Mar Mar, Kyu, Khin Lay, Win, Su Su, Shwe, Tun, Min, Yu Yu, Denton, Matthew D., Cornish, Peter S., 2019-02-01, The cropping systems of the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar: Productivity constraints and possible solutions, Agricultural Systems, en, 169, 31–40, 10.1016/j.agsy.2018.12.001, 158134630, 0308-521X, free, 2019AgSys.169...31H, 80% of the land there is used to grow pulses (e.g., chickpea, black gram, mung bean, etc.), legumes, sesame, and sunflower.WEB, Downing, Jared, 2018-03-26, Myanmar agriculture 101,weblink 2023-03-05, Frontier Myanmar, en-US, Shan State cultivates most of Myanmar's soybeans.

Border trade

Upper Myanmar is a major hub for border trade due to its shared borders with India, China, Laos and Thailand. The region is home to all five of Myanmar's official border gates with China (i.e., Muse, Chinshwehaw, Lweje, Kanpaikti, and Kyaingtong), one of seven border gates with Thailand (i.e., Tachileik), and both border gates with India (Tamu and Rikhawdar).WEB, 2023-02-24, Border Trade Data,weblink 2023-03-05, Ministry of Commerce, In 2022, total trade volume at these gates stood at US$2.7 billion. {| class="wikitable sortable"|+2022 Total Trade Volume (in US$ millions)!Border Gate!Exports!Imports!Trade Volume

Muse, Myanmar>Muse-Ruili|1832.468|266.897|2099.365

|Chinshwehaw-Qingshuihe|153.496|129.900|283.396|Tachileik-Mae Sai|45.092|85.572|130.664

Lweje-{{Ill>Zhangfeng	zh|章鳳鎮}}|90.276|32.484|122.760

Kan Paik Ti>Kanpaikti-Houqiao|77.357|10.824|88.181

Moreh, India>Moreh|9.352|5.782|15.134

Kengtung>Kyaingtong|7.192|3.332|10.524

|2022 total|2215.233|534.791|2750.024

Population

According to the 2014 Myanmar Census, Upper Myanmar had a population of 23,354,199, who make up 46% of the country's population.WEB, 2014 Census Data,weblink Department of Population, 75% of residents in Upper Myanmar live in rural townships. 75% of the population in Upper Myanmar lives in Mandalay and Sagaing Regions, and Shan State.{| class="wikitable sortable"!State / Region!Urban!Rural!Total!%

Mandalay Region}}|2,143,436|4,022,287|6,165,723|26%

Shan State}}|1,395,847|4,428,585|5,824,432|25%

Sagaing Region}}|911,335|4,414,012|5,325,347|23%

Magway Region}}|588,031|3,329,024|3,917,055|17%

Kachin State}}|592,368|1,050,473|1,642,841|7%

Chin State}}|99,809|378,992|478,801|2%

!Total!5,730,826!17,623,373!23,354,199!100%

References

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