Mon State
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{{Infobox Burmesestatedivision | englishname = Mon State | burmesename = မ္ဝန္ပ္ရည္နယ္ | transcription = mwan pranynai | flag = monstate | capital = Mawlamyine (Moulmien) | region = South | area = 12,155 | population =2,466,000 | ethnic = Mon, Bamar, Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Rakhine, Shan | religious = Buddhism, Christianity | locatormapfile = MyanmarMon }} Image:Mon.gif Image:Seal monstate.png Mon State 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.It has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. The land area is 12,155 sq. km. Mon State includes many small islands along its 566 km of coastline.
Its capital is Mawlamyine, formerly Moulmein.
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Demographics
Although there are no modern figures on the population of Mon State, it is estimated that the population is around 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. Many are isolated and many do not understand or speak Burmese. The majority of people are Buddhist.
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 many kind of plantations are found in the mountainous areas. Coastal fishing and production of dried fish, fish sauce and agar-agar are important enterprises. Forests cover around half of the land, and timber production is one of the major contributors to the economy. Minerals include salt, antimony, and granite. Industry includes paper, sugar, rubber tires.
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.
Sites of interest
- 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.
- Thanbyuzayat War Memorial - connected with the Bridge on the River Kwai.
History
The Mon were one of the earliest ethnic groups to occupy Burma, moving into the area possibly as early as 1500 BC. The first recorded Mon kingdom, Suwarnabhumi, was centered on Thaton in 300 BC. The Mon converted to Theravada Buddhism around 200 BC. The Mon prospered until around 1000 AD when they came under pressure from new ethnic groups arriving from the north. Successive waves of Burmese and Thai groups slowly eroded the Mon kingdoms, and the last independent Mon kingdom fell to the Burmese in 1757.
Lower Burma, including what is now Mon State, was conquered by Great Britain in 1824 after the Second 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.
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 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, Bago Division, and Ayeyarwady 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.Template:Myanmar
ca:Mon et:Moni osariik es:Estado Mon nl:Mon-staat no:Mon (stat) ru:Мон (Мьянма)