Pathein
Pathein
ပုသိမ်မြို့ Bassein | |
---|---|
City | |
MST) | |
Area code | 42[3] |
Pathein (
Etymology
The city's name is believed to derive from the Old Mon name, ဖာသီ ([pha sɛm]).[5] "pha" means great or wide and sī/sɛm means river or sea. Pha-sɛm means a big sea. The name was corrupted to Bassein during the British colonial period.
An alternate theory holds that the city's name comes from the classical name of Pathein, Kusimanagara, a name used by ancient writings and the Kalyani inscriptions. Pathein itself is a corruption of Mon "Kuthen," which itself is a contraction of Kusima or Kusimanagara, a Pali name for the city.[6][7] This is supported by the fact that the Portuguese call Pathein "Cosmim."[6]
Another theory is that modern name Pathein potentially derives from this time period based on the word Patkain, a version of the archaic Burmese word for Muslims pathi (Burmese: ပသီ), based on either the growing presence of Arab traders in Pathein during the 16th century or on a purported Muslim Indian who ruled the city around 1233 CE.[7][1]
History
According to local history, the city was first a town called Thinsawanargara (
Pathein was raided in 1180 CE by
Until the 15th century, most of Lower Burma was largely jungle and swamp land with little development. Burmese ports like Pathein were known by traders as early as the 10th or 11th century. However, it was only in the 14th century during the rise of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, a Mon kingdom based on Pegu that brought Lower Burma to prominence as a trading hub.[7]
In 1852, the
Geography and economy
Lying at the western edge of the
The coastline along the Bay of Bengal is surrounded by the Arakan Mountains. In the area is Inye Lake, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, which is known for its fishing. There is also an offshore reef at Diamond Island that is popular with bathers. Diamond Island is also noted as a turtle breeding ground.[4]
The city is a
The
Climate
Pathein has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Pathein experiences a sustained period of extraordinary rainfall from June through August. The dry season which runs from December through April, begins with noticeably cooler temperatures than the remainder of the year, but becomes sweltering as the wet season approaches in March and April.
Climate data for Pathein (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32.1 (89.8) |
34.1 (93.4) |
35.9 (96.6) |
36.9 (98.4) |
34.5 (94.1) |
31.1 (88.0) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.0 (86.0) |
31.1 (88.0) |
32.5 (90.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
32.8 (91.0) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 24.9 (76.8) |
26.6 (79.9) |
28.8 (83.8) |
30.6 (87.1) |
29.8 (85.6) |
27.7 (81.9) |
27.1 (80.8) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.3 (81.1) |
28.1 (82.6) |
27.4 (81.3) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.5 (81.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
21.8 (71.2) |
24.3 (75.7) |
25.1 (77.2) |
24.2 (75.6) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.5 (74.3) |
23.6 (74.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
19.0 (66.2) |
22.3 (72.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 3.8 (0.15) |
7.5 (0.30) |
10.2 (0.40) |
30.4 (1.20) |
276.0 (10.87) |
604.5 (23.80) |
682.7 (26.88) |
681.3 (26.82) |
416.7 (16.41) |
204.2 (8.04) |
65.9 (2.59) |
3.5 (0.14) |
2,986.9 (117.59) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 12.6 | 24.8 | 26.2 | 25.9 | 22.0 | 14.2 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 132.8 |
Source: World Meteorological Organization[14] |
Demographics
2014
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1973 | — | |
1983 | — | |
2014 | 169,773 | — |
2019 | 172,923 | +1.9% |
Source: Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population and General Administration Departmnet data |
The
Landmarks
Pathein has a scenic waterfront and many
- Tagaung Mingala Pagoda[15]
- Settawya pagoda
- Phaung Daw U Pagoda
- Clock Tower
- St Peter's Cathedral
- Pathein University
- Pathein Cultural Museum
- Pathein Bridge No.2
Education
The city is home to the
Sports
The 6,000-seat Ayar Stadium is one of the main venues for popular local football tournaments. The stadium is the home of Ayeyawady United F.C., a Myanmar National League (MNL) football club.
Health care
Pathein General Hospital serves people in Pathein and its surrounding districts.
Notable people
- Supreme Court of Burma and 2nd president of Myanmar (1952–1957) was born in Pathein in 1887.[16]
- 8th president Thein Sein was born in a village nearby Hainggyikyun Subtownship in 1945[17] and studied his high school education in Pathein.[18]
- 10th president Win Myint was born in Danubyu in 1945 and started his political life in Pathein, winning the Pathein Township seat within the Pyithu Hluttaw in a 2012 by-election.[19]
See also
- Phaung Daw U Pagoda
- Pathein Airport
- Ngwesaung Beach
- Chaungtha Beach
References
- ^ a b c d e Myanmar Information Management Unit (September 2019). Pathein Myone Daethasaingyarachatlatmya ပုသိမ်မြို့နယ် ဒေသဆိုင်ရာအချက်လက်များ [Pathein Township Regional Information] (PDF) (Report). MIMU. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "Pathein Township Report" (PDF). 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census. October 2017.
- ^ "Myanmar Area Codes". Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
- ^ a b c d "Pathein". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- ^ Dictionary of Modern Spoken Mon by H.L. Shorto (1962, Oxford University Press)
- ^ a b James Gray, ed. (1892). Buddhaghosuppatti. London: Luzac & Company. p. 11.
- ^ ISBN 9783643963406.
- . Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
- ^ Kyaw Thet (1962). History of Burma (in Burmese). Yangon: Yangon University Press. pp. 41–42.
- ^ "Bassein". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press. 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Pathein (Bassein)". Journeysmyanmar.com. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- ^ "မြို့သမိုင်းကြောင်းစာအုပ် ရှာပုံတော်ဖွင့်ရာ အောင်မြင်မှု မရခဲ့တဲ့ ပုသိမ်". The Myanmar Times (in Burmese). 2014-10-29. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
- ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ Planet, Lonely. "Tagaung Mingala Zeditaw in Pathein, Myanmar (Burma)". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
- ISBN 978-1258087005.
- ^ Keller, Bill (30 September 2012). "A Conversation with President U Thein Sein of Myanmar". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ Salai Thant Zin (2 December 2014). "Thein Sein Visit to Native Village Highlights Humble Beginnings". The Irrawaddy.
- ^ "Backgrounder:Myanmar's newly-elected President U Win Myint". Xinhua. 28 March 2018.