Sittwe
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Sittwe
စစ်တွေမြို့ Akyab | |
---|---|
City | |
MMT) | |
Area code(s) | 42, 43 |
Climate | Am |
Sittwe (
Etymology
The name Sittwe, which literally means "the place where the war meets," is derived from the
In early 1825, during the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British forces landed at Sittwe and stationed their forces by the ancient pagoda, Ahkyaib-daw, which is still standing in the city. The British adopted the name Akyab for the place.
History
Originally a small fishing village, Sittwe became an important seat of maritime commerce, especially as a port for the export of rice after the British occupation of Arakan, now known as Rakhine State, following the First Anglo-Burmese War.
Sittwe was the location of a battle during the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese king
In 1826, after the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British transferred the seat of government to Sittwe on the coast. During the first 40 years of British rule it expanded from a village to a town of 15,536 inhabitants, and by 1901 it was the third port of Burma with a population of 31,687.[3] In the 1860s, the Consulate General of the United States (Kolkata) had a consular agency in Sittwe.[4] During colonial times, Site-tway had a bad reputation for malaria and cholera, although historical records indicate that it was no better or worse than many other locations along the India coast. [citation needed]
During
Sittwe is the birthplace of political monks in Myanmar. It was the birthplace of U Ottama, the first monk who protested against the colonial British in Myanmar. Also, in the recent 2007 protest marches, known as the Saffron Revolution, it was the monks in Sittwe who started the protest against the military government in Myanmar. Sittwe houses the Dhanyawadi Naval Base, named after the ancient Rakhine city-state of Dhanyawadi.
Since 2012, the Myanmar government has herded tens of thousands of Rohingyas into camps in Sittwe. There are now some 140,000 Rohingyas living in poor condition huts with limited electricity and food. Rohingya refugees can not go out or move around and also not allowed to work outside of camp. The beach at Ohn Daw Gyi became the main departure point.[5]
Climate
Sittwe's climate is classified as a tropical monsoon climate (Am), according to the Köppen climate classification system. The city experiences a dry season from December through April, and an extraordinarily rainy wet season covering the remaining seven months. Sittwe sees average rainfall in excess of 1 metre (40 in) per month during June, July and August. Conditions are noticeably cooler and less humid in the months of December, January and February than during the remainder of the year.
Climate data for Sittwe (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 37.0 (98.6) |
39.5 (103.1) |
40.0 (104.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
38.9 (102.0) |
37.2 (99.0) |
37.7 (99.9) |
38.0 (100.4) |
38.0 (100.4) |
39.5 (103.1) |
35.0 (95.0) |
34.0 (93.2) |
40.0 (104.0) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.4 (83.1) |
30.1 (86.2) |
31.9 (89.4) |
33.2 (91.8) |
32.7 (90.9) |
30.3 (86.5) |
29.5 (85.1) |
29.6 (85.3) |
30.6 (87.1) |
31.6 (88.9) |
31.0 (87.8) |
29.1 (84.4) |
30.7 (87.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 21.4 (70.5) |
23.0 (73.4) |
25.8 (78.4) |
28.4 (83.1) |
28.7 (83.7) |
27.4 (81.3) |
26.8 (80.2) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.2 (81.0) |
27.5 (81.5) |
25.7 (78.3) |
22.9 (73.2) |
26 (79) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.4 (57.9) |
16.0 (60.8) |
19.8 (67.6) |
23.5 (74.3) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.5 (76.1) |
24.1 (75.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.4 (74.1) |
20.4 (68.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
21.3 (70.3) |
Record low °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) |
7.5 (45.5) |
10.0 (50.0) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.8 (65.8) |
18.0 (64.4) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.0 (64.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
16.8 (62.2) |
11.0 (51.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
6.0 (42.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 9.7 (0.38) |
10.3 (0.41) |
8.2 (0.32) |
27.2 (1.07) |
330.2 (13.00) |
1,129.4 (44.46) |
1,334.4 (52.54) |
937.5 (36.91) |
563.1 (22.17) |
303.0 (11.93) |
84.9 (3.34) |
12.5 (0.49) |
4,750.4 (187.02) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 12.4 | 24.4 | 28.1 | 27.2 | 20.8 | 11.3 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 132.5 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
74 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 74 | 89 | 92 | 92 | 88 | 84 | 80 | 79 | 80 |
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization[6] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[7]Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity 1951–1967)[8] |
Demographics
The largest ethnic group in Sittwe is the
Human Rights Watch, Fortify Rights, Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur have documented the spread of orchestrated anti-Muslim violence with the permission (and sometimes the direct involvement of) government and military authorities.[10]
Economy
In February 2007, India announced a plan to develop the port under the
In October 2011, as part of a recent bilateral trade deal signed by Myanmar and India, the two countries pledged a US$120 million port and multimodal investment to complete the infrastructure linking Indian north-eastern provinces to Sittwe overland via India's Mizoram by 2013.
The port of Sittwe will undergo extensive dredging and the construction of new berthing terminals. Once operational it will offer direct passage to enable Burmese and Indian shippers to pick up mainline services to and from Kolkata. The two countries also pledged to double bilateral trade to US$3 billion by 2015 by reducing trade tariffs.
Attractions
- KaladanRiver.
- The hundred-year old Shwezedi Monastery is a famous monastery in Sittwe. It was the monastery of U Ottama, who was the first political monk in Myanmar.
- Sittwe Pharagri, the focal point of Sittwe's Buddhist environment, beside Shwezedi Monastery.
- Ahkyaib-daw, is one of the most sacred Buddhist pagodas, possibly originating from the 3rd century BC in the days of Emperor Buddha’s maxillary bone hence its name.[12]
- Rakhine State Cultural Museum, which contains exhibits on Rakhine culture and history.
- Lawkananda Pagoda, Sittwe, which is the largest Buddhist temples in Sittwe.
Education
Sport
The 7,000-seat Wai Thar Li Stadium is the home ground of Rakhine United F.C., a Myanmar National League (MNL) football club. Dhanyawaddy Stadium is the home ground of Arakan United FC of the Myanmar Amateur League.
Other
British writer Hector Hugh Munro, better known under his pen name Saki, was born in Sittwe in 1870. A road in Singapore is named after its old name, Akyab.
Image gallery
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Shwe Zedi Monastery
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Lawkananda Pagoda, Sittwe
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The main street
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Sittwe View Point Park
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foreshore
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new clock tower
See also
References
- ^ "Myanmar: Regions, States, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
- ^ Shwe Lu Maung alias Shahnawaz Khan: The Price of Silence, A Muslim-Buddhist conflict of Myanmar - A Social Darwinist's Analysis, DewDrop Arts & Technology, 2005
- ^ public domain: Scott, James George (1911). "Akyab". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 458. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ "Indo-American relations: From Emergence into Strength" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-01.
- ^ Fuller, Thomas (12 June 2015). "Myanmar to Bar Rakhine From Fleeing, but Won't Address Their Plight". New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ "Station Sittwe" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Klimatafel von Sittwe (Akyab) / Myanmar (Birma)" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "Unforgiving history". The Economist. 3 November 2012.
- ^ "Physicians for Human Rights - Patterns of Anti-Muslim Violence in Burma".
- ^ "India to develop Myanmar port to benefit northeast". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. February 3, 2007. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007.
- ^ Shwe Lu Maung alias Shahnawaz Khan, The Price of Silence: Muslim-Buddhist War of Bangladesh and Myanmar – A Social Darwinist’s Analysis, DewDrop Arts & Technology, 2005, p174. [1]