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Rangoon / Yangon

When the British took over all of Myanmar in 1886 the monarchy collapsed and the British moved the capital city from Mandalay to Yangon (Rangoon). Rangoon was long the modern capital of the country, the largest city in Burma. The Rangoon Division was primarily composed of the capital, its sister town of Syriam, and towns on both sides of the Rangoon River for about 100 kilometers upstream. The small size of the division was more than compensated for by its political dominance, and in modern times Rangoon has rivaled Mandalay in terms of cultural importance.

Rangoon showed clearly its colonial heritage in the form of old British bank buildings still standing-sometimes with the original signs intact--many decades after independence. The size of urban Rangoon and its multiethnic population gave it a sophisticated atmosphere unlike most of the rest of Burma. Recent economic hard times have left their mark on the condition of the buildings, the struggling transportation system, and the standard of living. Every foreign visitor legally entering the country must disembark at Rangoon, and comparisons with other capitals are inevitable. Rangoon has not modernized rapidly but has barely maintained the necessary fundamentals, owing to the ingenuity of its people, who have kept in functional condition equipment that would be museum pieces elsewhere.

Above all mundane materialistic matters in Rangoon rise the beautiful Shwedagon and Sule pagodas, revealing the deepest values of the Burmans. The care and wealth lavished on these and other Buddhist symbols of Burman pride provide the clue to a people's priorities, no matter what the current economic situation might be. The Shwedagon Pagoda also serves as a major pilgrimage goal for many southern or Theravada Buddhists from abroad. As such, it represents Burma's bond to millions of believers outside its borders.

Through the 1990s most vital decisions were made in Rangoon; in addition to being the largest city in Burma, it was also its busiest port, the center of publishing and cinema, and the hub of economic power. Because the heart of the bureaucracy was there, it was difficult for any part of Burma to be uninfluenced by the policies and rules determined at the capital.