Yangon << yahng GOHN >> (pop. 5,209,541) is the largest city of Myanmar. It is also the country’s chief port and industrial center. Yangon, also spelled Rangoon, lies in southern Myanmar on both banks of the Yangon River. It is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Indian Ocean.
Yangon has many Buddhist temples. The most famous is the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, which dates from ancient times. The city has a national museum and a number of parks and lakes. It is home to the University of Yangon and Yangon Technological University.
The city’s industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, and the milling of rice and wood. Rice and teakwood are Yangon’s principal exports. Yangon’s factories manufacture pottery and cloth made of cotton and silk.
In the A.D. 500’s, a settlement called Dagon occupied the area that is now Yangon. Dagon was a small town until the 1750’s, when Alaungpaya, a Burmese king, founded the city and named it Yangon. The British captured Yangon in 1825 during the First Anglo-Burman War, but they did not occupy the city until after the Second Anglo-Burman War in 1852. Fire destroyed Yangon in 1851, but the city was soon rebuilt. Yangon remained under British occupation until the Japanese drove them out during World War II. In 1948, Myanmar—then called Burma—gained independence. Yangon, which served as the colonial capital, became the new country’s capital. In late 2005, the Myanmar government began moving government offices to a new capital in the center of the country. The new capital was officially named Naypyidaw in March 2006.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Myanmar near Yangon, causing massive amounts of damage. The cyclone killed about 140,000 people.
