Rangoon

Rangoon or Yangon, former capital city of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Rangoon is in the southern part of the country, in the Irrawaddy delta on the Rangoon (or Hlaing) River near the Gulf of Martaban (an arm of the Andaman Sea). It is the country's largest city and principal seaport, and its main commercial, manufacturing, and transport centre. Major products include processed food, pharmaceuticals, wood and metal items, and printed fabrics. Tourism, shipbuilding and ship repairs, and petroleum refining are also important to the city's economy.

In the Rangoon area are the Arts and Science University at Rangoon (1920); state schools of fine arts, music, and drama; the National Museum of Art and Archaeology, with collections of paintings and antiquities; the National Library; and the World Peace Pagoda, built in 1952 in honour of the 2,500th anniversary of the death of the Buddha. Perhaps the most notable monument in the city is the large Shwe Dagon Pagoda, an ancient Buddhist shrine about 100 m (325 ft) high and coated with gold leaf.

The settlement first came into prominence in the mid-1750s when King Alaungpaya, or Alompra, founder of the last dynasty of Burmese kings, chose the site as the administrative capital of Lower Burma (now Lower Myanmar) and named it Yangon, meaning “the end of strife”. (“Rangoon” is an English transliteration of this name.) Rangoon was captured by the British in 1824, but they relinquished control two years later. It began to develop as a modern community in the late 19th century after it had again come under British rule at the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. In 1930 Rangoon was badly damaged by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami. During World War II the city was occupied by Japanese forces. When Myanmar achieved independence in 1948, Rangoon became the capital. In April 2005 the military government of Myanmar announced its decision to relocate the national capital to a new site near the central city of Pyinmana, around 320 km (200 mi) north of Rangoon. The government ministries and administrative bodies were transferred from Rangoon to the purpose-built compound, known as Naypyidaw, in early November 2005. Population 3,874,000 (2003 estimate).