Tanintharyi Region

Tanintharyi Region တနင်္သာရီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး
Region
Myanma transcription(s)
• Burmese	ta.nangsayi. tuing: desa. kri:
Flag
Location of Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar
Coordinates:
Country	Myanmar
Region	South
Capital	Dawei (Tavoy)
Government
• Chief Minister	Lei Lei Maw (NLD)
• Legislature	Taninthayi Region Hluttaw
Area
• Total	43,344.9 km2 (16,735.6 sq mi)
Area rank	5th
Population (2014)
• Total	1,408,401
• Rank	12th
• Density	32/km2 (84/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnicities	Bamar, Dawei, Rakhine, Mon, Shan, Burmese-Thai, Kayin, Salone, Malay
• Religions	Buddhism, Islam
Time zone	MST (UTC+06:30)
ISO 3166 code	MM-05

Tanintharyi Region (Burmese: တနင်္သာရီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, pronounced: [tənɪ́ɴθàjì táɪɴ dèθa̰ dʑí]; Mon: ဏၚ်ကသဳ or တနၚ်သြဳ; formerly Tenasserim Division and subsequently Tanintharyi Division, is an administrative region of Myanmar, covering the long narrow southern part of the country on the Kra Isthmus. It borders the Andaman Sea to the west and the Tenasserim Hills, beyond which lies Thailand, to the east. To the north is the Mon State. There are many islands off the coast, the large Mergui Archipelago in the southern and central coastal areas and the smaller Moscos Islands off the northern shores. The capital of the division is Dawei (Tavoy). Other important cities are Myeik (Mergui) and Kawthaung. The division covers an area of 43,344.9 km², and had a population of 1,406,434 at the 2014 Census.

Names

In Thai, the region is known as "Tanao Si" (Thai: ตะนาวศรี, pronounced [tā.nāːw sǐː]), while in Malay, it is known as Malay: Tanah Sari (تانه ساري). "Tanah Sari Region" was part of "Tahan Melayu". Initially, it was occupied by Ayutthaya. Later, Burma occupied the region from Ayutthaya.

History

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1973	719,441	—
1983	917,247	+27.5%
2014	1,408,401	+53.5%
Source: 2014 Myanmar Census

Tanintharyi Region historically included the entire Tanintharyi peninsula—today's Tanintharyi Region, Mon State and southern Kayin State. The northernmost peninsula region was part of the Thaton Kingdom before 1057, and the entire coastline became part of King Anawrahta's Pagan Empire after 1057. After the fall of Bagan in 1287, the area fell to the Siamese kingdom of Sukhothai, and later its successor Ayutthaya Kingdom. The region's northernmost border was around the Thanlwin (Salween) river near today's Mawlamyaing (Moulmein).

The region reverted to Burmese fold in 1564 when King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Dynasty conquered all of Siam. Ayutthaya had regained independence by 1587, and reclaimed the southern half of Tanintharyi in 1593 and the entire peninsula in 1599. In 1614, King Anaukpetlun recovered the upper half of the coast to Dawei but failed to capture the rest. Tenasserim south of Dawei (Tavoy) remained under Siamese control. Myeik (Mergui) port was a principal center of trade between the Siamese and Europeans.

For nearly seven decades, from the middle of the 18th century to the early 19th century, Burma and Siam were involved in multiple wars for control of the coastline. Taking advantage of the Burmese civil war of 1740–1757, the Siamese cautiously moved up the coastline to the south of Mottama in 1751. The winner of the civil war, King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Dynasty recovered the coastline to Dawei from the Siamese in 1760. His son King Hsinbyushin conquered the entire coastline in 1765. In the following decades, both sides tried to extend the line of control to their advantage but they both failed. The Burmese used Tanintharyi as a forward base to launch several unsuccessful invasions of Siam (1775–1776; 1785–1786; 1809–1812); the Siamese too were unsuccessful in their attempts to retake Tanintharyi (1787 and 1792). (On the northern front, Burma and Siam were also locked in a struggle for the control of Kengtung and Lan Na.)

Burma ceded the region south of Salween river to the British after the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) per the Treaty of Yandabo. The British and the Siamese signed a boundary demarcation treaty on 20 June 1826, and another one in 1868. Mawlamyaing (Moulmein) became the first capital of British Burma. The British seized all of Lower Burma after the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and moved the capital to Yangon (Rangoon). After 1852, Tanintharyi Region consisted the entire southeastern Myanmar, including today's Mon State, Kayin State, and Taungoo District, in Bago Region. Mawlamyaing was the capital of Tanintharyi.

Upon independence from Britain in 1948, the northeastern districts of Tanintharyi were placed into the newly created Karen State. In 1974, the northern part of remaining Tanintharyi was carved out to create Mon State. With Mawlamyaing now inside Mon State, the capital of Tanintharyi Region was moved to Dawei. In 1989 the division's English spelling was officially changed to Tanintharyi.

Administrative divisions

Tanintharyi Region comprises ten townships spread over three districts:

• Dawei District
• Kawthoung District
• Myeik District

Government

Legislature

See also: Taninthayi Region Hluttaw

Transport

See also: Phu Nam Ron

A rail service runs from Rangoon twice every week. A deepwater port is planned in Dawei, a project that includes a highway and a railway line between Bangkok and that harbor.

The Maw Daung pass international cross-border checkpoint into Thailand has been developed since 2014.

Education

See also: List of universities in Tanintharyi Division

Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of Yangon and Mandalay. According to official statistics, less than 10% of primary school students in the division reach high school.

AY 2002-2003	Primary	Middle	High
Schools	1011	59	30
Teachers	3000	1300	400
Students	170,000	54,000	14,000

All Tanintharyi's 7 universities and colleges are located in Dawei and Myeik. Until recently, Dawei University was the only four-year university in the Region.

Health care

The general state of health care in Myanmar is poor. The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on health care, consistently ranking among the lowest in the world. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals lack many of the basic facilities and equipment. Moreover, the health care infrastructure outside of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. In 2003, the entire Tanintharyi Region had fewer hospital beds than the Yangon General Hospital. The following is a summary of the public health care system.

2002–2003	# Hospitals	# Beds
Specialist hospitals	0	0
General hospitals with specialist services	2	400
General hospitals	10	346
Health clinics	14	224
Total	26	970