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RANGOON

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 892 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RANGOON , the See also:

capital of See also:Burma, situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the Hlaing or Rangoon See also:river, 21 M. from the See also:sea, in 16° 47' N. and 96° 13' E. In 188o the See also:city was detached from the See also:main See also:district, called See also:Hanthawaddy, and formed into a See also:separate district, with an See also:area of 19 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 234,881, of whom just See also:half were immigrants from See also:India. Rangoon, from being a comparatively insignificant See also:place, has within less than half a See also:century risen to be the third seaport in See also:British India, being surpassed only by See also:Calcutta and Bombay in thevolume of its See also:trade. During the busy See also:season of See also:rice-export, which lasts from the end of See also:December to the See also:middle of May, the See also:pool forming the See also:port of Rangoon presents almost as crowded a See also:scene as the See also:Hugli at Calcutta. Rangoon has the See also:double See also:advantage of being situated near the sea and being served by a See also:great river navigable for 900 M. behind it. The approach to the port is not difficult at any season of the See also:year. With See also:flat and shelving shores, the shoal-See also:banks off the main mouths of the See also:delta See also:form the See also:chief danger to See also:shipping, and this is guarded against by a See also:good service of lighthouses and lightships. For a length of seven or eight See also:miles the river is from a mile to a mile and a See also:quarter in breadth, so that there is plenty of See also:accommodation for shipping. Here is concentrated the whole of the See also:rich trade of the delta of the See also:Irrawaddy. Great See also:part of the river front-See also:age is occupied with rice-See also:mills, See also:teak wharves and similar buildings.

The rice exported from Rangoon in 1904–5 amounted to 28 million cwt. with a value of nearly 7 million See also:

sterling. The city is dominated by the great See also:golden See also:pile of the Shwe Dag8n See also:pagoda, the centre of Burmese religious See also:life. Rising to a height of 368 ft., this magnificent See also:building is loftier than St See also:Paul's See also:Cathedral in See also:London, and its See also:size is greatly enhanced by the fact that it stands on an See also:eminence that is itself 168 ft. above the level of the city. It is covered with pure See also:gold from See also:base to See also:summit, and once in every See also:generation this gold is renewed by public subscription. Moreover, benefactions to this pagoda are one of the favourite methods of acquiring religious merit among the Burmese. The pagoda itself has no interior. It is a solid stupa of See also:brick, in the form of a See also:cone, raised over a relic chamber; and the place of See also:worship is the surrounding See also:platform with a perimeter of nearly 1400 ft. Though traditionally a site of great sanctity, Rangoon owes its first importance to its rebuilding in 1753 by See also:Alompra, the founder of the Burmese See also:monarchy, who gave it the See also:present name of Yan Kan, " the end of the See also:war." An See also:English factory was opened here about 1790. On the outbreak of the first Burmese War, in 1824, it was taken by the British, but subsequently restored. It was captured a second See also:time in 1852, and passed along with the See also:province of See also:Pegu into the hands of the British. It was destroyed by See also:fire in 185o, and serious conflagrations occurred again in 1853 and 1855. Since the last devastation Rangoon has undergone considerable improvements.

Until 1874, when the existing See also:

municipality was constituted, the See also:administration was in the hands of the See also:local See also:government, which devoted itself to raising the centre of the See also:town above the river level, providing See also:land See also:fit for building purposes from the See also:original swamp, which was flooded at See also:spring-tides, and making roads, See also:bridges, culverts and See also:surface drains. In 1892 was introduced the sewage See also:system, which now includes 6 m. of mains, 22 M. of gravitating sewers, 44 M. of See also:air mains and 44 Shone's ejectors. The See also:water See also:supply, See also:drawn from the See also:Victoria See also:Lake, 5 M. distant, has recently been supplemented by an additional See also:reservoir, 10 m. farther off. The city proper of Rangoon with the Kemmendine suburb is laid out on the See also:block system, each block being 800 by 86o ft., intersected with See also:regular streets. In the extensions to the See also:east and See also:west it has been decided to have no streets less than 5o ft. wide. The roads are still lighted by kerosene oil lamps, but electric See also:lighting is in comtemplation. Electric tramways run to Pazundaung in one direction and to A18n and Kemmendine in the other, as well as to the See also:foot of the Shwe See also:Dagon Pagoda See also:hill. Latterly the erection of See also:masonry buildings, instead of See also:plank houses, has been insisted on in the central portion of the city, with the result that fires have decreased in number. There are two large maidans, or See also:commons, which are used as military See also:parade grounds and for racing, as well as for See also:golf links and other purposes of amusement. There is a See also:garden See also:round the Phayre Museum, managed by the Agri-Horticultural Society, and an extremely See also:pretty and well-kept garden in the cantonments under the pagoda. Beyond these See also:lie the Royal Lake and See also:Dalhousie See also:Park, with 16o acres of water and 205 acres of well-laid-out and well-timbered park land. Dalhousie Park has recently been greatly extended, and the new Victoria Park, declared open on the occasion of the visit of the See also:prince of See also:Wales in r906, is quite the finest in the East.

There are two cathedrals, See also:

Church of See also:England and See also:Roman See also:Catholic, and a Presbyterian church, besides the See also:cantonment church buildings for worship. Religious buildings and lands, indeed, occupy an area in Rangoon out of all proportion to its size. Buddhists, See also:Hindus, Mussulmans, See also:Parsees, Armenians and See also:Jews all own lands and pagodas, temples, mosques, churches and synagogues. The Buddhist monasteries, in particular, occupy wide spaces in very central portions of the town and cantonments. See also:Burial-grounds are equally extensive, and exist in every direction ir. what were once the outskirts, but are now fast becoming central parts of the city. The chief educational institutions are the Government Rangoon See also:college, the Baptist college and St See also:John's college (S.P.G.). Besides the See also:general See also:hospital, a See also:female hospital in connexion with the Dufferin Fund has recently been built, and there are hospitals for contagious diseases and for lepers in the suburbs. The See also:staple See also:industries are mills for husking rice and for sawing See also:timber, and See also:petroleum refineries. See also:Carving in See also:wood and See also:ivory, and embossed silverwork are also carried on. There are three municipal and eight private markets, which are being improved and extended. Everything, from sacking to See also:jewelry, is sold in them. The introduction of pure water and the See also:establishment of compulsory See also:vaccination have greatly improved the See also:health of Rangoon.

But the See also:

death-See also:rate is still high, due partly to the swampy nature of the outskirts of the city proper, and still more to the mortality among See also:Hindu immigrants from the See also:Madras See also:presidency. The See also:total rainfall in 1905 was 1o4.96 in. Rangoon is the See also:head-quarters of a See also:brigade in the Burma command of the See also:Southern See also:army. (J. G.

End of Article: RANGOON

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