Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Myanmar

Ecology

The Malay Peninsula is covered with tropical moist broadleaf forests. Lowland forests are dominated by dipterocarp trees, while montane forests are home to evergreen trees in the beech family (Fagaceae), Myrtle family (Myrtaceae), laurel family (Lauraceae), tropical conifers, and other plant families.

The peninsula's forests are home to thousands of species of animals and plants. Several large endangered mammals inhabit the peninsula – Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), gaur (Bos gaurus), tiger (Panthera tigris), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus).

Geography

The area of the Shan Highland is a combination of hill ranges, steep river valleys and a few elevated plains. The area is the primary source of Myanmar's sapphires, rubies and other gems, for which the country is known; it is also a principal source of lead, silver and zinc. The high plain averages about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in elevation, and is sparsely populated.

The Shan Hills straddle central eastern Myanmar and northwestern Thailand. They rise steeply from Myanmar's central plain and stretch for hundreds of kilometres eastwards into Thailand's northwest. The surface of the system is cut across by steep river gorges, part of the drainage basins of the Chao Phraya, the Irrawaddy, the Sittaung and the Salween or Thanlwin River which cuts across the plateau in a north–south direction.

Geology

Geologically in the Shan Hills and their southern subranges, layers of alluvium are superimposed on hard rock. Karstic ranges are common, for large tracts of the hills are limestone. The Shan Hills are an important silver and ruby mining area.

History

In British colonial times, the main hill station in Burma, Pyin Oo Lwin known in English as Maymyo, was built in the western region of the Shan Hills. At 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level and about one and a half hour drive from Mandalay, it was one of the retreats for colonial officials escaping the heat of the Burmese summer. Pyin Oo Lwin is still known for its botanical gardens and, like all British hill stations, has samples of colonial architecture. Presently Inle Lake near Yawnghwe is one of the tourist attractions of the Shan highlands.

The Taunggyi Bird Sanctuary, established in 1906 as the Taunggyi Wildlife Reserve was redesignated as a bird sanctuary in 1989.

Geography

Naga Hills are a northern extension of the Arakan Mountains. The highest point of the Naga Hills is Mount Saramati at 3,826 m (12,552 ft).

The hills stretch along the India-Myanmar border. They form part of the Indian state of Nagaland and the Naga Self-Administered Zone of the Burmese region of Sagaing. A part of the Naga Hills under the British India was coalesced into a district in 1866. The boundaries were extended later, and the district became part of Assam Province in 1912. Following the Indian independence, it was part of Assam till 1961 and became part of the state of Nagaland was created in 1963.

Geology

Ophiolite occurs in the central part of the hills. The Naga Hills Ophiolite is an example of oceanic lithosphere obducted onto continental crust, consisting of Mesozoic–Cenozoic magmatic and sedimentary rocks, along the Indo–Burma convergence zone. The Ophiolites occurring near Pungro in Kiphire district of Nagaland has been declared a National Geological Monument of India by the Geological Survey of India.

Geography

The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, Nat Ma Taung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State, which reaches 3,053 metres (10,016 ft). The Chin Hills–Arakan Yoma montane forests ecoregion has diverse forests with pine, camellia, and teak. Falam is the largest town in the Chin Hills, lying at their southern edge.

The Chin Hills are the eastern part of the Patkai Range, which includes the Lushai Hills and runs through Nagaland in India, as well as part of Burma. The Lushai Hills are frequently discussed with the Chin Hills as the topography, people's culture and history are similar. The southern prolongation of the Chin Hills is the Arakan Range (Arakan Yoma), stretching as well from north to south.

History

Historically, the area of the range has been populated by the Chin people who like their neighbours to the west are a Laimi people. In addition to subsistence agriculture, the Chin raided the villages of the Burman on the plains of the Myittha and Chindwin rivers, as well as each other. In 1888, the British began a military campaign to end these raids which resulted in pacification of the province by 1896, and it was administratively added to Burma as a special division.

In the Second World War, the hills formed a point of armed conflict between Japanese forces and a combined British and Indian force.

Geography and key features

The Himalayas consists of four parallel mountain ranges from south to north: the Sivalik Hills on the south; the Lower Himalayan Range; the Great Himalayas, which is the highest and central range; and the Tibetan Himalayas on the north. The Karakoram are generally considered separate from the Himalayas.

In the middle of the great curve of the Himalayan mountains lie the 8,000 m (26,000-foot) peaks of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna in Nepal, separated by the Kali Gandaki Gorge. The gorge splits the Himalayas into Western and Eastern sections, both ecologically and orographically – the pass at the head of the Kali Gandaki, the Kora La, is the lowest point on the ridgeline between Everest and K2 (the highest peak of the Karakoram range).

Geology

Tectonics, the recurring physical changes that affect the arrangement of the Earth's crust, and plate tectonics, the movement of large regions of the Earth's crust in the manner of planar rigid bodies, are key to understanding the formation of the Himalayas. The Earth's crust rests directly on its mantle. Tectonic plates, comprising the crust and the upper portions of their underlying mantle, are moved around by convection in the asthenosphere. The oceanic crust, found beneath oceans, is, on average, seven kilometres (4.3 mi) thick. It is created from upwelling magma at mid-ocean ridges and predominantly consists of basalt, the principal igneous rock on Earth.

Climate

The physical factors determining the climate in any location in the Himalayas include latitude, altitude, and the relative motion of the Southwest monsoon. From north to south, the mountains cover more than eight degrees of latitude, spanning temperate to subtropical zones. The colder air of Central Asia is prevented from blowing down into South Asia by the physical configuration of the Himalayas. This causes the tropical zone to extend farther north in South Asia than anywhere else in the world. The evidence is unmistakable in the Brahmaputra valley as the warm air from the Bay of Bengal bottlenecks and rushes up past Namcha Barwa, the eastern anchor of the Himalayas, and into southeastern Tibet.

Ecology

The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall, and soil conditions, combined with the very high snow line, supports a variety of distinct plant and animal communities. The extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure), combined with extreme cold, favor extremophile organisms.

At high altitudes, the elusive and previously endangered snow leopard is the main predator.

Geology and formation

The Arakan Mountains and the parallel arcs to the west and east were formed by compression as the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate approximately along the boundary between India and Myanmar which produced the Naga-Patkai foldbelt.

Ecology

The Arakan Mountains act as a barrier to the southwestern monsoon rains and thus shield the central Myanmar area, making their western slopes extraordinarily wet during the monsoon with typically over 1 metre (39 in) of rain per month, and the eastern slopes much drier. They include the Chin Hills-Arakan Yoma montane forests ecoregion which is home to an elephant population and also the critically endangered Arakan forest turtle which was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1994.

History

The Arakan Mountains divide the Rakhine coast from the rest of Myanmar, and thus have acted as a barrier between the peoples of central Myanmar and those of the Indian subcontinent. This played a role in fostering the separate development of the Rakhine people, both linguistically and culturally, from the Burmese. The Arakan Mountains also served as a barrier inhibiting Burmese invasions, and allowing Arakan to develop as a separate political entity. Thus the coastal cities, such as Mrauk U and Waithali, formed the core of Arakan civilization.

There were fierce battles in these mountains between January 1943 and March 1944 during the Japanese occupation of Burma. The Japanese 33rd and 55th Divisions faced the British military on the coastal side of the range. The British forces won.

Geography

The Irrawaddy Delta comprises the main arms of Pathein River, Pyapon River, Bogale River, and Toe River. Mawtin Point, formerly Cape Negrais, is a famous landmark in the Irrawaddy Division, and it also marks the south west end of Myanmar. The delta begins around 93 km above Hinthada.

The highest point of the delta, Waphu Mount (404 m (1,325 ft)) lies between Pathein and Mawtin Zun (point), on the western strip of the delta. A major portion of the area is covered with low-lying lands just 3 metres (9.8 ft) above sea level. This alluvial plain is bounded to the west by the Rakhine Yoma and to the east by the Bago Yoma. It is dissected into peninsulas and islands by the large southward flowing rivers which are subject to tidal intrusion.

History

The delta was historically populated by the Mon. Politically, the Burman kingdoms in farther north of the Irrawaddy River had controlled the delta area since the mid-11th century with few exceptions. The control of the fertile area reverted to Bago-based Mon kingdoms in the 13th to 15th centuries (1287–1539) and briefly in the 18th century (1747–1757).

The delta was also where the British first got a toe-hold in Burma. The British seized Haingyi Kyun or Negrais Island in 1753, after the Mon resisted their request to establish a trading post. The Burmese king Alaungpaya ceded the island to the British in 1757, but retook the island in 1759 by force when the king felt he had been betrayed by the British in his war against the Mon.

Economy and development

The region is Myanmar's largest rice producer, so its infrastructure of road transportation has been greatly developed during the 1990s and 2000s. Two-thirds of the total arable land is under rice cultivation with a yield of about 2,000–2,500 kilograms (4,409–5,512 lb) per hectare. Fishing is carried out from fixed fishing frames as well as from small boats. Prawn fishery and harvesting sea turtle eggs are also major commercial activities both of which are now threatened by the loss of mangrove forests as clearing of land proceeds for agriculture. Since communication throughout the delta is easiest by water, almost every household possesses a boat and major towns such as Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun and Myaungmya are served by steamer.