Map of Bago

History

Various Mon language chronicles report widely divergent foundation dates of Bago, ranging from 573 CE to 1152 CE while the Zabu Kuncha, an early 15th century Burmese administrative treatise, states that Pegu was founded in 1276/77 CE.

The earliest extant evidence of Pegu as a place dates only to the late Pagan period (1212 and 1266) when it was still a small town, not even a provincial capital. After the collapse of the Pagan Empire, Bago became part of the breakaway Kingdom of Martaban by the 1290s.

The earliest possible external record of Bago dates to 1028 CE. The Thiruvalangadu plate describe Rajendra Chola I, the Chola Emperor from South India, as having conquered "Kadaram" in the fourteenth year of his reign – 1028 CE. According to one interpretation, Kadaram refers to Bago.

Climate

Bago has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am), similar to most of coastal Myanmar, with a hot, dry season from mid-November to mid-April and a, hot, extremely humid, and exceedingly rainy wet season from May to October.

Economy and transport

The main industries of Bago are agriculture and service sector employment. Bago city has an industrial zone with several factories, mostly in textiles and shoe-making. Smaller factories and workshops within the city also create food products, plastics, electric meters, motors, wood products, tea and halwa. Bago also has a small, but thriving tourism industry with many tourists from nearby Yangon. The Bago Development Committee manages 11 markets around the city.

There are no airports within the township, and the city is served mostly by Yangon International Airport but the proposed Hanthawaddy International Airport serving Yangon and Bago may be located within Bago Township. There are two rail lines that pass through Bago, Yangon–Mandalay Railway and Yangon–Mawlamyine Railway.

Demographics

The 2014 Myanmar census reported that Bago had a population of 237,619, representing 48.35% of Bago Township's total population.

As of 2019, the urban town has 179,505 people based on the General Administration Department's estimates. 88.73% of the Township is Bamar with a significant Karen, Mon, Palaung and Burmese Indian population. Buddhists make up 94.2% of the city with Christianity being the second most populous at 4.2%. There are 749 monasteries, 92 nunneries and 134 stupas of various sizes including the tallest pagoda in Myanmar, the Shwemawdaw Pagoda. The city also has 9 churches, 6 mosques, 16 Hindu temples and 3 Chinese Mahayana temples.