Misplaced Pages

#726273

109-456: Mrauk U ( / m ə ˈ r aʊ uː , ˈ m r aʊ uː / mə- ROW -oo, MROW -oo ) is a town in northern Rakhine State , Myanmar . It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township , a subregion of the Mrauk-U District . Mrauk U is culturally significant for the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people and is the location of many important archeological sites. From 1430 until 1785, it was

218-408: A Millionenstadt , a city with anywhere between one and five million inhabitants (such as Cologne , Munich , Hamburg and Berlin ). Also, a city with more than five million inhabitants is often referred to as a Megastadt (commonly translated as megacity ). Historically, many settlements became a Stadt by being awarded a Stadtrecht in medieval times. In modern German language use,

327-537: A further 17 towns , which have merged with a municipal parish ( vallasisene linn ). In Finland, there is no distinction between a town and a city as the word kaupunki is used for both bigger and smaller settlements, which are bigger than villages and boroughs; although when talking about the word town , the word pikkukaupunki is used ( pikku means 'little' or 'small'). There are over one hundred municipal towns in Finland. From an administrative standpoint,

436-519: A palisade or stockade instead. In the Netherlands, this space was a garden, more specifically those of the wealthy, which had a high fence or a wall around them (like the garden of the palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn , which was the model for the privy garden of William III and Mary II at Hampton Court ). In Old Norse tún means a (grassy) place between farmhouses, and the word is still used with

545-621: A Township hospital, a Basic Education High School and a market. Like much of Rakhine state and the whole of Myanmar, Mrauk U has 24-hour electricity. Town The word "town" shares an origin with the German word Zaun , the Dutch word tuin , and the Old Norse tún . The original Proto-Germanic word, * tūnan , is thought to be an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic * dūnom (cf. Old Irish dún , Welsh din ). The original sense of

654-500: A city near the jungle, and in respect of his birth story, the city was called Myauk-U meaning "Monkey's Egg". In 1430, King Min Saw Mon established Mrauk U as the capital of the last unified Arakanese Kingdom . The city eventually reached a size of 160,000 in the early seventeenth century. Mrauk U served as the capital of the Mrauk U kingdom and its 49 kings till the conquest of the kingdom by

763-548: A dialect of Burmese. The Rakhine people display a notable range of physical appearances, featuring both South Asian and Mongoloid traits. Despite this diversity, all identify as Rakhine, a community comprising seven ethnic groups. The Rakhine have embraced Buddhism since the era of The Buddha . Some legends suggest that they are descendants of the Sakya Kingdom, which faced downfall, leading many to escape and establish themselves in present-day Rakhine. The Rakhine are one of

872-556: A higher degree of services . (There are a few exceptions, when towns of fewer than 50,000 people gained the status: Érd , Hódmezővásárhely , Salgótarján and Szekszárd ) As of middle 2013, there are only 23 such towns in Hungary. The 2011 Census of India defines towns of two types: statutory town and census town . Statutory town is defined as all places with a municipality , corporation , cantonment board or notified town area committee. Census towns are defined as places that satisfy

981-590: A higher tier of local government, larger towns and cities may have the status of a kreisfreie Stadt , combining both the powers of a municipality and a district. Designations in different states are as diverse as e.g. in Australian States and Territories, and differ from state to state. In some German states, the words Markt ('market'), Marktflecken (both used in southern Germany) or Flecken ('spot'; northern Germany e.g. in Lower Saxony ) designate

1090-426: A municipality must have at least 3,000 inhabitants to have the right to request the town title. Market towns usually have between 500 and 4,000 inhabitants, with median and average both around 1,000. In Denmark, in many contexts no distinction is made between "city", "town" and "village"; all three translate as by . In more specific use, for small villages and hamlets the word landsby (meaning 'country town')

1199-506: A part of independent Burma from 1948. Dhanyawadi is considered the first Kingdom of Arakan. Established around the 1st century CE, it served as a significant cultural and political center in the region. The kingdom is known for its flourishing trade, connecting Southeast Asia with the Indian subcontinent . Dhanyawadi's influence laid the groundwork for subsequent kingdoms in Arakan, contributing to

SECTION 10

#1732855808727

1308-622: A similar meaning in modern Norwegian. Old English tūn became a common place-name suffix in England and southeastern Scotland during the Anglo-Saxon settlement period. In Old English and Early and Middle Scots , the words ton , toun , etc. could refer to diverse kinds of settlements from agricultural estates and holdings, partly picking up the Norse sense (as in the Scots word fermtoun ) at one end of

1417-488: A small city or large village; and occasionally even hamlets ). Sometimes, the word town is short for township . In general, today towns can be differentiated from townships, villages, or hamlets on the basis of their economic character, in that most of a town's population will tend to derive their living from manufacturing industry, commerce , and public services rather than primary sector industries such as agriculture or related activities. A place's population size

1526-533: A social and technical infrastructure, as well as a population of no fewer than 3500 people. For resort settlements the requirements are lower with the population needing to be no fewer than 1000 people but infrastructure requirements remain. The legal definition of a town in Canada varies by province or territory , as each has jurisdiction over defining and legislating towns, cities and other types of municipal organization within its own boundaries. The province of Quebec

1635-408: A town such as Parun , the capital of Nuristan Province , whose population is less 20,000 people. In Albania and Kosovo qytezë means 'town', which is very similar to the word for city ( qytet ), although there is no official use of the term for any settlement. In Albanian qytezë means 'small city' or 'new city', while in ancient times it referred to a small residential center within

1744-563: A town-like residential community between Gemeinde and Stadt with special importance to its outer conurbation area. Historically those had Marktrecht (market right) but not full town privileges; see Market town . The legal denomination of a specific settlement may differ from its common designation (e.g. Samtgemeinde – a legal term in Lower Saxony for a group of villages [ Dorf , pl. Dörfer ] with common local government created by combining municipalities [ Gemeinde , pl. Gemeinden ]). In ordinary speech, Greeks use

1853-687: A unique dialect through which they could communicate. The Rakhine people were able to preserve their culture, language, and religion in Bengal. Rakhines observe Rakhine festival such as Sanggreng and Nai-chai ka. The last Rakhine language school in Kuakata closed in 1998 due to shortage of funds, In January 2006, Chin Than Monjur, opened a Rakhine language community school which expanded into three news schools and used Rakhine language books from Myanmar. The schools were forced to close due to shortage of funds. In summary,

1962-690: Is Stadt , as it is the case in many other languages that do not differentiate between these concepts. The word for a 'village', as a smaller settlement, is Dorf . However, the International Statistics Conference of 1887 defined different sizes of Stadt , based on their population size, as follows: Landstadt ('country town'; under 5,000), Kleinstadt ('small town'; 5,000 to 20,000), Mittelstadt ('middle town'; between 20,000 and 100,000) and Großstadt ("large town"; 100,000 to 1,000,000). The term Großstadt may be translated as 'city'. In addition, Germans may speak of

2071-467: Is a de facto statutory city. All the Czech municipalities with more than 40,000 inhabitants are cities. Town and market town are above all ceremonious honorary degrees, referring to population, history and regional significance of a municipality. As the statistics of Czech municipalities shows, towns usually have between 1,000 and 35,000 inhabitants, with median around 4,000 and average around 6,500. Nowadays

2180-466: Is a small community of Rakhine people inhabiting the coastal areas of Patuakhali , Borguna and Cox's Bazar , having migrated to Bangladesh from Myanmar before the formation of these two contemporary countries. The total population of the community as of 2020 is 16,000. But according to the Joshua Project, the total population is 20,000. The Rakhine people and the local Bengali population developed

2289-427: Is backed by Kofi Annan and archaeologists are now cataloguing and protecting the city's many sites in preparation for nomination. The following are some of the famous and noteworthy religious buildings in and around the town. Although Mrauk U is a primarily Buddhist site, there are several religious buildings of other faiths. The most notable would be the old Shindhikhan Mosque , built during Min Saw Mon's reign, in

SECTION 20

#1732855808727

2398-552: Is based on the story of the Arakanese being able to crush an invasion by the Pyu in the mid 10th Century by a Mro prince, Pai Phru. The town is said to be located roughly near the region where the Pyu invaders were decimated. The prince went on to claim the throne of Waithali from his uncle who had murdered the prince's father due to a love scandal. The battle was seen as the first accomplishment of

2507-682: Is called "Sankran". "Sankran" in Thai means change. Sangrai actually means saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year. At the same time, the new Jhum farming season in the Chittagong Hill Tracts begins after Sangrai. Not only Jhum farming, the Marmaras do not get married again after the Maghi full moon until Sangrai, which means that the Marmaras in Sangrai mean to start anew by throwing away all

2616-422: Is commonly referred to as a city or as a town, no distinction and no objective legal criteria exist to make such a distinction under law. Ontario allows municipalities to select whichever administrative term they like with no legal distinction existing between towns, townships, cities, and villages. Instead all municipalities, with the exception of Toronto and Ottawa, fall into one of three legal categories under

2725-520: Is difficult to call the remaining provincial capitals "large towns" as, in general, they are less developed and have shrinking population, some with as few as 30,000 inhabitants. In Bulgaria the Council of Ministers defines what constitutes a settlement, while the President of Bulgaria grants each settlement its title. In 2005 the requirement that villages that wish to classify themselves as town must have

2834-590: Is drawn from the writings of Friar Sebastian Manrique , a Portuguese Augustinian friar who resided in Mrauk U from 1630 to 1635. As Mrauk U and her kingdom prospered, the kings, ministers and peasants built many pagodas and temples around the town to reflect their devotion. Thus, Mrauk U houses a rich collection of temples and pagodas second only to the Central Burmese town of Bagan , in Myanmar. Most of Mrauk U's temples were constructed of hewn stone bricks, unlike

2943-587: Is known that he ruled the Launggyet Dynasty of Arakan from c. 1279 to 1373/74. All the Arakan kingdoms has always been predominantly Buddhist, with the majority known today as the Rakhine people. Although some of the kings had Muslim titles (nicknames) during the Kingdom of Mrauk U , as it was under Bengal Sultanate influence, none of them adopted the religion; they remained as Buddhists. The Kingdom of Mrauk U

3052-550: Is not a reliable determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, e.g. in India at least until recent times, a large village might contain several times as many people as a small town. In the United Kingdom, there are historical cities that are far smaller than the larger towns. The modern phenomenon of extensive suburban growth, satellite urban development, and migration of city dwellers to villages has further complicated

3161-464: Is observed on the full moon day of the month of Vaisakha (usually in May). Pavarana is a Buddhist holy day which is also celebrated by the Rakhine people on Aashvin full moon of the lunar month . This usually occurs on the full moon of the 11th month. It marks the end of the three lunar months of Vassa , sometimes called "Buddhist Lent." The day is marked in some Asian countries where Theravada Buddhism

3270-420: Is partitioned into 2098 municipalities ( German : Gemeinden ) of fundamentally equal rank. Larger municipalities are designated as market towns ( German : Marktgemeinden ) or cities ( Städte ), but these distinctions are purely symbolic and do not confer additional legal responsibilities. There is a number of smaller communities that are labelled cities because they used to be regional population centers in

3379-427: Is popular across Myanmar . They have a rich cultural heritage that reflects their history, beliefs, and way of life. Despite facing challenges, including political and social strife, they continue to celebrate and preserve their rich cultural heritage, contributing to the diversity of Myanmar. Almost all Rakhine people are followers of Theravada Buddhism. Rakhine State is also home to many Buddhist temples, reflecting

Mrauk U - Misplaced Pages Continue

3488-499: Is practiced. On this day at night, lanterns are blown into the sky to honor the heritage of Gautam Buddha . The Rakhine language is closely related to and generally mutually intelligible with Burmese . Notably, Rakhine retains an /r/ sound that has become /j/ in Burmese. Rakhine utilises the Burmese alphabet . It is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Myanmar , primarily in

3597-523: Is situated in a coastal tropical monsoon rainforest climate ( Köppen Am ) region. The town receives over 3,600 millimetres or 140 inches of rain a year from the Southwestern Monsoon , making it one of the wettest regions in Myanmar. The Monsoon season usually begins in late May and ends by mid October. Although located in a tropical region, Mrauk U enjoys lower temperatures during the arid Northeastern Monsoon. From mid October to mid March during

3706-535: Is the contemporary ethnonym and name of the region in Rakhine, Burmese, and English today. The word is extant to the mid-11th century, appearing on a pillar inscription at Shite-thaung Temple , and also appears in European, Persian, and Ceylonese accounts by the 15th century. U Kala 's Maha Yazawin traces the word's etymology to Alaungsithu 's conquest of the region during the Pagan era, but epigraphic evidence to support

3815-464: Is unique in that it makes no distinction under law between towns and cities. There is no intermediate level in French between village and ville ( municipality is an administrative term usually applied to a legal, not geographical entity), so both are combined under the single legal status of ville . While an informal preference may exist among English speakers as to whether any individual ville

3924-488: Is used, while the Danish equivalent of English city is storby (meaning 'large town'). For formal purposes, urban areas having at least 200 inhabitants are considered by . Historically some towns held various privileges, the most important of which was the right to hold market. They were administered separately from the rural areas in both fiscal, military and legal matters. Such towns are known as købstad (roughly

4033-521: The Arakan Army . The Rakhine people have a variety of appearances, showing a mix of traits from both South Asian and Mongoloid backgrounds. They have range of skin tones , typically ranging from light to medium brown. Rakhine men mostly wear a sarong called lungyi , while the women also wear a sarong called thabein ..The Rakhine people celebrate several key festivals inlcuding Sangrain and Buddha Purnima. "Rakhine" (less commonly spelt Rakhaing )

4142-600: The Dutch East India Company of the Netherlands . The Dutch East India Company (VOC) established trading relations with the Arakanese in 1608 after the Portuguese fell in favour due to the lack of loyalty of Portuguese mercenaries, such as Filipe de Brito e Nicote in the service of the Arakanese king. The VOC established a permanent factory in Mrauk U in 1635, and operated in Arakan till 1665. At its zenith , Mrauk U

4251-536: The Marma and Magh peoples respectively. Rakhine people consist of seven different ethnic groups, namely Rakhine, Kamein , Kwe Myi, Daingnet people , Maramagyi , Mru people and Thet.  Among them, Rakhine group are the majority ethnic group in Rakhine State and have long been influenced by their proximity to India and have formed trading links with the sub-continents. Thet, Kamein, Daingnet and Marma people are

4360-799: The Rakhine Minrazagri Ayedaw Sadan and the Dhanyawaddy Ayedawbon . The word, which is also cognate with Bamar and is the Rakhine pronunciation of "Myanmar," continues to be used by their descendants in Bangladesh, who are known as the Marma . By this period, the Bamar began to call the Rakhine the Myanmagyi (မြန်မာကြီး; lit.   ' great Mranma / Myanma ' ), as attested by contemporaneous Burmese and foreign sources. The ethnonym reflected their common ancestral kinship ties with

4469-558: The Rakhine State . Closely related to Burmese , the language is spoken by the Rakhine and Marma peoples; it is estimated to have around one million native speakers and it is spoken as a second language by a further million. Rakhine State is home to Sanskrit inscriptions that date from the first millennium to the 1000s. These inscriptions were written in Northern Brahmic scripts (namely Siddham or Gaudi ), which are ancestral to

Mrauk U - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-513: The Shite-thaung and Htukkanthein Temples . The Rakhine State and its people are predominantly Theravada Buddhist . This religious tradition plays a central role in the cultural and social life of the Rakhine community, influencing their festivals, rituals, and daily practices. Buddhism in Rakhine is characterized by its rich history, unique interpretations, and a blend of local customs, reflecting

4687-595: The State Administration Council junta in 2024. The ideology of the Arakan Army is centered on the following: The Rakhine Army has significantly challenged the Burmese junta's military might, often achieving surprising victories that showcase its strength and strategic prowess. The AA's operational capabilities were notably highlighted during Operation 1027 , a coordinated offensive aimed at key military targets in Rakhine State. This operation demonstrated

4796-484: The 1950s, to accommodate exponential population increase. The first new towns included Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong . In the late 1960s and the 1970s, another stage of new town developments was launched. Nine new towns have been developed so far. Land use is carefully planned and development provides plenty of room for public housing projects. Rail transport is usually available at a later stage. The first towns are Sha Tin , Tsuen Wan , Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O . Tuen Mun

4905-475: The 20th century to 2,561 in 2014, with Rakhines leaving Bangladesh due to illegal land-grabbing and persecution. Lands owned by them in the districts decreased by 81%. Rakhine land is also being taken over by politicians in Patuakhali District. Recognizing their situation is important for promoting their rights and improving their lives. The Rakhine are predominantly Theravada Buddhists and are one of

5014-533: The 21st century, merged most κοινότητες with the nearest δήμοι , dividing the whole country into 325 self-governing δήμοι . The former municipalities survive as administrative subdivisions ( δημοτικά διαμερίσματα , δημοτικές ενότητες ). Cyprus, including the Turkish-occupied areas, is also divided into 39 δήμοι (in principle, with at least 5,000 inhabitants, though there are exceptions) and 576 κοινότητες . Hong Kong started developing new towns in

5123-667: The 9th century Rakhine people have founded Le-Mro, Le-Mro in the Rakhine language means "four cities," which refers to the four ancient Rakhine cities. In 1103, they had consolidated control of the region, becoming a tributary state of the Pagan Empire until 1167. In 1406–1429, Kingdom of Ava occupied the Northern Rakhine. Southern Rakhine was not occupied by the Bagan Empire and the Ava Kingdom. In 1429, founder of Kingdom of Mrauk U ,

5232-507: The AA is the military wing of the United League of Arakan (ULA). It is currently led by Commander-in-Chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing and vice deputy commander-in-chief Brigadier General Nyo Twan Awng . The Arakan Army states that the objective of its armed revolution is to restore the sovereignty of the Arakan people. It was declared a terrorist organization in 2020 by Myanmar, and again by

5341-458: The AA's ability to mobilize effectively, utilize guerilla tactics, and leverage local support, leading to significant setbacks for the junta. The operation underscored the AA's determination and skill, establishing it as one of the strongest ethnic armed forces in Myanmar. With a focus on defending their homeland and securing rights for the Rakhine people, the Arakan Army has garnered considerable support among local populations. Their success against

5450-705: The Arakanese-controlled Chacomas of the Northern Arakan Mountains . After his initial military successes against Bengal and Tripura (1532–34), Min Bin began to regard himself "as a world conqueror or cakravartin ", and in commemoration of his victory in Bengal he built the Shitthaung Temple , one of the premier Buddhist Pagodas of Mrauk-U . His expansionist drive was to run into serious obstacles however. His control of Bengal beyond Chittagong

5559-528: The Ayutthaya kings and Ava (Inwa), Taungoo and Hanthawaddy kings of Myanmar. Mrauk U was cosmopolitan city, fortified by a 30-kilometer long fortification and an intricate net of moats and canals. At the centre of the city was the Royal Place, looming high over the surrounding area like an Asian Acropolis. Waterways formed by canals and creeks earned the fame of distinct resemblance to Venice. Mrauk U offers some of

SECTION 50

#1732855808727

5668-518: The Buddhist-professing Bamar, with whom the Rakhine identified. By 1585, European, Persian, and Bengali accounts began describing the Rakhine and Buddhist groups like Barua people as the Magh and its derivatives (e.g., Mogh, Mugh, Mog, etc.). The word's etymology is likely to derive from Magadha , the name of an ancient Buddhist kingdom. By the late 19th century, British authorities adopted

5777-578: The Burmese Konbaung Dynasty in 1784. Mrauk-U was divided into three periods: the earliest period (1430–1530), the middle period (1531–1638), and the last period (1638–1784). In Arakan antiquities at the Mrauk-U seems to give rational evidence as to where Buddhism was settled down. The golden days of Mrauk U city, those of 16th and 17th centuries were contemporary to the days of Tudor kings, the Moghuls,

5886-501: The Cool Season, temperatures can drop to 13 °C or 55.4 °F. This season coincides with the tourist season for Myanmar. The rainfall on 19 July 2011 was nearly 24 cm (9.4 in), the highest for 33 years. There was flood because of continuous heavy rains in July 2011. Some Rakhine scholars state that the name Mrauk U means 'The First Accomplishment' in archaic Arakanese . This

5995-715: The East India Company government. They settled in Patuakhali District and Barguna District in the 19th century. Rakhine descendants spread as far north as Tripura state in India , where they are known as the Mog . Historically, all Rakhine monarchs practiced Buddhism . It can be difficult to distinguish a Rakhine person from a Bamar person, the predominant ethnic group in Myanmar , based solely on physical appearance, unless

6104-768: The Marmas, the Rakhine also celebrate the New Year with their own rules. In the case of the Marmas, it is celebrated according to their Burmese calendar . The main attraction of Sangrai is the water sport called Marmara "Ri Long Poye". This water sports festival is held on the last day of Sangrai festival. Sangrai water sports are performed not only by the Marmas, but also by the Dai tribes of Southeast Asia, Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , Cambodia and China in mid-April. In Myanmar, such events are called "Thingyan" and in Thailand and Laos this ceremony

6213-647: The Minister of Internal Affairs selects candidates from a committee-screened list of applicants, whom the President of Republic usually affirms by issuing a bill of town's rank to them. Since being a town carries extra fiscal support from the government, many relatively small villages try to win the status of városi rang ('town rank') nowadays. Before the fall of communism in 1990, Hungarian villages with fewer than 10,000 residents were not allowed to become towns. Recently some settlements as small as 2,500 souls have received

6322-430: The Municipalities Act: Single-tier (I.e. towns that are located within a region or county but that are considered separate for municipal purposes such as Hamilton ), lower-tier (i.e. municipalities that are part of a region or county such as St. Catharines ), or upper-tier (i.e. regional municipalities such as Niagara ). Accordingly, many larger municipalities continue to use the title of town due to it better reflecting

6431-593: The National Statistics Institute (INE) as an urban entity with a population from 2001 to 5000 or an area with a population from 1001 to 2000 and an established economic activity. In Czechia , a municipality can obtain the title of a city ( Czech : statutární město ), town ( Czech : město ) or market town ( Czech : městys ). The title is granted by law. Statutory cities (in English usually called just "cities"), which are defined by law no. 128/2000 Coll., can define their own self-governing municipal districts. There are 26 such cities, in addition to Prague , which

6540-460: The Rakhine people mainly resides in Cox's Bazar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Their presence reflects a rich culture but also highlights the challenges they face, such as issues with identity. The 150-year old Khaddya Song Chansai Rakhine cemetery in Taltali Upazila , Barguna District , was forcefully taken by local land grabbers in 2017. The Rakhine population in the Barguna and Patuakhali Districts decreased by 95%, from 50,000 in

6649-412: The appurtenances of local government (e.g. a police force). In the United States these are referred to as "incorporated towns". In other cases the town lacks its own governance and is said to be "unincorporated". The existence of an unincorporated town may be legally set out by other means, e.g. zoning districts. In the case of some planned communities , the town exists legally in the form of covenants on

SECTION 60

#1732855808727

6758-469: The beginning of the root word (e.g. nagyváros ) have been normalized to differentiate between cities and towns (towns being smaller, therefore bearing the name kisváros .) In Hungary, a village can gain the status of város ('town'), if it meets a set of diverse conditions for quality of life and development of certain public services and utilities (e.g. having a local secondary school or installing full-area sewage collection pipe network). Every year

6867-472: The capital of the Mrauk U Kingdom , the largest and most powerful Rakhine kingdom in history. Mrauk U lies roughly 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of the Kaladan River on the banks of its minor tributaries. The town is located on a small outcrop of the Rakhine Yoma on the eastern side of the Kaladan's alluvial plain. Thus, the surrounding countryside is hilly yet also contains a great deal of marshes, mangroves and lakes. Mrauk U, like all of Rakhine State,

6976-399: The character of the municipality. For example, Oakville (2021 Population: 213,759) is the largest municipality to use the title of town to reflect its largely suburban character while other municipalities such as Richmond Hill (2021 Population: 202,022) have opted to change their status from "town" to "city" to encourage investment. In Chile , towns (Spanish: pueblos ) are defined by

7085-410: The consolidation of large estates during the Roman Empire , the town became the center of large farms. A distinction was created between rustic and urban settlements: In Afghanistan , a city and a town are both referred to as shār ( Dari : شهر ; Pashto : ښار ). The capital of each of its 34 provinces may include a major city such as Kabul whose population is over five million people or

7194-414: The definition of towns, creating communities urban in their economic and cultural characteristics but lacking other characteristics of urban localities. Some forms of non-rural settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be clearly non-rural, but have at best a questionable claim to be called a town. Towns often exist as distinct governmental units, with legally defined borders and some or all of

7303-404: The development of its unique cultural identity, which blends various influences from neighboring regions. The remnants of Dhanyawadi's architecture and artifacts offer insights into the early history and society of Arakan. King Min Hti is one of the famous Arakan king known for being the longest reigning monarch in the whole world history , although the exact length of his reign is unknown. It

7412-559: The distant past. The city of Rattenberg for example has about 400 inhabitants. The city of Hardegg has about 1200 inhabitants. There are no unincorporated areas. Of the 201 cities in Austria, 15 are statutory cities ( Statutarstädte ). A statutory city is a city that is vested, in addition to its purview as a municipality, with the duties of a district administrative authority . The status does not come with any additional autonomy: district administrative authorities are essentially just service centers that citizens use to interact with

7521-442: The eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal. It became a transit point for goods such as rice, ivory, elephants, tree sap and deer hide from Ava in Myanmar, and of cotton, slaves, horses, cowrie, spices and textiles from Bengal, India, Persia and Arabia. Alongside Pegu and later Syriam , it was one of the most important ports in Myanmar up until the eighteenth century. The city also traded with non-Asian powers such as Portugal and then

7630-521: The ethnonym Arakanese . After 1991, the Burmese government changed the official English name of the ethnic group to Rakhine , as part of a broader effort to indigenize the country's English ethnonyms and place names. The Rakhine State , also known as Arakan , in Myanmar is the home to the Rakhine people. The history of Rakhine is divided into seven parts - the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi , Waithali , Lemro , Mrauk U , Burmese occupation from 1785 to 1826, British rule from 1826 to 1948 and as

7739-604: The following criteria: Rakhine people The Rakhine people ( Burmese and Rakhine  : ရခိုင်လူမျိုး ) or Arakanese are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine State (formerly called Arakan ), although Rakhine communities also exist throughout the country, particularly in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions . They constitute approximately 4.61% or more of Myanmar's total population. Rakhine communities exist in Bangladesh 's Chittagong Hill Tracts and in India, where they are known as

7848-756: The four main Buddhist ethnic groups of Burma (the others being the Burman , Shan and Mon people ). Rakhine culture is similar to the mainstream Burmese culture but with more Indian influence , likely due to its geographical isolation from the Burmese mainland divided by the Arakan Mountains and its closer proximity to India . Traces of Indian influence remain in many aspects of Arakanese culture, including its literature, music, and cuisine. The traditional Rakhine kyin wrestling also plays an important role in its culture. Rakhine mont di , consisting of rice vermicelli noodles,

7957-591: The government building, police fired live ammunition into the crowd, killing seven and wounding twelve. On 8 February 2024 the Arakan Army captured the city from the Tatmadaw after overrunning Police Battalion 31 in the northeast of the city. Due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal , Mrauk U developed into an important regional trade hub, acting as both a back door to the Burmese hinterland and also as an important port along

8066-421: The historical importance, the existence of central functions (education, retail etc.) and the population density of an urban place might also be taken as characteristics of a Stadt . The modern local government organisation is subject to the laws of each state and refers to a Gemeinde ( municipality ), regardless of its historic title. While most Gemeinden form part of a Landkreis ( district ) on

8175-513: The individual is wearing traditional Rakhine clothing or speaking the Rakhine language . The Rakhine language is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family and shares a close relationship with the Burmese language . Among the various Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in the country, Rakhine stands out for its strong similarity to Burmese . Some experts contend that the Rakhine language itself might be just

8284-551: The junta not only boosts their reputation but also inspires other ethnic groups in Myanmar, as the AA continues to assert its influence and military strength in the ongoing struggle for autonomy and justice. Outside of Myanmar, a sizable Rakhine community exists in the southeast districts of Bangladesh, namely in Khagrachari, Rangamati, Bandarban and southern Cox's Bazar, with the Mong circle in Khagrachari having administrative duties. There

8393-427: The king Min Saw Mon reclaimed the Arakanese throne with the help of the Bengal, and ruled the kingdom. But as a vassal of Bengal 1429 to 1430. Rakhine oral traditions and written records also describe several alternative origin myths, including one that traces the Rakhine back to an intermarriage between a highland Mro and a lowland queen, and another that traces the ancestry of Rakhine monarchs back to Mahasammata ,

8502-669: The legendary first monarch of the world. After the Kingdom of Mrauk U was annexed by the Konbaung Kingdom in 1784, Rakhine refugees began settling in Cox's Bazar and Patuakhali District . The British colonial officer of the East India Trading Company , Captain Hiram Cox , was given the task of providing land to the refugees in 1799. An estimated 100,000 refugees were settled in Cox's Bazar, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Patuakhali by

8611-518: The major ethnic groups in Myanmar. Some Rakhine people can be recognized by their mixed backgrounds, which often show South Asian features or Skin colors , or both. The Rakhine people are known to be not related to Bangladeshi backgrounds. Their names are typically in Rakhine, often resembling Burmese names . The Arakan Army is ethnic armed organisation predominantly composed of Rakhine people who follow Theravada Buddhism . Founded in April 2009,

8720-466: The minority ethnic groups and they live in the hills. The Arakanese are predominantly Theravada Buddhist .  Their language has some similarities with Burmese language and also very similar to Burma in culture and traditional dress. They have developed their own kingdoms, dynasties, scripts, coins, costumes, culture, and dialects, showcasing a rich and distinct heritage. They also have their own ethnic armed group in Myanmar's Rakhine State known as

8829-631: The mud and clay bricks of Bagan. The most notable temples in Mrauk U are the Shite-thaung Temple ( Temple of 80,000 Images or Temple of Victory ), Htukkanthein Temple (tukkan Ordination Hall) , the Koe-thaung Temple (Temple of 90,000 Images) and the Five Mahn pagodas . In 2017, an international commission urged Myanmar to nominate Mrauk U for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The proposal

8938-542: The name of their respective seats, and if they were not municipal seats, they would have the category of village. Bulgarians do not, in general, differentiate between 'city' and 'town'. However, in everyday language and media the terms "large towns" and "small towns" are in use. "Large towns" usually refers to Sofia , Plovdiv , Varna and Burgas , which have population over 200,000. Ruse and Stara Zagora are often included as well due to presence of relatively developed infrastructure and population over 100,000 threshold. It

9047-418: The national government, for example to apply for driver licenses or passports. The national government generally uses the provinces to run these points of contact on its behalf; in the case of statutory cities, the municipality gets to step up. In Brazil, since 1938, it was defined that the seat of the municipalities would pass to the category of city and give it the name and the districts would be designated by

9156-538: The old things, including the beginning of the new year. And so the Marmaras celebrate the New Year with a joyous ceremony in the hope of blessings and good wishes. The Rakhine People also observe the Buddha Purnima or internationally known as Vesak . It is also known as Buddha Birthday worldwide. This is the anniversary of three important events in Buddha's life—his birth, his attainment of enlightenment , and his death. It

9265-532: The other hand, they might be mixed with Indo-Aryans and Tibeto-Burman. Kanyans of Irrawaddy Valley with later integrated into Arakanese race. Rakhine and Burmese are very closely related languages, which both descend from Old Burmese . 3000 or 2800 years ago, The Chandra dynasty that ruled Dhanyawadi and Waithali was more likely Indo-Aryan in origin. Arakanese legends claim that the Unknown ethnic are founder of Dhanyawadi. Now they are mixed with Rakhine people. By

9374-582: The people. During British colonial rule, Mrauk U was known as "Mrohaung" or "Myohaung". The area was the site of fighting during the Arakan Campaign, in the latter part of the Second World War. On 16 January 2018, Rakhine protesters rioted near a government building in Mrauk U after a ban was issued by local authorities on an event that commemorated the anniversary of the Kingdom of Mrauk U 's dissolution. In response to protesters attempting to seize

9483-412: The prince, and thus, the name 'First Accomplishment' came to be associated with the place. A dismissed myth was that in the region where Mrauk U was to be constructed, lived a lonely female monkey. She met a peacock and the two later cohabited. The female monkey conceived with the peacock, and it laid an egg. A human son was born from the egg and he grew up to become a mighty prince. The prince later built

9592-476: The properties within the town. The United States Census identifies many census-designated places (CDPs) by the names of unincorporated towns which lie within them; however, those CDPs typically include rural and suburban areas and even surrounding villages and other towns. The distinction between a town and a city similarly depends on the approach: a city may strictly be an administrative entity which has been granted that designation by law, but in informal usage,

9701-417: The rank of town (e.g. Visegrád, Zalakaros or Gönc) and meeting the conditions of development is often disregarded to quickly elevate larger villages into towns. As of middle 2013, there are 346 towns in Hungary, encompassing some 69% of the entire population. Towns of more than 50,000 people are able to gain the status of megyei jogú város (town with the rights of a county ), which allows them to maintain

9810-506: The region's diverse cultural heritage. The Arakan king Min Razagyi (1593–1612) conquered the areas and styled himself as the highest and most powerful king of Arakan, Chacomas, and Bengal in a 1607 letter to Portuguese mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote . In 1546 CE, while the Arakanese king Min Bin was fighting a battle with the Burmese, the Sak king attacked Northern Arakan Roma and occupied

9919-516: The region's strong spiritual heritage. Buddhism is the majority religion and a central part of their identity. Rakhine people those who live in Bangladesh, mainly residing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts who are also known as the Marma people follows Buddhism. In India, there may be a small minority following Hinduism or Christianity as well. Sangrai is one of the main traditional ceremonies of

10028-531: The richest archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. These include stone inscriptions, Buddha images, the Buddha's footprints and the great pagoda itself which, stripped its later-constructed top, would be of the same design as the Gupta style of ancient India. In the city of golden Mrauk-U there are scattering innumerable temples and pagodas which preserved as places, thereby exerting a great influence on spiritual life of

10137-557: The same meaning as borough albeit deriving from a different etymology) and they retain the exclusive right to the title even after the last vestiges of their privileges vanished through the reform of the local administration carried through in 1970. In Estonia , there is no distinction between a town and a city as the word linn is used for both bigger and smaller settlements, which are bigger than villages and boroughs. There are 30 municipal towns ( omavalitsuslik linn ) in Estonia and

10246-404: The scale, to fortified municipalities. Other common Anglo-Saxon suffixes included ham 'home', stede 'stead', and burh 'bury, borough, burgh'. In toponymic terminology, names of individual towns and cities are called astyonyms or astionyms (from Ancient Greek ἄστυ 'town, city', and ὄνομα 'name'). In some cases, town is an alternative name for "city" or "village" (especially

10355-430: The smallest level of local authorities are all called communes . They can have anywhere from a handful to millions of inhabitants, and France has 36,000 of them. The French term for town is bourg but French laws generally do not distinguish between towns and cities which are all commonly called villes . However, some laws do treat these authorities differently based on the population and different rules apply to

10464-519: The southeast of the town. Friar Manrique also mentions the presence of a Roman Catholic church and a small number of converts and foreign born Catholics (including ronin who were forced out of Japan due to persecution by the shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu ) The area around Mrauk U ranks second in the production of rice in Myanmar, after the Irrawaddy Delta . Today, Mrauk U is a major archaeological and tourist destination. The main attractions are

10573-494: The temples and ruins around the town. The remains of the main palace roughly form the centre of the town. The most popular mode for tourists to travel to Mrauk U is to take a domestic flight from Yangon to Sittwe and board a boat from Sittwe against the Kaladan River. The hotels in Mrauk U also arrange private boat services to and from Sittwe. Although a tourist destination, most of Mrauk U has very basic infrastructure. It has

10682-421: The term is also used to denote an urban locality of a particular size or importance: whereas a medieval city may have possessed as few as 10,000 inhabitants, today some consider an urban place of fewer than 100,000 as a town, even though there are many officially designated cities that are much smaller than that. 193 countries have been involved in a common effort to agree on a common statistical definition of

10791-607: The three big cities Paris , Lyon and Marseille . For historical reasons, six communes in the Meuse département exist as independent administrative entities despite having no inhabitants at all. For statistical purposes, the national statistical institute ( INSEE ) operates a distinction between urban areas with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants and bigger communes, the latter being called villes . Smaller settlements are usually called villages . Germans do not, in general, differentiate between 'city' and 'town'. The German word for both

10900-455: The three categories: cities, towns and rural areas. Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor proposed a classification of towns based on their age and pattern of land use . He identified five types of towns: Through different periods of recorded history, many towns have grown into sizeable settlements, with the development of properties, centres of culture, and specialized economies. Çatalhöyük , currently an archaeological site,

11009-468: The underlying theory remains scant. Arthur Phayre traces the etymology to the Sanskrit or Pali words for 'monster' or 'demon' ( rākṣasa and rakkhasa ) respectively, which is more likely. Some Rakhine inhabitants now prefer the alternative spelling of ရက္ခိုင်. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Rakhine began calling themselves Mranma (မြန်မာ) and its derivatives, as attested by texts like

11118-675: The walls of a castle. In Australia, most rural and regional centres of population can be called towns; many small towns have populations of less than 200. The smallest may be described as townships. In addition, some local government entities are officially styled as towns in Queensland , South Australia , Western Australia and the Northern Territory , and formerly also (till the 1990s) in Victoria . The Austrian legal system does not distinguish between villages, towns, and cities. The country

11227-617: The word χωριό ('village') to refer to smaller settlements and the word πόλη or πολιτεία ('city') to refer to larger ones. Careful speakers may also use the word κωμόπολη to refer to towns with a population of 2,000–9,999. In Greek administrative law there used to be a distinction between δήμοι , i.e. municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants or considered important for some other geographical (county seats), historical or ecclesiastical (bishops' seats) reason, and κοινότητες, referring to smaller self-governing units, mostly villages. A sweeping reform, carried out in two stages early in

11336-442: The word in both Germanic and Celtic was that of a fortress or an enclosure. Cognates of town in many modern Germanic languages designate a fence or a hedge. In English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed, and through which a track must run. In England, a town was a small community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fortifications, and built

11445-498: Was considered to be the oldest inhabited town, or proto-city , that existed from around 7500 BC. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site , it remains a depopulated town with a complex of ruins. In Roman times , a villa was a rural settlement formed by a main residential building and another series of secondary buildings. It constituted the center from which an agricultural holding was administered. Subsequently, it lost its agricultural functions and reduced its activity to residential. With

11554-534: Was intended to be self-reliant, but was not successful and turned into a bedroom community like the other new towns. More recent developments are Tin Shui Wai and North Lantau (Tung Chung-Tai Ho) . In Hungary there is no official distinction between a city and a town (the word for both in Hungarian is város ). Nevertheless, the expressions formed by adding the adjectives kis ('small') and nagy ('large') to

11663-523: Was largely nominal and he, like the sultans of Bengal before him, never solved Tripuri raids into Bengal. Moreover, his interference in Lower Burma (1542) against Toungoo provoked Toungoo invasions in (1545–47) that nearly toppled his regime. He survived the invasions and later provided military aid to Ava , hoping to stop Toungoo's advance into Upper Burma. Arakanese legends and some Rakhine people claim that they are Aryans came from Shakya in India. On

11772-621: Was the centre of a kingdom which stretched from the shores of the Ganges river to the western reaches of the Ayeyarwady River . According to popular Arakanese legend, there were 12 'cities of the Ganges' which constitute roughly half of modern-day Bangladesh which were governed by Mrauk U, including Dhaka and Chittagong . During that period, its kings minted coins inscribed in Arakanese , Kufic and Bengali . Much of Mrauk U's historical description

11881-533: Was the largest kingdom of the Arakan (Rakhine) Kingdom, encompassing the Chittagong region of Bangladesh and the Rakhine State of Myanmar . Arakanese chronicle records that more than six million shrines and pagodas flourished in Mrauk-U. A British archaeologist, Emil Forchhammer noted that "in durability, architectural skill, and ornamentation the Mrauk-U temples far surpass those on the banks of Irrawaddy." Illustrative examples of Mrauk U period architecture include

#726273