RANGOON, the capital of Burma, situated on the left bank of the Hlaing or Rangoon river, 21 m. from the sea, in 16° 47' N.
and 96° 13' E. In 188o the city was detached from the main district, called Hanthawaddy, and formed into a separate district, with an area of 19 sq.m. This has since been continually increased; the census area of Rangoon town district in 1931 was 77 sq.m. with a population of 398,967. Since Aug. 1, 1926, the district has formed part of the Pegu division. Rangoon, from being a com paratively insignificant place, rose in less than half a century to be the third seaport in British India, being surpassed only by Calcutta and Bombay in the volume of its trade. During the busy season of rice-export, which lasts from the end of Decem ber to the middle of May, the pool forming the port of Rangoon presents almost as crowded a scene as the Hugli at Calcutta. Rangoon has the double advantage of being situated near the sea and in easy communication with a great river navigable for 90o m. behind it. It is, in addition, the centre of the Burmese railway system. In the broad and deep river is concentrated the whole of the rich trade of the delta of the Irrawaddy. Great part of the river frontage is occupied with rice-mills, teak wharves and similar buildings. The need for wharfage accommodation has resulted in recent years in the majority of the mills being re moved to the opposite or Dalla shore of the Rangoon river, or along the banks of the Pegu river east of Rangoon. The rice exported from Rangoon in the years 1922-3 to 1926-7 averaged nearly 2,000,000 tons.
Though traditionally a site of great sanctity, Rangoon owes its first importance to its rebuilding in 1753 by Alompra, the founder of the Burmese monarchy, who gave it the name of Yan Kon, "the end of the war." The present Burmese designation
of the town is Yandoon. An English factory was opened here about 179o. On the outbreak of the first Burmese War, in 1824, the city was taken by the British, but subsequently restored. It was captured a second time in 1852, and passed with the province of Pegu into the hands of the British. It was destroyed by fire in 185o, and serious conflagrations occurred again in 1853 and 1855.
Administration and Improvements.—Until 1874, when the existing municipality was constituted, the administration was in the hands of the local government, which devoted itself to raising the centre of the town above the river level, providing land fit for building purposes from the original swamp, which was flooded at spring-tides, and making roads, bridges, culverts and surface drains. In 1892 was introduced the sewage system, and now Rangoon has an excellent drainage system. The water supply, drawn at first from the Victoria lake, 5 m. distant, is now mainly from a large reservoir lake 17 m. distant. The city proper of Rangoon with the Kemmendine suburb is laid out on the block system, each block being Boo by 86o ft., intersected with regular streets. The city is now well lit with electric light, and has an ex tensive electric tramway system, recently supplemented by motor bus services. Rangoon has many fine public buildings including the Secretariat, the Law Courts, Post Office and General Hospital. There are two large maidans, or commons, which are used as military parade grounds and for sport, the larger being used as a golf links. There are spacious and well kept zoological gardens, botanical gardens and an extremely pretty and well-kept garden in the cantonments under the pagoda. Beyond these lie the Royal Lake and Dalhousie park, with 16o acres of water and well-laid out and well-timbered park land, indeed, quite the finest in the East. There are two cathedrals, Church of England and Roman Catholic, a Presbyterian church, and churches of most denomina tions with services in English, Burmese and the principal Indian languages. Buddhists, Hindus, Mussulmans, Parsees, Armenians and Jews all own lands and pagodas, temples, mosques, churches and synagogues.