The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , ʔèjàwədì mjɪʔ, from Indic revatī, meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady Region into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about covers a large part of Burma. After Rudyard Kipling's poem, it is sometimes referred to as 'The Road to Mandalay'.
As early as the sixth century, the river was used for trade and transport. Having developed an extensive network of irrigation canals, the river became important to the British Empire after it had colonized Burma. The river is still important today because it is used for a significant amount of traffic and (export) goods. In the Irrawaddy Delta, rice is grown using river water as an irrigation system.
In 2007, Myanmar's military dictatorship signed an agreement for the construction of seven hydroelectric dams, yielding a total 13,360 MW, in the N'mai and Mali Rivers, including the 3600 MW Myitsone Dam at the confluence of both rivers. Environmental organisations have raised concerns about the ecological impacts on the river's biodiverse ecosystems. Animals potentially impacted include the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin and the critically endangered Ganges shark.
The name "Irrawaddy" is derived from Pali. Irāvatī or Airāvatī (Erāvatī in Pali) is the name of the elephant mount of Sakka and Indra in Hinduism. Saka is an important deva in Buddhism and elephants were often a symbol for water and was used as the name for several other rivers, such as the Achiravati. It can also be based on Iravati, who birthed the mythological elephant. The Irrawaddy gives its name to the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), which is found in the lower reaches of the river and known to help fishermen who practice cast-net fishing.
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Myitkyina (, mjɪʔtɕíná; (Eng; mitchinar) Jinghpaw: Myitkyina, [mjìtkjí̠ná]) is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, just below from Myit-son (Burmese for confluence) of its two headstreams (the Mali and N'mai rivers). It is the northernmost river port and railway terminus in Myanmar. The city is served by Myitkyina Airport.
Amarapura (အမရပူရ, ʔəməɹa̰pùɹa̰, The Immortal city; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava (Inwa) in the south. It was the capital of Myanmar twice during the Konbaung period (1783–1821 and 1842–1859) before finally being supplanted by Mandalay north in 1859. It is historically referred to as Taungmyo (Southern City) in relation to Mandalay.
The Bamar People (, bəmà lùmjó; also known as the Mranma), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Myanmar. They are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of approximately 35 million people who constitute Myanmar's largest ethnic group, accounting for 68% of the country's population. The geographic homeland of the Bamar is the Irrawaddy River basin. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar, as well as the national language and lingua franca of Myanmar.
Biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) contributes significantly to summertime organic particulate matter. In this study, a simulation of BSOA for summer 2012 over China is performed using the Community Multiscale Air Quality model with an explicit repr ...