Rakhine

Rakhine, also known as Arakan, refers to Rakhine State, a western coastal region of Myanmar, and to the Rakhine people and language. The state borders the Bay of Bengal to the west, with the Arakan Yoma mountain range inland and the city of Sittwe as its capital.

The region includes coastal towns such as Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Maungdaw and Buthidaung. The Rakhine people (also called Arakanese) are the region's historic Buddhist community; the state also hosts Rohingya Muslims concentrated in the northern and western townships, and smaller populations of Hindus and other groups. The Rakhine language, a variant of Burmese, is widely spoken alongside Burmese.

The area was home to the medieval Kingdom of Arakan, which flourished from the 15th to 18th centuries. It was annexed by Burma in 1784, later incorporated into British India during colonial rule, and became part of independent Myanmar in 1948. Since the late 20th century, disputes over citizenship and rights in Rakhine State have contributed to cycles of tension and conflict, culminating in large-scale displacement of Rohingya civilians in 2017–2018.

Local economy depends on fishing, agriculture and small-scale trade, with growing attention to port development and energy projects such as Kyaukphyu. The region remains one of Myanmar's less developed areas, with ongoing humanitarian and reconstruction efforts related to past clashes and displacement.