Rangoon

Rangoon, officially Yangon, is the largest city and former capital of Myanmar. It is located in the Yangon Region on the eastern bank of the Yangon River near its mouth at the Gulf of Martaban. The city is known by both names; Rangoon is the historic Anglicized form, while Yangon is the Burmese name that has been widely used since the late 20th century. Most international references now use Yangon, though Rangoon remains common in older sources.

Historically, Rangoon/Dagon grew as a major port and rose to prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially under British rule after the Anglo-Burmese Wars. It served as the capital of British Burma and continued as the country’s capital after independence in 1948 until the government announced in 2005 that the administrative capital would be moved to Naypyidaw. The relocation was completed over the following years, but Yangon remains Myanmar’s largest city and principal commercial hub.

Today Yangon has a dense urban core with a mix of colonial-era architecture, mid-20th-century buildings, and modern developments. Notable sites include Shwedagon Pagoda, one of Buddhism’s most sacred sites; Sule Pagoda in the city center; the colonial-era downtown area; and the lakeside districts around Kandawgyi and Inya Lakes. The Bogyoke Aung San Market, commonly known as Scott Market, is a well-known historic market area.

The city is multi-ethnic and predominantly Buddhist, with Burmese as the dominant language. It has a tropical monsoon climate, with a warm, rainy season from May to October and a cooler, drier season in the winter months.