Kawthaung Township Explained

Kawthaung Township
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map:Burma
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Burma
Seat:Kawthaung
Seat Type:Capital
Settlement Type:Township
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Taninthayi Region
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Kawthaung District
Area Total Km2:2527
Population:140020
Population As Of:2014
Population Density Km2:auto
Coordinates:9.9833°N 131°W
Timezone:MST
Utc Offset:+6.30

Kawthaung Township (Burmese: ကော့သောင်းမြို့နယ်; Thai: เกาะสอง, ; meaning Second Island or Twice Island) is a township of Kawthaung District in the Taninthayi Division of Myanmar. The principal town is Kawthaung. The township covers an area of 2,527 km2, and had a population of 140,020 at the 2014 Census.[1]

History

At 1859, a local Chinese and Thais group is settled at Maliwan, a village 24 miles north of Kawthaung (then Victoria Point). Maliwan is noted for its numerous lakes and flower trees called Maliwan in Thai Language. And at 1865, an Arab-Malay group led by Nayuda Ahmed, traveling and collecting sea products around Mergui Archipelago start to form a base and village at bay of Victoria Point.

In 1872 the third mayor of Mergui District, Sir Ashly Din (1870–1875) assigned the first police officer to be stationed at Maliwan. In 1891, the local government offices were moved from Maliwan to Kawthaung because Maliwan is located on the bank of a small shallow river, Maliwan Creek, unsuitable for large ships to enter and waiting tide water.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: KAWTHAUNG. 28 August 2020. CityPopulation.de. 19 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200119161730/https://www.citypopulation.de/php/myanmar-admin.php?adm1id=0603.