Rakhine

Location
Rakhine State is situated in the westernmost part of the country, sharing borders with Chin State in the north, Magway, Bago and Ayeyawaddy Divisions in the east, and facing the Bay of Bengal in the west. The area of the state is 14,200 square miles.

Population
Rakhine State is a sparsely populated area as its mountainous landscape is covered by thick forests. The population is 2,698,000 and Sittway is the most populous town in the state.

Inhabitants
Rakhine and Bamar live both in the valleys and on Yambye and Manaung islands. Chins inhabit hilly regions in the north. Mro, Thet, Khami, Dainet, Maramagyi and Kaman live on mountain ranges in the west and north of Sittway plain.

Religion
The majority of people are Buddhists.

Dialects
Main languages in the state are Rakhine and Myanmar.

How to get there?
There are daily flights between Yangon and Thandwe which take about 50 minutes. Sittwe is 45 minutes flight from Thandwe. Thandwe can also be accessed by car after crossing the Ayeyarwaddy River at Pyay. The drive along the narrow winding road over the Rakhine Yoma takes 12 hours. There are regular passenger boats and special speedboats, which take about 2 and half hours from Sittwe to Mrauk-U.