Kawkareik

Kawkareik
ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ
Kawkaraik
Town
The former sign of Kawkareik. The sign reads: "A warm welcome from Kawkareik." It was demolished in 2020s and replaced with the new one.
The former sign of Kawkareik. The sign reads: "A warm welcome from Kawkareik." It was demolished in 2020s and replaced with the new one.
Kawkareik is located in Myanmar
Kawkareik
Kawkareik
Location in Myanmar (Burma)
Coordinates: 16°33′20″N 98°14′24″E / 16.55556°N 98.24000°E / 16.55556; 98.24000
Country Myanmar
Division Kayin State
DistrictKawkareik District
TownshipKawkareik Township
Population
 (2019)[1]
48,468
 • Religions
Time zoneUTC+6.30 (MMT)
Kyaikpawt Pagoda, Minywar Village, Kawkareik Township

Kawkareik (Pwo Eastern Karen: ဍုံကောဝ်တြာ်; Burmese: ကော့ကရိတ်, [kɔ̰kəɹeɪʔ]; S'gaw Karen: ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ), also spelled as Kawkarike, is a town in Karen State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Kawkaraik District and Kawkaraik Township.

History

The Kawkareik Pass across the Tenasserim Hills is named after this town. The Pass was the access route from Thailand used by the Japanese Fifteenth Army, consisting of two infantry divisions under Lieutenant General Shōjirō Iida, when it invaded the southern Burmese division of Tenasserim (now Mon State, Kayin State and Tanintharyi Region) in January 1942.

In January 2009, the forces of the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army clashed outside Kawkareik. The DKBA set up their military command post inside the town, and although DKBA soldiers burned down several civilian houses and detained dozens of citizens in villages across the border in Thailand, Kawkareik was left intact.[2]

During the Myanmar civil war that began in 2021, the battle of Kawkareik took place in late October 2022. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) stepped-up fighting in southeastern Myanmar and besieged the town. At the time, it appeared to be a significant first seizure of a major town by anti-junta forces since the renewed civil war.[3]

Climate

Kawkareik has a typical southeastern Myanmar tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) featuring an extremely wet wet season from mid-April to early November and a dry season from November to mid-April.

Climate data for Kawkareik (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 33.3
(91.9) 		35.0
(95.0) 		36.7
(98.1) 		37.6
(99.7) 		34.4
(93.9) 		30.4
(86.7) 		29.4
(84.9) 		29.2
(84.6) 		31.1
(88.0) 		33.3
(91.9) 		33.6
(92.5) 		32.6
(90.7) 		33.1
(91.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 17.6
(63.7) 		18.2
(64.8) 		20.1
(68.2) 		22.5
(72.5) 		22.9
(73.2) 		22.6
(72.7) 		22.3
(72.1) 		22.2
(72.0) 		22.7
(72.9) 		22.7
(72.9) 		21.4
(70.5) 		19.2
(66.6) 		21.2
(70.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 3.5
(0.14) 		9.6
(0.38) 		22.6
(0.89) 		73.8
(2.91) 		407.5
(16.04) 		833.2
(32.80) 		1,049.4
(41.31) 		1,105.7
(43.53) 		616.6
(24.28) 		234.2
(9.22) 		33.7
(1.33) 		7.1
(0.28) 		4,396.9
(173.11)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[4]

Transport

Kawkareik lies on the East-West Economic Corridor that links the South China Sea at Da Nang to Mawlamyine through Mae Sot and Myawaddy.[5]

The town has two public high schools; BEHS (1) Kawkareik and BEHS (2) Kawkareik.

There is no higher education institution in Kawkareik.

Healthcare

Kawkareik District Public Hospital serves the people of Kawkareik and its surrounding areas.

Notable people from Kawkareik

References

  1. ^ Myanmar Information Management Unit (December 2019). Kawkareik Myone Daethasaingyarachatlatmya ကော့ကရိတ်မြို့နယ် ဒေသဆိုင်ရာအချက်လက်များ [Kawkareik Township Regional Information] (PDF) (Report). MIMU. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  2. ^ "DKBA soldiers burn down huts, detain villagers and loot property in Thailand". Karen Human Rights Group. January 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011.
  3. ^ Davis, Anthony (4 November 2022). "Myanmar's NUG going for broke before its time". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Myanmar Climate Report" (PDF). Norwegian Meteorological Institute. pp. 23–36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  5. ^ "East-West Economic corridor still in planning stage: ADB official". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
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