Mogok

Mogok (Burmese: မိုးကုတ်မြို့; MLCTS: mui: kut mrui., [móɡoʊʔ]; Shan: မိူင်းၵုတ်ႈ, [mɤ́ŋ kut]) is a city in the Pyin Oo Lwin District of Mandalay Division of Myanmar, located 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Mandalay and 148 kilometres (92 mi) north-east of Shwebo.

Mogok

မိုးကုတ် (မိူင်းၵုတ်ႈ)

Mogoke[1]
City
Mogok
Location of Mandalay, Burma
Coordinates: 22°55′N 96°30′E
Country Myanmar
State Shan State
DistrictPyin Oo Lwin
TownshipMogok
Population
 (2014)
 • Total167,149
 • Religions
Theravada Buddhism
Time zoneUTC+6.30 (MST)
Large Ruby (corundum) crystal from Mogok. Size: 5.5 × 3.2 × 3 cm.
Mogok City

History

Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three lost Shan hunters who discovered rubies at the base of a collapsed mountain.[2] According to the tale, the hunters returned to their home in Momeik and offered the precious stones to the local saopha who established a village in what would become modern-day Mogok.[2]

Following the 1885 Third Anglo-Burmese War in which the British conquered and annexed the hitherto independent Upper Burma, in 1886 the British launched a military expedition to "open up" the ruby mines at Mogok and make them available to the British. George Skelton Streeter, a gem expert and son of Edmund Streeter of the Streeters & Co Ltd jewllery company in London, accompanied the expedition and stayed there to work as a government valuer in the British-run mines.[3]

In 2018, the Mogok commemorated the 800th anniversary of the city's founding.[4]

Geography

At 1,170 metres (3,840 ft) in elevation, the city has a fairly temperate climate year-round, and is home to Bamar, Shan, Lisu, Palaung, and Karen ethnic groups, as well as Chinese, Indians and Gurkhas. The city is composed of two towns, Mogok and Kyat Pyin. Mogok is four miles long and two miles wide. It is situated in a valley surrounded by a large number of mountains. Kyatpyin lies about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Mogok. Tourists that travel to this area need a special authorization and a guide person.[5]

Economy

Mogok and other villages nearby have been famous since ancient times for its gemstones, especially ruby and sapphire, but semi-precious stones such as spinel, lapis lazuli, garnet, moonstone, peridot and chrysoberyl are also found. The gems are found in alluvial marble gravels by means of panning, tunneling and digging pits by hand. There is little mechanization of the mining. The gravels derive from the metamorphosed limestones (marbles) of the Mogok metamorphic belt.[6][7]

Gems are sold in markets in Mogok; however, foreigners require special permits to visit the town, and it is illegal to purchase/export gems from Myanmar other than from government licensed dealers.

90% of a certain version of the world's rubies come from Myanmar (Burma). There are many other ruby sources in the world such as Sri Lanka and various places in Africa. Only in terms of quality Mogok rubies are best. The red stones from there are prized for their purity and hue. Thailand buys the majority of Myanmar's gems. The "Valley of Rubies", the mountainous Mogok area, 200 km (120 mi) north of Mandalay, is noted as the original source of ruby including the world's finest "pigeon's blood" rubies as well as the world's most beautiful sapphires in "royal" blue.

Health care
  • Mogok General Hospital
  • Kyatpyin General hospital

Climate
Climate data for Mogok (1982–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 22.8
(73.0)		 24.8
(76.6)		 27.9
(82.2)		 29.6
(85.3)		 27.5
(81.5)		 25.4
(77.7)		 24.4
(75.9)		 25.0
(77.0)		 26.1
(79.0)		 26.2
(79.2)		 24.9
(76.8)		 22.8
(73.0)		 25.6
(78.1)
Average low °C (°F) 5.0
(41.0)		 7.2
(45.0)		 10.8
(51.4)		 15.1
(59.2)		 17.9
(64.2)		 19.8
(67.6)		 19.8
(67.6)		 19.7
(67.5)		 18.9
(66.0)		 16.6
(61.9)		 11.4
(52.5)		 6.8
(44.2)		 14.1
(57.4)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 6.8
(0.27)		 11.8
(0.46)		 22.0
(0.87)		 77.4
(3.05)		 362.7
(14.28)		 493.3
(19.42)		 511.3
(20.13)		 479.6
(18.88)		 337.3
(13.28)		 286.1
(11.26)		 85.8
(3.38)		 17.0
(0.67)		 2,691.1
(105.95)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[8]

Notes
  1. "Pyin Oo Lwin / Mogoke Map" Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
  2. "Ruby Land's 800th Anniversary showcases peaceful coexistence". The Myanmar Times. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. "Edmund Streeter [of the Streeters & Co Ltd jewellery company in London]  was a scholar and an author, and a considerable authority on precious stones. The firm's catalogue was more than simply a commercial presentation, it was also an introduction to the infant science of Gemology. Streeter and his family were adventurers in the true Victorian mould. His son George Skelton Streeter accompanied a military expedition to open up the Burmese ruby mines at Mogok in 1886, and stayed there to work as a government valuer. His eldest son Harry lost his life in Australian waters while pearling with the company fleet". Peter Hinks, Introduction to "Victorian Jewellery", Studio Editions, London 1991.
  4. "Mogok prepares to party for 800th birthday". The Myanmar Times. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Searle, D. L.; Ba Than Haq (1964) "The Mogok belt of Burma and its relationship to the Himalayan orogeny" Proceedings of the 22nd International Geological Conference, Delhi 11: pp. 132–161
  7. Iyer, Lakshinarayanpuran Anantkrishna Narayana (1953) The geology and gem-stones of the Mogok Stone Tract, Burma Geological Survey of India Memoir 82, Government of India Press, Calcutta, OCLC 6526679 ; reprinted in 2007 by White Lotus, Bangkok, ISBN 978-974-480-123-4
  8. "Myanmar Climate Report" (PDF). Norwegian Meteorological Institute. pp. 23–36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

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