Place · city

Yangon

Also known as Rangoon

Yangon, formerly Rangoon, is the largest city of Myanmar and was its capital until 2006. A small town around the Shwedagon Pagoda, it was renamed Yangon by King Alaungpaya in 1755. The British took it in 1852 and rebuilt it as the capital of British Burma, a busy port with a large Indian population. It remains the country's main commercial centre and port.

Yangon
Image: Jean-Marie Hullot · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 4 profiles

Mughal EmpireDecline, SummaryKonbaung dynastyFoundation, Socioeconomy, Impact, Decline, SummaryBritish RajFoundationMyanmarMilitary, Decline, Summary

Mentioned in 5 state histories

Portuguese SyriamKonbaung dynastyBritish BurmaState of BurmaMyanmar

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Yangon. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/yangon
MLA
“Yangon.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/yangon. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Yangon.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/yangon.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Yangon’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/yangon (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻