Kokang: Information from Answers.com

This article is about the geographical location. For the ethnic group, see Kokang people.

Location of the Kokang region (green) within Shan State (yellow).

Kokang (Chinese: 果敢; Pinyin: Guǒgǎn), formally the First Special Region, is a self-administrative region of Burma (also known as Myanmar). It is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and it shares a border with China's Yunnan Province in the east. Its total land area is around 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi).^[1] The capital is Laukkai (Chinese: 老街; Pinyin: Lǎojiē). Kokang is mostly populated by Kokang people, a Han Chinese group living in Burma.

Historically, Kokang was Burma's feudal state (Chinese: 土司 pinyin: tǔsī) for Burmese Chinese. It was founded by the Yang Clan, a Chinese military house that fled with the Ming loyalists to Yunnan Province in the mid-1600s and later migrated to the Shan State in eastern Burma. From the 1960s to 1989 the area was ruled by the Communist Party of Burma, and after the dissolution of that party in 1989 it became a special region of Burma.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

History

The state was officially founded by Yang Shien Tsai (杨献才); who began his reign in 1739 in and around Ta Shwe Htan, then called Shin Da Hu (兴达户), and took the title "Chief of Shin Da Hu". He was succeeded on his death in 1758 by his son Yang Wei Shin (杨维兴), later referred to as Chief of Kho Kan Shan (科干山).

He expanded his territory tenfold compared to that inherited from his predecessor. After his death in 1795, his son Yang Yon Gen (杨有根) became the chief. He soon renamed the state as Kokang and titled himself Heng of Kokang.

In 1840, Yang Guohua (楊國華) was given the title "the Heriditable Magistrate of Guogan County (世襲果敢縣令)" by the Chinese Qing dynasty.

The Heng was succeeded after his death in 1874 by his younger brother Yang Guo Zhen (杨国正), who ruled peacefully and began relations with Britain upon the annexation of Upper Burma. In 1916 he went blind, and abdicated in favour of his nephew Yang Chun Yon (杨春荣). The new ruler then took the Burmese title Myosa (lit. town eat, given to a prince). He died in 1927 and was succeeded by his son Colonel Sao Yang Wen Pin (杨文炳), Saopha of Kokang.

For the services of Kokang during World War II, it was recognised as separate from Shan State in August 1947 by the British, and the ruler took the title Saopha. He died in 1949 and was succeeded by his son Sao Edward Yang Kyein Tsai who was deposed by the Burmese in 1959.

After the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma in 1989, Kokang was assigned as the autonomous First Special Region of the northern Shan State of Burma.

In 2003, a comprehensive ban on the cultivation of the opium poppy came into effect. Due to the attendant food shortage, among other things, 2003 also saw a large-scale outbreak of malaria in mountain villages with authorities reporting some 279 deaths. During this time the Chinese government sent mobile medical units and supplies to the region, with the United Nations World Food Program also sending disaster relief soon after.

In April 2005, the Japanese government (JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency) launched a new project to rebuild the lives of farmers in these mountain areas.

In August 2009, Kokang was the site of a violent conflict, the Kokang incident, between junta forces and various ethnic armies.

Demographics

In 2000, the population was reported to be around 18,000.^{[citation needed]} In 2003, it was reported to be approximately 140,000;^{[citation needed]} in 2009, 150,000.^[1] Of these, around 100,000 are Burmese, the remainder being Chinese. Of the Burmese, 90% are ethnic Han Chinese, with others being Shan, Palaung, Hmong, Va, Lisaw, Naman and Burman. The large majority of ethnic Burmans are those dispatched to the region by the central government as military and administrative personnel and their families, primary school teachers, skilled workers, medical workers and other public service personnel. Because of the effective disappearance of the narcotics trade, many have lost their source of income and many Chinese have left the region.