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Mandalay

Also known as Yadanabon, Ratanapura

Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553.

OverviewAI-generated

Mandalay is a city in Myanmar, serving as the capital of the Mandalay Region. It is situated within Mandalay District at an elevation of 22 meters above sea level. The city has a population of 1,225,546 and covers an area of 163.84 square kilometers. It operates in the UTC+06:30 time zone and is twinned with Kunming.

Founded by Mindon Min, Mandalay has an official name written in the local script. The city’s postal codes range from 05000 to 05999. While current weather data indicates a temperature of 28.27 degrees and humidity of 68 percent, historical sources such as Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition have also described the location.

Synthesized by Vinony from 50 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

cached 12h ago

26°overcast clouds

92% 1.3 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: မန္တလေး
Region: မန္တလေးတိုင်း
Country: မြန်မာ
Population: 1,208,099
Timezone: Asia/Yangon

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

32US AQIGood

PM2.5: 7.3 µg/m³
PM10: 8.2 µg/m³

As of 2026-08-11 06:30 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.established_title: Founded
Settlement.established_date: 1857
Settlement.official_name: Mandalay
Settlement.settlement_type: City
Settlement.image_flag: Flag of Mandalay Region.svg
Settlement.pushpin_map: Myanmar#Asia
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: bottom
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location of Mandalay, Myanmar
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Region
Settlement.subdivision_type2: District
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Mandalay Region
Settlement.subdivision_name2: Maha Aungmye, Aungmyethazan and Amarapura
Settlement.founder: King Mindon
Settlement.leader_title: Mayor
Settlement.leader_name: Kyaw San
Settlement.unit_pref: Metric
Settlement.area_total_km2: 163.84

via Wikipedia infobox

Travel guide

Understand

thumb|A busy street scene in Mandalay, with the clock tower built to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee

See

Mandalay has a "Mandalay Zone Fee" of 10,000 kyat that covers most of the central attractions and lasts for about a week. Buy it from the first attraction you visit. The tickets are not always checked at all attractions and you might be able to get individual cheaper tickets for some attractions. Access to the Mandalay hill requires an additional entry fee of 1,000 kyat, and Mingung and Sagaing are 5,000 kyat extra both (not always enforced).

Do

thumb|The temple atop Mandalay Hillthumb|Mandalay Hill looking down on the moat

Buy

Some other markets are listed under #See.

Eat

Mandalay is a former capital of Myanmar and a major trading centre between Myanmar and its neighbours, China, India and Bangladesh. As a result, it has a notable array of specialities from various regions in Myanmar and from other countries. Cuisine from the Shan State (usually including fermented pastes, vegetables and meats) is popular in Mandalay which has a sizable Shan minority. Muslim Chinese noodles, pronounced pan-THEI-kao-sweh (flat thin noodles mixed with an array of spices, chili, and chicken), are also famous in Mandalay and the surrounding hills. Regardless of where you eat, try to leave space for Htou moun(to-moh), a traditional Burmese dessert sold only in Mandalay; it contains a lot of oil and is extremely sweet.

Stay safe

Mandalay is a haven for drug kingpins and is a main trading centre of illicit drugs. In 2005, an explosion occurred at Zegyo Market. However, Mandalay is generally a very safe city.

Go next

Amarapura (Pyi) – Famous for its ancient sights, and for U Bein bridge, the world's longest teak bridge. Hsipaw – Bus leaves at 06:00 and 14:30 (5,000 kyat), 5 hr. Mawlamyine – Overnight bus Shwe Mandalar at 18:00 (15,000 kyat), leaves from the Highway Bus Station. Quite luxurious (Swedish) bus, includes a towel, pillow, blanket toothbrushes and water. Arrives at Mawlamyine at 05:00. Maymyo (Pyin U Lwin) – A former British hill station in a lush alpine forest. The small town contains a variety of colonial relics, and is most famous for its botanical gardens (modelled on England's Kew Gardens). Also known for the Defence Services Academy, the top-ranked military academy in Myanmar. Shared taxis come pick you up (6,500 kyat, back seat, 7,000 kyat front, 1½ hr). Pickups leave from the corner of 27th and 82nd (1,500 kyat, 2 hr). Train is very scenic, and is a must-do train journey if you like trains. It leaves Mandalay at 04:00 (US$3 for upper class). Mingun – Best known for the Mingun Bell (one of the largest bells in the world), is a boat ride away. Boats leave from the Mingun jetty (all drivers know it) at 09:00 and return at 13:00. 5,000 kyat return. Pyin U Lwin – Hill station established by the British. Pick-up trucks run east along 35th street and take about 2 hours and cost 1,500 kyat. Shared taxis leave from 27th and 79th streets (next to the Mother's World Hotel). Depart when full. They will pick-up in Mandalay, and drop off at your de…

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~36 min read

Encyclopedic overview

34 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Early history
Colonial Mandalay (1885–1948)
Contemporary Mandalay (1948–present)
Illegal Chinese immigration
Geography
Climate
Cityscape
Around the city
Administration
Transport
Air
River
Rail
Roads
Buses and cars
Demographics
Culture
Media
Sports
Sport climbing
Economy
Education
Health care
Twin towns – sister cities
Mandalay in popular culture
Notable people
Gallery
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links

Mandalay was founded in 1857 by King Mindon, replacing Amarapura as the new royal capital of the Konbaung dynasty. It was Burma's final royal capital before the kingdom's annexation by the British Empire in 1885. Under British rule, Mandalay remained commercially and culturally important despite the rise of Yangon, the new capital of British Burma. The city suffered extensive destruction during the Japanese conquest of Burma in the Second World War. In 1948, Mandalay became part of the newly independent Union of Burma.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mandalay” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.