Dry Zone (Myanmar)

For other uses, see Dry zone.

The Dry Zone (also called the Central Dry Zone) or Anyar (Burmese: အညာ) is a region of Myanmar located in central Upper Myanmar - including most of Magway, Mandalay, and Sagaing regions. As a major population centre of the country, the Dry Zone is home to between one-fourth to one-third of the country's population, 80% of whom are farmers and farm laborers.^[1][2][3] As the ancestral heartland of the Bamar, the Dry Zone has served as the power centre for governments throughout Myanmar's history, including to the present day.

  Townships within the Dry Zone

  Regions with territory included within the Dry Zone

  Townships and regions located wholly outside the Dry Zone

The Dry Zone is named for its semi-arid climate and sparse, erratic rainfall, caused by the Arakan Mountains, which prevents monsoons from reaching the region. It is the country's most water-stressed region.^[1] The region has been especially impacted by land degradation and desertification, due to factors like water and wind erosion, soil fertility depletion, and deforestation.^[4] Consequently, the Dry Zone is one of Myanmar's most chronically food insecure regions.^[5]

Area

Land use in the Dry Zone
Land use			Percentage
Agricultural land			46%
Other land uses			23%
Reserved forest			13%
Other forested areas			13%
Protected public forest			4%
Protected areas			1%
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation

The Dry Zone spans 53 townships under 13 districts across 3 regions - Magway, Mandalay, and Sagaing, covering 19,539,494 acres (79,073.53 km²), or 10% of the country's total land mass.^[6] The Dry Zone is bounded by Shwebo and Katha Districts to the north, the Shan plateau to the east, Arakan Mountains to the west and Pyay District to the south.^[6] The region measures 250 miles (400 km) at its longest, and 120 miles (190 km) to its widest.^[6] Approximately 46% of the area is dedicated to agriculture, while forested areas make up 30% of the remainder.^[6] 270 miles (430 km) of the Irrawaddy River runs through the Dry Zone.^[7]

According to the MIMU, the Dry Zone encompasses the parts or all of the following districts:^[8]

• Sagaing Region: Kanbalu, Shwebo, Monywa, Sagaing, and Yinmabin Districts
• Mandalay Region: Kyaukse, Myingyan, Nyaung-U, Meiktila, Tada-U and Yamethin Districts
• Magway Region: Magway, Minbu, Pakokku and Thayet Districts
• Naypyidaw Union Territory: Ottara District

Climate and geography

Farmers in Bagan.

The Dry Zone contains a variety of climates ranging from semi-arid to semi-humid. The region receives comparatively little rainfall and frequently experiences dry spells during the Monsoon of South Asia and rainy seasons.^[9] This is due to the Dry Zone being surrounded by the Arakan Mountains to the west and the Pegu Range to the south, as well as the Shan Hills to the east; its location creates a rain shadow.^[10][11] Annual average rainfall is only 28.44 inches (722 mm), and typically occurs during two seasons: May to June, and September to October, depending on the monsoon's onset.^[11]

Chindwin River at Monywa.

The Dry Zone is also home to several rivers, most importantly the Irrawaddy and its tributaries, including the Chindwin and Mu Rivers. During the monsoon, the Irrawaddy frequently floods, but in the Dry Zone it is otherwise mostly sanded off.^[10]

The Dry Zone's summer occurs between March to April, during which the mean maximum temperature is 90 °F (32 °C). The region's winter occurs between November to February, during which the mean minimum temperature is 50 °F (10 °C).^[12]

History

Pre-colonial era

Historic temples in Bagan.

With its large population of ethnic Bamar, the Dry Zone has been referred to Myanmar's "heartland".^[13][14] Prior to the migration of the Bamar, the region was home to several Pyu city-states. Beginning in the 9th century CE, the Dry Zone became a regional center of power with the emergence of the Bagan Kingdom, which unified much of the country. This unification involved the consolidation of smaller city-states and the establishment of a centralised administration. The Dry Zone's strategic location, with its access to several rivers, including the Ayeyarwady River, played a crucial role in facilitating trade, communication, and military campaigns. Several historic dynasties, such as the Pagan Kingdom,^[15] Kingdom of Ava,^[16] and Konbaung dynasty,^[13] have relied on the region to exert political power.

During Pagan Kingdom, the Dry Zone had become a major agricultural hub. The kingdom had developed sophisticated irrigation and water management systems to adapt to the dry environment, including the use of reservoirs, canals and weirs, and seasonal storage systems.^[17] These technologies allowed for intensive rice cultivation and supported the growth of Bagan as a major urban center.^[17][18] The region may have also benefited from a climate amelioration known as the Medieval Climate anomaly from the 10th to 14th centuries.^[17]

Post-independence

Director-General Office of the Dry Zone Greening Department in Mandalay Region.

In 1953, the Agricultural and Rural Development Corporation was formed to lead rural development activities in the Dry Zone.^[19] Government agencies like the Forestry Department have been chartered to lead greening and land development activities in the region.^[19] Since 1997, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation's Dry Zone Greening Department has overseen these efforts.^[19]

Authoritarian leader Ne Win unsuccessfully sought to settle Dry Zone residents in the eastern Shan State.^[20]

In recent decades, the Dry Zone has faced challenges including poverty, lack of infrastructure, and environmental degradation. The region's farmers have struggled with land confiscation, failed agricultural policies, and the impacts of resource extraction projects. These challenges have contributed to economic hardship and social unrest, particularly in rural communities that rely heavily on agriculture.

The Dry Zone has experienceed chronic poverty, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and limited access to essential services.^[21] The region's rural communities are particularly affected, with many residents lacking formal land deeds, making them susceptible to land confiscation.^[21] In 2017, landlessness in the region was estimated to be 40%.^[21] According to the World Food Programme in a survey prior to 2014, 27% of children in the Dry Zone are chronically malnourished.^[22]

The Dry Zone has been traditionally unaffected by the internal conflict in Myanmar due to the region's ethnic homogeneity and the Tatmadaw's lack of interest in the region. Typically, most conflicts have been focused around land disputes, agriculture, and, in more modern times, resource extraction by Chinese firms.

In 2014, nationwide protests against the Myanmar National Education Law 2014 emerged in the Dry Zone.

Since 2021

Main article: Anyar theater

With the beginning of the Myanmar civil war in 2021, residents of the Dry Zone have increasingly been drawn into the internal conflict in Myanmar. On one hand is the pro-junta Pyusawhti militias and members of pro-Tatmadaw groups, while on the other hand is the People's Defence Force, a loosely-connected group of guerrilla forces opposed to the junta.^[23] The region has become a key area of resistance to the military junta, with local defense forces emerging to challenge the regime's authority.^[24] The deep-seated grievances stemming from decades of economic hardship and political marginalization have fueled this resistance.^[24] The resistance in the Dry Zone is characterized by a decentralised structure, with various local groups operating independently.^[25] This fragmentation allows for flexibility but also complicates coordination.^[25]

As a result of the state-sponsored violence following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, increasing temperatures, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly-poor harvests, a widespread exodus of Dry Zone residents to other areas of Myanmar has occurred.^[26]

The epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake and subsequent 6.4 magnitude aftershock on 28 March 2025 occurred inside the Dry Zone along the Sagaing Fault, which became the country's most severely impacted region.^[27] The earthquake significantly disrupted trade, agriculture, and infrastructure in the region, and has killed at least 3,600 people.^[28]

Agriculture

Farmer in Sagaing.

The Dry Zone is the agricultural centre of Myanmar; two-thirds of Myanmar's arable land and 35% of its grain crops are located in the region, and additional economic activities include livestock rearing.^[29] The most widely planted crops are sesame, paddy, groundnut, pigeon peas, chickpeas, green gram and sorghum.^[30] The Dry Zone accounts for the majority of Myanmar's domestic production of several crops, including 89% of sesame, 69% of groundnut, 70% of sunflower and 95% of cotton production nationwide.^[5] The Dry Zone is also a major pulse-growing area, producing 92% of pigeon peas, 97% of chickpeas, and 52% of green gram, largely for export to India.^[5] Besides onions, vegetable cultivation is limited.^[5]

However, as a result of low rainfall, climate change, and other human and agricultural activities (such as deforestation and overgrazing), economic conditions in the Dry Zone remain poor.