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Inle Lake (Burmese: အင်းလေးကန်, pronounced [ʔɪ́ɴlé kàɴ]) is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km²), and one of the highest at an altitude of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).

The watershed area for the lake lies to a large extent to the north and west of the lake. The lake drains through the Nam Pilu or Balu Chaung on its southern end. There is a hot spring on its northwestern shore.

Although not a large lake, there are a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these, like the silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb (Sawbwa resplendens), the Crossbanded dwarf danio (Microrasbora erythromicron), and Inle danio (Inlecypris auropurpurea), are of minor commercial importance for the aquarium trade. It hosts the 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls in November, December and January.

The Intha (Burmese: အင်းသားလူမျိုး; MLCTS: ang: sa: lu. mrui:, IPA: [ínðá lùmjóʊ]; lit. "sons of the lake") are members of a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group living around Inle Lake. They speak an archaic dialect of Burmese, and are believed to have come from the Dawei area. They often live on Inle Lake, and support themselves through the tending of vegetable farms on floating gardens. Also, the Intha are known for their leg-rowing techniques, and are traditionally Buddhists.

The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake area is in Nyaung Shwe township. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Burma ⁱ/ˈbɜrmə/, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar ⁱ/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စု သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်, Pyidaunzu Thanmăda Myăma Nainngandaw, pronounced [pjìdà̀uɴzṵ θà̀ɴməda̯ mjəmà nàiɴŋàɴdɔ̀]), is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km² (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 58.8 million people.

Artisan fishing is a term used to describe small scale low-technology commercial or subsistence fishing practices. The term particularly applies to coastal or island ethnic groups using traditional techniques such as rod and tackle, arrows and harpoons, throw nets and drag nets, and traditional fishing boats. It does not usually cover the concept of fishing for sport, and might be used when talking about the pressures between large scale modern commercial fishing practises and traditional methods, or when aid programs are targeted specifically at fishing at or near subsistence levels.

Artisan fishing is often, but not always, less intensive and less stressful on fish populations than modern industrial fishing techniques. It is subject to difficulties in the export process due to inadequate investment in refrigeration and processing facilities. However, the most important goal of artisan fishing is domestic consumption, as it is often an important source of inexpensive and accessible protein in poor coastal areas.