Inle Lake - Intha people - Burma - Demographics of Burma - Watercraft rowing - Fotopedia
artistic legrower
Wikipedia Article

Inle Lake (Burmese: ; [ínlé kàn]) is a freshwater lake located in the 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 is 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

The Intha (Burmese: အင်းသားလူမျိုး; MLCTS: ang: sa: lu. mrui:; [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, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in Indochina (mainland Southeast Asia). The country is bordered by China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometres (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

The country's culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements. Burma's diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times, and the country continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. The military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Burma remains under the tight control of the military-led State Peace and Development Council.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Burma, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The following is an overview of the demographics of Burma (or Myanmar), including statistics such as population and religious affiliation.

At the time of the last official census in Burma, 31 March 1983, the population was 35,442,972. As of July 2003, this was estimated by the CIA World Factbook to have increased to 47,758,180; however, many other estimates put this much higher, at around 50-60 million. Britain based human rights agencies place the population as high as 70 million. Estimates for the country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

No trustworthy census has occurred since the 1930s. In the 1940s, the detailed census results were destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1942. Census results after that time have been flawed by civil wars and a series of military governments. The last official census in 1983 occurred at a time when parts of the country were controlled by insurgent groups and inaccessible to the government.

Watercraft rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water. The difference between paddling and rowing is that with rowing the oars have a mechanical connection with the boat whereas with paddling the paddles are hand-held with no mechanical connection.

This article deals with general rowing including the recreational, transportation and utility aspects of rowing, rather than the sport of competitive rowing which is a specialized case of racing using strictly regulated equipment and a highly refined technique.

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