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Mrauk U (Burmese: မြောက်‌ဦးမြို့; MLCTS: mrauk u: mrui., Burmese pronunciation: [mjaʊʔ ú mjo̰]) is an archaeologically important town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is also the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a sub region of the Sittwe District. It was the capital of Mrauk U Kingdom, the most important and powerful Rakhine (Arakanese) kingdom from 1433 to 1784.

Rakhine State (Burmese: ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်, Rakhine pronunciation [ɹəkʰàiɴ pɹènè]; Burmese pronunciation: [jəkʰàiɴ pjìnɛ̀]; formerly Arakan) is a Burmese state. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State in the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region in the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between latitudes 17°30' north and 21°30' north and east longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50' east. The Arakan Mountains, which rise to 3,063 metres (10,049 ft) at Victoria Peak, separate Rakhine State from central Burma. Off the coast of Rakhine State there are some fairly large islands such as Cheduba and Myingun Island. Rakhine State has an area of 36,762 square kilometres (14,194 sq mi) and its capital is Sittwe.

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.

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

The Rakhine (Burmese: ရခိုင်လူမျိုး, Rakhine pronunciation [ɹəkʰàiɴ lùmjó]; Burmese pronunciation: [jəkʰàiɴ lùmjó]; formerly Arakanese), is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of Bangladesh, especially in Chittagong and Barisal Divisions. A group of Arakanese descendants, living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh at least since the 16th century, are known as the Marma people. These Arakanese descendants have been living in that area since the Arakanese kingdom's control of the Chittagong region.

Arakanese descendants spread as far north as Tripura state in India, where their presence dates back to the ascent of the Arakanese kingdom when Tripura was ruled by Arakanese kings. In northeast India, these Arakanese people are referred to as the Mog, while in Bengali, the Marma (the ethnic Arakanese descendants in Bangladesh) and other Arakanese people are referred to as the Magh people.