MYANMAR Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River. The delta region is densely populated, and plays a dominant role in the cultivation of rice in rich alluvial soil as low as just 3 meters above sea level, although it also includes fishing communities in a vast area full of rivers and streams. On 2 May 2008, the delta suffered a major disaster, devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which reportedly killed over at least 77,000 people with over 55,900 missing, and left about 2.5 million homeless.