The New International Encyclopædia/Pegu (division)

PEGU, pḗ-gōō′. A division of Lower Burma (q.v.), British India (Map: Burma, C 3). Area, 13,106 square miles. Population, in 1891, 1,522,500; in 1901, 1,819,000. It comprises the districts of Pegu, Rangoon, Hauthawaddy, Tharrawaddy, and Prome. It is watered by the Irrawaddy, the Rangoon, the Pegu, and the Sittang. The surface is uneven, attaining in the Aracan Yoma Mountains, on the west boundary, a maximum altitude of about 6000 feet. The climate is warm and humid, but not unhealthful. The soil is fertile; the river valleys are well cultivated and highly productive; and there are extensive forests of valuable trees. Rice is the principal crop, and teak timber is largely exported. The Peguans belong by race to the Mons (q.v.), one of the great groups of primitive peoples of Indo-China. Pegu was an independent Talaing kingdom until 1752; its subsequent history is merged with that of Burma (q.v.). It became British in 1852.