Arakan

State of Myanmar (formerly Burma) on the Bay of Bengal coast, some 645 km/400 mi long and strewn with islands; population (1994 est) 2,482,000. Most of Arakan is mountainous or hilly land, originally covered with tropical forest, though this has now mainly been destroyed by shifting cultivation and has been replaced by a dense growth of bamboo. Only 10% of the area, mainly in river deltas, is cultivated, with rice and tobacco being leading crops. The chief town is Sittwe. It is bounded along its eastern side by the Arakan Yoma, a mountain range rising to 3,000 m/10,000 ft. It shares a short border with Bangladesh to the north. The ancient kingdom of Arakan was conquered by Burma in 1785.

The area was the scene of heavy fighting between British and Japanese troops during World War II as it provided a strategic route for invading Burma from India.