Minbu

Minbu is a city in Magwe Division, Myanmar. As of 2014, the city has an urban population of 22,962. The area consists of low plain-land towards the Ayeyarwady River, and of undulating country inland rising higher and higher westwards towards the Arakan hills. Between the plain and the Arakan Yoma range is a distinct line of hills running north and south, and usually called the Nwa-Madaung hills. The submontane valleys are largely cultivated, but are deadly except to those born in them. The chief streams besides the Ayeyarwady are the Mon, the Maw, and the Salin, which are largely used for irrigation. At Minbu the Ayeyarwady is 3 miles wide, with many islands and sandbanks. There are considerable fisheries along the Ayeyarwady and on the Paunglin Lake, which is a lagoon fed from the Ayeyarwady. Oil has been discovered near the mud volcanoes of Minbu, but it seems to lie at too great a depth to be profitably worked.