Taunggyi

Taunggyi တောင်ကြီးမြို့
A view of Taunggyi
Taunggyi Location of Taunggyi, Myanmar
Coordinates: 20°47′N 97°02′E / 20.783°N 97.033°E / 20.783; 97.033
Country	Myanmar
Division	Shan State
District	Taunggyi District
Township	Taunggyi Township
Founded	1894
Elevation	4,590 ft (1,400 m)
Population (paoh(myanmar))
• Total	380,665
• Ethnicities	Tai, Burmese Chinese, Shan, Burmese Indians, Gurkha, paoh
• Religions	Buddhism, Christianity, Islam
Time zone	MMT (UTC+6.30)

Taunggyi (Burmese: တောင်ကြီးမြို့; MLCTS: taung kri: mrui. [tàʊɴdʑí mjo̰]; Shan: ဝဵင်းတွင်ႇၵျီး [wéŋ tɔ̀ŋ kjí]) is the capital of Shan State, Myanmar (Burma) and lies within the Myelat region. Taunggyi has an estimated population of 380,665 as of 2014, making it the fifth largest city in Myanmar (with Naypyidaw, Bago), and is at an elevation of 4,712 feet (1,436 m) above sea level. The name Taunggyi means "huge mountain" in the Burmese language, and is named after the ridge on the east of the city, part of the Shan Hills system, whose prominent high point is called Taung-chun or "The Spur." Locally this spur is popularly known as Phaya Taung. The ridge has a more prominent and more popular feature known as Chauk Talone, meaning the Craigs.

Recently there has been a flood of Chinese immigrants.

Prior to British colonisation, Taunggyi was a small village of a few huts. The area lay on a wide shoulder of the Sittaung Hills of the Shan Hills and was populated by the Shan ethnicity at the time. The signs of the original village of Taunggyi are long gone, but nearby villages can still be discerned quite easily.

During British occupation, the town became the chief city and capital of the Southern Shan States. Taunggyi's modern development began in 1894, when the British moved their administrative offices from Maing Thauk (Fort Stedman) on the eastern shores of Inle Lake to the higher elevation of Taunggyi, for health and geographical reasons. Although geographically within the state of Yawnghwe, the town was denoted as a "notified area" by the British, exempt from the Sawbwa's administration. By 1906, there existed a thousand houses. Because of civil unrest throughout the Shan States during the early 1900s, Taunggyi served as the chief garrison for military police. Taunggyi also served as a supply centre for the Shan States, and catered to persons of many nationalities.