Magway Guide - All you need to know

Magway (Magwe) Region is an administrative division in central Myanmar. Magway is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of 44,820 square kilometres. The capital is the city of Magwaye. Other major city are Pakokku ,Aunglan,Yenangyaung and Minbu.

Magway is located in the central part of Myanmar. Magway has a common boundary with Mandalay Division and Bago Division as well as Rakhine and Chin States in Myanmar. Sagaing is to the north and Mandalay is in the east. Bago is to its south, and Rakhine and Chin is to its west. As the majority part of Magway falls within the dry zone, it is very hot during the hot season and is relatively cold during the cold season.

The Irrawaddy River is the major transportation system in Magway Region, both in terms of volume of goods and population served. Most major towns in the region are river ports on the Irrawaddy. For those areas not on the Irrawaddy, the major form of transport in Magway Region is by road. The region is divided by the Irrawaddy and on the western side of the river the road system is less developed. Towns are connected with two-lane roads and many parts of the roads are in bad condition. Most towns have regular bus transportation to Yangon and Mandalay.

The capital Magway has a small non-commercial airport with air traffic for the city of Magway mostly coming in through Bagan Airport at Nyaung U some 113 km to the north along the Irrawaddy. There are commercial airports at Gangaw, Kyauktu, Pakokku, and Pauk.

However, Magway has almost no tourist industry.

The principal product of Magway Region is petroleum. It is the area where oil was first discovered and now extracted in large quantities in Myanmar. Yenangyaung, Chauk and Mann in Minbu (Saku) are major oil producing areas in Myanmar country. 

The Shwe Set Taw Festival in the the Magway is one of the biggest pagoda festivals in Myanmar.