Pa-O Self-Administered Zone
ပအိုဝ်းကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရဒေသ ပအိုဝ်ႏနမ်းပဲင်ႏအိုပ်ချုတ်ခွင်ꩻလꩻဒေႏသ | |
---|---|
Country | Myanmar |
State | Shan State |
No. of Townships | 3 |
Capital | Hopong |
Elevation | 1,079 m (3,541 ft) |
Population | |
• Total | 380,427 [1] |
Demonym | Pa'O |
Time zone | UTC+6.30 ( MMT) |
The Pa'O Self-Administered Zone ( Burmese: ပအိုဝ်းကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရဒေသ [pəʔo̰ kòbàɪɰ̃ ʔoʊʔtɕʰoʊʔ kʰwɪ̰ɰ̃ja̰ dèθa̰]), also abbreviated as Pa'O SAZ, as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, is a self-administered zone consisting of three townships in Shan State. [2] [3]
Pa'O SAZ's official name was announced by decree on 20 August 2010. [4]
In the wake of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and ensuing civil war, Pa'O youths, like many throughout the country, formed and joined resistance forces like the Pa-O National Defence Force, in opposition to military rule. [5] [6]
On 24 February 2023, fighting began in Pinlaung Township, forcing more than 5,000 villagers to flee, including most villagers from Namneng. [7] [8] On 11 March 2023, the village of Namneng became the site of the Pinlaung massacre, during which Myanmar Army troops killed at least 30 civilians, including 3 Buddhist monks. [9]
The zone is currently under the de facto control of the Pa-O National Organisation.
The Zone is divided into three townships:
The three townships are administratively part of Taunggyi District.