Dry Zone (Myanmar)

With its large population of ethnic Bamar, the Dry Zone has been referred to Myanmar's "heartland".^[13][14] Prior to the migration of the Bamar, the region was home to several Pyu city-states. Beginning in the 9th century CE, the Dry Zone became a regional center of power with the emergence of the Bagan Kingdom, which unified much of the country. This unification involved the consolidation of smaller city-states and the establishment of a centralised administration. The Dry Zone's strategic location, with its access to several rivers, including the Ayeyarwady River, played a crucial role in facilitating trade, communication, and military campaigns. Several historic dynasties, such as the Pagan Kingdom,^[15] Kingdom of Ava,^[16] and Konbaung dynasty,^[13] have relied on the region to exert political power.

During Pagan Kingdom, the Dry Zone had become a major agricultural hub. The kingdom had developed sophisticated irrigation and water management systems to adapt to the dry environment, including the use of reservoirs, canals and weirs, and seasonal storage systems.^[17] These technologies allowed for intensive rice cultivation and supported the growth of Bagan as a major urban center.^[17][18] The region may have also benefited from a climate amelioration known as the Medieval Climate anomaly from the 10th to 14th centuries.^[17]

In 1953, the Agricultural and Rural Development Corporation was formed to lead rural development activities in the Dry Zone.^[19] Government agencies like the Forestry Department have been chartered to lead greening and land development activities in the region.^[19] Since 1997, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation's Dry Zone Greening Department has overseen these efforts.^[19]

Authoritarian leader Ne Win unsuccessfully sought to settle Dry Zone residents in the eastern Shan State.^[20]

In recent decades, the Dry Zone has faced challenges including poverty, lack of infrastructure, and environmental degradation. The region's farmers have struggled with land confiscation, failed agricultural policies, and the impacts of resource extraction projects. These challenges have contributed to economic hardship and social unrest, particularly in rural communities that rely heavily on agriculture.

The Dry Zone has experienceed chronic poverty, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and limited access to essential services.^[21] The region's rural communities are particularly affected, with many residents lacking formal land deeds, making them susceptible to land confiscation.^[21] In 2017, landlessness in the region was estimated to be 40%.^[21] According to the World Food Programme in a survey prior to 2014, 27% of children in the Dry Zone are chronically malnourished.^[22]

The Dry Zone has been traditionally unaffected by the internal conflict in Myanmar due to the region's ethnic homogeneity and the Tatmadaw's lack of interest in the region. Typically, most conflicts have been focused around land disputes, agriculture, and, in more modern times, resource extraction by Chinese firms.

In 2014, nationwide protests against the Myanmar National Education Law 2014 emerged in the Dry Zone.

With the beginning of the Myanmar civil war in 2021, residents of the Dry Zone have increasingly been drawn into the internal conflict in Myanmar. On one hand is the pro-junta Pyusawhti militias and members of pro-Tatmadaw groups, while on the other hand is the People's Defence Force, a loosely-connected group of guerrilla forces opposed to the junta.^[23] The region has become a key area of resistance to the military junta, with local defense forces emerging to challenge the regime's authority.^[24] The deep-seated grievances stemming from decades of economic hardship and political marginalization have fueled this resistance.^[24] The resistance in the Dry Zone is characterized by a decentralised structure, with various local groups operating independently.^[25] This fragmentation allows for flexibility but also complicates coordination.^[25]

As a result of the state-sponsored violence following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, increasing temperatures, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly-poor harvests, a widespread exodus of Dry Zone residents to other areas of Myanmar has occurred.^[26]

The epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake and subsequent 6.4 magnitude aftershock on 28 March 2025 occurred inside the Dry Zone along the Sagaing Fault, which became the country's most severely impacted region.^[27] The earthquake significantly disrupted trade, agriculture, and infrastructure in the region, and has killed at least 3,600 people.^[28]

The Dry Zone is the agricultural centre of Myanmar; two-thirds of Myanmar's arable land and 35% of its grain crops are located in the region, and additional economic activities include livestock rearing.^[29] The most widely planted crops are sesame, paddy, groundnut, pigeon peas, chickpeas, green gram and sorghum.^[30] The Dry Zone accounts for the majority of Myanmar's domestic production of several crops, including 89% of sesame, 69% of groundnut, 70% of sunflower and 95% of cotton production nationwide.^[5] The Dry Zone is also a major pulse-growing area, producing 92% of pigeon peas, 97% of chickpeas, and 52% of green gram, largely for export to India.^[5] Besides onions, vegetable cultivation is limited.^[5]

However, as a result of low rainfall, climate change, and other human and agricultural activities (such as deforestation and overgrazing), economic conditions in the Dry Zone remain poor.