Pa'O Self-Administered Zone
Self-administered zone in Shan State, Myanmar
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The Pa'O Self-Administered Zone (Burmese: ပအိုဝ်းကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရဒေသ; paaow kopine aotehkyaote hkwng r days) 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 Self-Administered Zone
ပအိုဝ်းကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်ရဒေသ ပအိုဝ်ႏနမ်းပဲင်ႏအိုပ်ချုတ်ခွင်ꩻလꩻဒေႏသ | |
|---|---|
Headquarters of the Leading Body | |
 Flag | |
 Location in Shan State | |
| Country | Myanmar |
| State | Shan State |
| No. of Townships | 3 |
| Capital | Hopong |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,386 km2 (3,238 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,079 m (3,541 ft) |
| Population (2008)[1] | |
• Total | 380,427 |
| • Density | 45.36/km2 (117.5/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Pa'O |
| Time zone | UTC+6.30 (MMT) |
History
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]
Government and politics
The zone is currently under the de facto control of the Pa-O National Organisation.
Administrative divisions
The Zone is divided into three townships- Hopong Township, Hsi Hseng Township and Pinlaung Township.