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Chin State

{{Short description|State of Myanmar}}

{{For|the self-governing polity|Chinland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

{{Update|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Chin State

| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|my|ချင်းပြည်နယ်}}}}

| native_name_lang = my

| settlement_type = State|

| flag_alt =

| nickname =

| motto =

| translit_lang1 = Myanmar

| translit_lang1_type = Burmese

| translit_lang1_info = {{lang|my-Latn|hkyang: pranynai}}

| image_map = Chin State in Myanmar.svg

| mapsize = 200px

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Location of Chin State in Myanmar

| pushpin_map =

| pushpin_map_alt =

| pushpin_map_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|22|0|N|93|30|E|region:MM_type:adm1st|display=inline,title}}

| coor_pinpoint =

| coordinates_footnotes =

| image_skyline = Chin village ferry.jpg

| image_caption = Chin Village Ferry

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{flag|Myanmar}}

| subdivision_type1 = Region

| subdivision_name1 = Upper

| established_title = Before becoming State

| established_date = Part of Chin Special Division and Arakan Division

| established_title1 = Establishment

| established_date1 = 3 January 1974

| seat_type = Capital

| seat = Hakha

| government_footnotes =

| leader_party =

| leader_title = Chief Minister

| leader_name = Pu Dr. Vungh Suan Thang

| leader_title1 = Cabinet

| leader_name1 = Chin State Government

| leader_title3 = Judiciary

| leader_name3 = Chin State High Court

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_footnotes = {{cite web | url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Myanmar.html | title=Union of Myanmar | access-date=10 April 2009 | publisher=City Population}}

| area_total_km2 = 36018.8

| area_rank = 9th

| area_note =

| elevation_footnotes =

| elevation_max_m = 3070

| elevation_max_point = Nat Ma Taung

| population_total = 478,801

| population_as_of = 2014

| population_footnotes = {{cite book|title=Census Report|publisher=Ministry of Immigration and Population|location=Naypyitaw|date=May 2015|series=The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census|volume=2|pages=17|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B067GBtstE5TeUlIVjRjSjVzWlk/view}}

| population_density_km2 = auto

| population_rank = 14th

| population_demonym =

| population_note =

| demographics_type1 = Demographics

| demographics1_footnotes =

| demographics1_title1 = Ethnicities

| timezone1 = MST

| utc_offset1 = +06:30

| postal_code_type =

| postal_code =

| area_code =

| area_code_type =

| iso_code =

| website =

| footnotes =

| leader_title2 = Legislature

| leader_name2 = Chin State Hluttaw

| demographics1_info1 = Chin, Falam Laizo, Bamars, Mizo, Kuki, Zomi, Rakhine, Tedim, Lai,Daignet

| demographics1_title2 = Religions

| demographics1_info2 = Christianity 91.6%
Buddhism 6.1%
Animism and other religions 2.3%

| blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2015)

| blank_info_sec2 = 0.556{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=13 September 2018}}
{{color|#FFA500|medium}} · 7th

}}

{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}

Chin State ({{MYname|MY=ချင်းပြည်နယ်|MLCTS=hkyang: pranynai}}, {{IPA|my|tɕʰɪ́ɰ̃ pjìnɛ̀|pron}}) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur to the north. The population of Chin State is about 488,801 according to the 2014 census, and its capital city is Hakha.{{Cite web|url=https://themimu.info/Census_2014_SR_dashboard|title=Census Population Dashboard {{!}} MIMU|website=themimu.info|access-date=29 February 2020}}

The state is named after the Chin people, an ethnic group native to Chin State and neighboring Rakhine State. Much of the state is mountainous and sparsely populated, with few transportation links and low levels of economic development. It also has Myanmar's highest poverty rate, at 58%, according to a 2017 report.{{cite web |title=Myanmar Living Conditions Survey 2017 |url=https://www.undp.org/myanmar/publications/myanmar-living-conditions-survey-2017-poverty-report |website=United Nations Development Programme |access-date=12 November 2023}}

History

=Early history=

Situated in the remote hilly region of the Chin Hills, Chin State was traditionally autonomous and far from their neighboring powers like Burman kingdoms in the east and Indian states in the west to reach.B. S. Carey & H. N. Tuck, The Chin Hills: A History of the People, our dealings with them, their Customs and Manners, and a Gazetteer of their Country, vol. 1 (Rangoon, Burma: Government Printing, 1896), 12–33. Until the British advancement in the region, independent city-states such as Ciimnuai (Chinwe/Chin Nwe) later shifted to Tedim and Vangteh in the north,Ngul Lian Zam (Guite), [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1721693556 "Mualthum Kampau Guite Hausate Tangthu"] (Amazon/CreateSpace, United States, 2018), 77–152 {{ISBN|978-1721693559}}. Tlaisun (also recorded as Tashon) and Rallang in the mid-land, and Hakha, Thantlang and Zokhua (Yokwa) in the south played important political role in securing peace of the region,Carey & Tuck, The Chin Hills 1, 17–18, 23–24. and each city-state practised its own independent sovereignty in their own rights.

=20th century=

Upon Burma's independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the Chin Hills Special Division was created, with its capital at Falam. Hakha later became the capital. However, three townships that are today part of present-day Chin State (Mindat, Kanpetlet and Matupi) were previously part of the Pakokku Hill Tracts of Pakokku District and Paletwa Township of the Arakan Hill Tracts, until 4 January 1974. On this date, the Chin Hills Special Division was granted state status and became Chin State.{{cite web|url=http://www.statoids.com/umm.html|title=Myanmar Divisions|access-date=18 November 2017|publisher=Statoids}}

"Chin National Day" is designated on 20 February to commemorate the "General Assembly of Chinland" held in 1948.{{cite web|title=Celebration Of 65th Chin National Day|url=http://unpo.org/article/15528|publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization|date=20 February 2013|access-date=18 November 2017}} The first celebration of Chin National Day was held in 1951, but it was not recognized by the Myanmar government until the 2010s.{{cite web|last=Cung|first=Zing|title=Chin Identity and Chin National Day|url=http://www.norwaychin.no/?p=57|publisher=Chin Community in Norway|access-date=18 November 2017}}

=Myanmar civil war=

{{Main|Chin theater}}

Chin State, like much of Myanmar, has been deeply affected by the Myanmar civil war since it broke out in 2021. Tens of thousands of Chin State residents have fled to neighboring Mizoram, India, and towns such as Thantlang were destroyed in the fighting.{{cite news |last1=Fishbein |first1=Emily |title=Myanmar's striking civil servants: Displaced, forgotten, but holding on |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/29/myanmars-striking-civil-servants-displaced-forgotten-but-holding-on |access-date=12 November 2023 |work=Al Jazeera |date=29 August 2023}} Since the war broke out, several armed opposition groups have emerged calling themselves the Chinland Defense Force. The groups are reportedly funded by the Chin diaspora and by the National Unity Government of Myanmar, an opposition government-in-exile.{{cite news |last1=Ghoshal |first1=Devyjot |title=Insight: In Myanmar's Chin state, a grassroots rebellion grows |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmars-chin-state-grassroots-rebellion-grows-2021-12-10/ |access-date=13 November 2023 |work=Reuters |date=12 December 2021}}

On 6 December 2023 the Chin National Front adopted a Chinland Constitution, proclaiming the state of Chinland.{{cite web|url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/the-first-chin-written-constitution-a-new-template-for-self-determination.html|website=The Irrawady|title=The First Chin-Written Constitution: A New Template For Self-Determination?|date=26 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226164950/https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/the-first-chin-written-constitution-a-new-template-for-self-determination.html|archive-date=December 26, 2023}} But resistance groups from 5 townships (Falam, Kanpetlet, Matupi, Mindat, and Tedim) out of 9 townships in Chin State objected to this constitution. {{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Michael |date=November 1, 2024 |title=Trouble Among the Chin of Myanmar |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/trouble-among-chin-myanmar |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)}}

Administrative divisions

File:Chin state district map 2022.svg

Hakha District was formed by the first Chin State Hluttaw emergency meeting No. 2/2012 on 1 June.http://www.mrtv3.net.mm/newpaper/46newsn.pdf {{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Page 16, Col 1. Matupi District was formed by the second Pyidaungsu Hluttaw regular meeting on 28 June 2017.{{citation|url=https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B2-BapXMfMvnUUtpUktlQnVPSXM|title=Second Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, fifth regular meeting record|publisher=Pyidaungsu Hluttaw|page=420|language=my}}Rezua

Government

=Executive=

{{main|Chin State Government}}

=Legislature=

{{main|Chin State Hluttaw}}

Economy

Chin State has little infrastructure and remains undeveloped with over 70% of its population living below the poverty line.{{Cite web |title=Chin State Overview |url=https://www.thaibizmyanmar.com/docs/Overview%20of%20Chin%20State.pdf |website=Thaibizmyanmar}}

Chin State is Myanmar's largest producer of konjac (elephant foot yam) with an estimated annual output exceeding 250,000 tonnes.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-03 |title=Chin State’s Konjac cultivation enhances rural livelihood and income, generates revenue - Global New Light Of Myanmar |url=https://www.gnlm.com.mm/chin-states-konjac-cultivation-enhances-rural-livelihood-and-income-generates-revenue/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |language=en-US}}

Demographics

{{Historical populations

|footnote =

|source = 2014 Myanmar Census{{cite book|title=Census Report|publisher=Ministry of Immigration and Population|location=Naypyitaw|date=May 2015|series=The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census|volume=2|pages=17|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B067GBtstE5TeUlIVjRjSjVzWlk/view}}

|1973|323295

|1983|368949

|2014|478801

}}

=Ethnic makeup=

{{Bar box|width=300px|barwidth=250px|float=right|title=Ethnic composition of Chin State|left1=Ethnic group|right1=Percentage|bars={{bar percent|Chin|#008b8b|95.7}}

{{bar percent|Rakhine|#9acd32|3.4}}

{{bar percent|Bamar|#ee82ee|0.8}}

{{bar percent|Other|#556b2f|0.1}}|caption=Source: 2019 GAD township reports}}{{see also|Chin people|Kuki-Chin languages}}

The Chin peoples make up the majority of Chin State's population, with small Rakhine and Bamar minorities. The people of Chin State are made up of many tribes which, though historically related, now speak divergent languages and have different cultural and historical identities. Some consider the name Chin an exonym, given by the Burmese. Other tribes in the state include Zo, Zomi, Laimi, K'Cho, Khumi, Asho.

After the 2014 Census in Myanmar, the Burmese government indefinitely withheld release of detailed ethnicity data, citing concerns around political and social concerns surrounding the issue of ethnicity in Myanmar.{{cite book |last1=Jap |first1=Jangai |url=https://doi.org/10.31752/idea.2022.57 |title=Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units |last2=Courtin |first2=Constant |date=2022-11-22 |publisher=International IDEA |isbn=978-91-7671-577-2 |doi=10.31752/idea.2022.57}}{{cite book |last1=Jap |first1=Jangai |url=https://doi.org/10.31752/idea.2022.57 |title=Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units |last2=Courtin |first2=Constant |date=2022-11-22 |publisher=International IDEA |isbn=978-91-7671-577-2 |doi=10.31752/idea.2022.57}} In 2022, researchers published an analysis of the General Administration Department's nationwide 2018-2019 township reports to tabulate the ethnic makeup of Chin State.{{Cite web |title=PoneYate ethnic population dashboard |url=https://www.ponyate.org/ethnic-population-dashboard-740399e}}{{cite book |last1=Jap |first1=Jangai |url=https://doi.org/10.31752/idea.2022.57 |title=Deciphering Myanmar's Ethnic Landscape: A Brief Historical and Ethnic Description of Myanmar's Administrative Units |last2=Courtin |first2=Constant |date=2022-11-22 |publisher=International IDEA |isbn=978-91-7671-577-2 |doi=10.31752/idea.2022.57}}

=Religion=

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption = Religion in Chin (2014){{cite book | url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B067GBtstE5TSl9FNElRRGtvMUk | title=The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Census Report Volume 2-C | publisher=Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR | author=Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population MYANMAR | date=July 2016 | pages=12–15}}

| title =

| label1 = 10px Christianity

| value1 = 91.6

| color1 = DodgerBlue

| label2 = Buddhism

| value2 = 6.1

| color2 = Yellow

| label3 = Tribal (Animism)

| value3 = 0.4

| color3 = Gray

| label4 = Hinduism

| value4 = 0.0

| color4 = Orange

| label5 = 10px Islam

| value5 = 0.1

| color5 = green

| value6 = 1.8

| label6 = Others

| color6 = Brown

}}According to the 2014 Myanmar Census, Christians make up the vast majority of Chin State's population, at 91.6%.{{cite book|author=|url=https://www.dop.gov.mm/sites/dop.gov.mm/files/publication_docs/union_2-c_religion_en_0.pdf|title=The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Census Report Volume 2-C|publisher=Department of Population Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population|date=July 2016|pages=12–15}} Minority religious communities include Buddhists (6.1%), Islam (0.1%), Hindus (0.0%), and Animism and other religions (~2.2), including adherents of Pau Cin Hau, who collectively comprise the remainder of Chin State's population. 74 people listed no religion, or other religions, or were otherwise not enumerated. Chin State is the only state in Myanmar with a majority Christian population.{{cite news|date=29 December 2012|title=Laipian Pa Ni kibawl|work=ZomiDaily|publisher=archive.is|url=http://www.zomidaily.com/news/zomi-news/14750-laipian-pa-ni-kibawl|url-status=dead|access-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121231181802/http://www.zomidaily.com/news/zomi-news/14750-laipian-pa-ni-kibawl|archive-date=31 December 2012}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto;"
style="text-align: center;"

! Religious
group

! Population
% 1983{{Cite web |last=Ministry of Homes |first=& Religious Affairs |title=1983 Population Census, Chin State |url=https://www.dop.gov.mm/sites/dop.gov.mm/files/publication_docs/1983_chin_census_report.pdf |access-date=18 March 2025}}

! Population % 2014{{Cite web |last=Myanmar |first=Govt. |title=The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census, The Union Report: Religion |url=https://myanmar.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/UNION_2C_Religion_EN.pdf |access-date=18 March 2025 |page=Volume 2-C page7}}

style="background:DodgerBlue;"| Christianity

| 72.7% || 91.6%

style="background:Yellow;"| Buddhism

| 10.8% || 6.1%

style="background:Gray;"| Tribal

| 14.2% || 0.4%

style="background: Brown;"| Others

| 2.2% || 1.8%

style="background:Orange;"| Hinduism

| 0.0% || 0.0%

style="background:Black; color:Darkgreen;"| Islam

| 0.1% || 0.1%

{{clear}}

Education

{{See also|List of universities in Chin State}}

According to official statistics,{{cite web |url=http://www.etrademyanmar.com/STATS/s1701.htm |title=Education statistics by level and by State and Division |access-date=19 April 2009 |publisher=Myanmar Central Statistical Organization |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524012235/http://www.etrademyanmar.com/STATS/s1701.htm |archive-date=24 May 2008 }} Chin State had 25 high schools in 2003.

References

{{Incubator|code=lus|language=Mizo}}

{{Incubator|code=cnh|language=Hakha-Chin}}

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Myanmar_states.html WorldStatesman – Myanmar – States of Burma 1948–1974]
  • For more cultural information about the Chin see F.K. Lehman. 1963. The Structure of Chin Society;: A Tribal People of Burma Adapted to a Non-Western Civilization. University of Illinois Press.
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20171011013832/http://www.stavangerchin.no/ Stavanger Chin Organization]
  • [http://www.chinland.org The Chin National Front]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20050707084213/http://www.chro.org/ Chin Human Rights Organization]
  • [http://www.freewebs.com/msu-media Matupi Students Union]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080522064557/http://www.chinfolk.tk/ Chin Community in Norway]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070628214851/http://www.chinforening.dk/ Chin Community in Denmark]
  • [http://www.cdrs.se Chinland Development and Research Society in Sweden]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20051218164859/http://www.ccgev.de/ Chin Community in Germany]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929224839/http://www.ccfdenmark.dk/ Chin Christian Fellowship in Denmark]
  • [http://www.tongdot.com English- Chin Online Dictionary]
  • [http://www.maraland.org MITCS]
  • [http://www.zogam.com ZOGAM Home]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090826151808/http://www.vaphual.net/ Vaphual news & articles on Zo people]
  • [http://www.ccgev.de Chin Community Germany]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090122081307/http://www.zogam.org/ The official website of Zomi Reunification Organisation]
  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190517000747/http://www.modins.net/myanmarinfo/health_edu/uniandcol.htm Institutes of Higher Education in Myanmar (January 2002)]}} – arranged by state and division

{{Geographic location

|Centre = {{flag|Chin State}}

|North = Manipur, {{flag|India}}

|Northeast =

|East = {{flag|Sagaing Region}}
{{flag|Magway Region}}

|Southeast =

|South = {{flag|Rakhine State}}

|Southwest = Chittagong Division, {{flag|Bangladesh}}

|West = Mizoram, {{flag|India}}

|Northwest =

}}

{{Chin State}}

{{Administrative divisions of Burma (Myanmar)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:States of Myanmar

Category:1974 establishments in Burma

Category:States and territories established in 1974