Yangon

Yangon (pop. 2,458,700; formerly Rangoon), capital, largest city, and chief port of Myanmar (Burma), on the Rangoon River. It is a commercial and manufacturing center, with textile, sawmilling, food-processing, and petroleum industries. Its gold-domed Shwe Dagon Pagoda is the country's principal Buddhist shrine. Yangon was founded in 1753 as the Burmese capital. It was occupied by the British (1824–26) and retaken by them in 1852, after which it developed as a modern city. During World War II Yangon was occupied by the Japanese and suffered heavy damage.