formerly Rangoon
City (pop., 1996 est.: metro. area, 4,000,000), principal seaport, and capital of Myanmar (Burma), on the Yangôn River.
It was a fishing village until the present city was founded с 1755 by King Alaungpaya; he developed it as a port. The British occupied it 1824–26 during the First Anglo-Burmese War and again took it in 1852 during the Second Anglo-Burmese War. After the British annexation of all of Burma in 1886, Rangoon became the capital city. During World War II the Japanese occupied the city, and it suffered considerable damage. In 1988 it was the scene of severe repression of antigovernment demonstrators by the military. It handles more than four-fifths of Myanmar's foreign commerce.