UPPER BURMA

geographic and historical division of Burma (Myanmar), referring to the central and northern portion of the country. The division between Upper and Lower Burma was accentuated during 185285, when Lower Burma (comprising the extreme southern fringes of the country) became British Burma. In 1885 Upper Burma also fell under British domination. Unlike coastal Lower Burma, Upper Burma is considered the heartland of the country and corresponds roughly to Burma's dry zone, lying as it does in the rain shadow of the Arakan Mountain Range. It was the area of the earliest Burman settlement in the country and was the domain of the Burman kings. Upper Burma is bisected by the main course of the southward-flowing Irrawaddy River.