Yangon, Myanmar by Asiatravel.com

Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်; MLCTS: rankun mrui, pronounced [jàŋɡòũ mjo̰]; also known as Rangoon) is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Division. Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006,[3] Yangon, with a population of four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial center. Yangon's infrastructure is relatively undeveloped compared to those of other major cities in Southeast Asia. Yangon has the largest number of colonial buildings in Southeast Asia today.[4] While many high-rise residential and commercial buildings have been constructed or renovated throughout downtown and Greater Yangon in the past two decades, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be deeply impoverished. Yangon was founded as Dagon in the 6th century AD by the Mon, who dominated Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centered about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it "Yangon", and added settlements around Dagon. The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (182426) but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.[5] The largest and best maintained parks in Yangon are located around Shwedagon Pagada. To the southeast of the gilded stupa is the most popular recreational area in the city Kandawgyi Lake. The 150 acre (60.7-hectare) lake is surrounded by the 110 acre (44.5-hectare) Kandawgyi Nature Park,[24] and the 69.25 acre (28-hectare) Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park.[25] West of the pagoda towards the former Hluttaw (Parliament) complex is the 130 acre (53-hectare) Peoples Square and People's Park, (the former parading ground on important national days when Yangon was the capital.)[26] A few miles north of the pagoda lies the 37 acre (15-hectare) Inya Lake Park a favorite hangout place of Yangon University students, and a well-known place of romance in Burmese popular culture. Hlawga National Park and Allied War Memorial at the outskirts of the city are popular day-trip destinations with the well-to-do and tourists. Info Taken from Wikipedia.com Credits to Wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangon Main