Editing Yangon (section)

=== Colonial Rangoon (1852–1948) ===
[[File:Yangon Rangoon and Environ map 1911.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Rangoon and environs map, 1911]]
[[File:Public Gardens, Rangoon.jpg|thumb|left|A view of the Cantonment Gardens (now Kandaw Minglar Garden) in 1868]]
[[File:RangoonStreetView.jpg|thumb|left|Damage of central Rangoon in the aftermath of World War II]]
The British captured Yangon and all of [[Lower Burma]] in the [[Second Anglo-Burmese War]] of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of [[British rule in Burma|British Burma]]. After the war, the British moved the capital of British Burma from Moulmein (present-day [[Mawlamyine]]) to Yangon.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3578993.stm |title=BBC NEWS {{!}} Asia-Pacific {{!}} Burma maintains bygone buildings |publisher=BBC |access-date=27 July 2017 |date=2004-03-30 |archive-date=8 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408162817/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3578993.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/moulmein-first-british-capital-of-myanmar-back-on-the-tourist-map/article5000457.ece |title=Moulmein, first British capital of Myanmar, back on the tourist map |work=The Hindu |access-date=27 July 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020191612/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/moulmein-first-british-capital-of-myanmar-back-on-the-tourist-map/article5000457.ece |url-status=live}}</ref> Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the [[Pazundaung Creek]] and to the south and west by the [[Yangon River]]. Yangon became the capital of all [[British rule in Burma|British-ruled Burma]] after the British had captured [[Upper Burma]] in the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] of 1885. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of [[Kandawgyi Lake|Royal Lake]] (Kandawgyi) and [[Inya Lake]].<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web |url=http://www.bookrags.com/Yangon |title=Yangon Summary Review and Analysis |publisher=Bookrags.com |date=17 October 2005 |access-date=17 April 2010 |archive-date=28 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128201939/http://www.bookrags.com/Yangon }}</ref> The British also established hospitals including [[Yangon General Hospital|Rangoon General Hospital]] and colleges including [[Yangon University|Rangoon University]].

After the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], the British sent [[Bahadur Shah II]], the last [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor, to Yangon to live in exile.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering the last Mughal emperor |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41884390 |website=BBC |access-date=11 June 2021 |date=8 November 2017 |archive-date=11 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611032521/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41884390 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East".<ref name="autogenerated4" /> By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.<ref name="arc">{{Cite book |last=Falconer |first=John |year=2001 |title=Burmese Design & Architecture |isbn=978-962-593-882-0 |publisher=Periplus |location=Hong Kong |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

Before [[World War II]], about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian]] or [[South Asian]], and only about a third was [[Bamar]] (Burman).<ref name=tmmt>{{Cite book |title=Indian Communities in south-east Asia – Some Aspects of Indians in Rangoon |last=Tin Maung Maung Than |publisher=Institute of south-east Asian Studies |year=1993 |pages=585–587 |isbn=978-981-230-418-6}}</ref> [[Karen people|Karens]], [[Burmese Chinese|Chinese]], [[Anglo-Burmese]], and others made up the rest.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

After [[World War I]], Yangon became the center of the Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon University students leading the way. Three nationwide strikes against British rule in 1920, 1936, and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] occupation (1942–45), and incurred heavy damage during World War II. The city was retaken by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in May 1945. Yangon became the capital of the Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country gained independence from British rule.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grace |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0YfDgAAQBAJ |title=Heads of State and Government |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-349-65771-1 |page=606}}</ref>