Profile

MYANMAR 

Myanmar is an amazing country with an incredibly diverse population. The country borders China, India, Thailand, Laos, and Bangladesh. It also reaches the shores of the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. The country is home to approximately 60 million inhabitants, comprising numerous ethnicities and dialects. The government recognizes 135 ethnic groups, with the Burmese as the majority.

  

Mogok ( The Valley of Rubies)

Mogok, an historic city in northern Myanmar (Burma), is located 200 kilometres north of Mandalay, nestled in a valley between a number of large mountains where, due to its altitude (1170 metres), a cool temperate climate can found all year round. The shrub- and flower-covered hills rising above are dotted with small towns, villages, and garden plots, and adorned with well-tended Buddhist shrines. The spires of these gold-leaf-covered pagodas reach skyward, like gilded sculptures arising from rock-outcroppings along not just the area’s one major highway but also its dirt roads and walking paths.

Mogok has been famous for centuries for its gemstones (including pigeon’s blood rubies and blue sapphires that have been cited in ancient Burmese literature), as well as a dazzling array of semi-precious stones including lapis lazuli, garnet, moonstone, amethyst, peridot and chrysoberyl. Rare stones such as painite, hibbonite, and poudretteite are found only in Mogok and a few other gem localities.