Karen (state)

Karen (state), one of the states of Myanmar (formerly Burma), located in the upper part of the country. The state has an area of 30,383 sq km (11,731 sq mi), and its capital is Pa-an, a small community east of Thaton, on the Salween River. The northern portion is hilly and is covered with thick jungle. Much of the southern part is lowland and is bordered on the east by the Dawna Range of the Bilauktaung mountain chain. The climate is tropical, and rainfall averages 3800 mm (150 in) annually.

The Karens are a people of Thai-Chinese stock but do not compose a single ethnic group. The Karen languages are spoken by about four million people, many of whom live in Karen State, others in Shan State, but most of whom live in Myanmar’s Kayah (formerly Karenni) State. It is important not to confuse the Karen subgroup, Karenni (red Karens), with the Karens.

After their migration from Thailand to Myanmar (then Burma), the Karens lived for a long time in relative isolation without being assimilated into the Burmese culture. After 1830, missionaries converted many to Christianity, but most Karens became Buddhists or retained their traditional religion, a form of nature-worship. During the period of British colonial rule, the Karens spread into the Tenasserim division and the Irrawaddy Delta, and when Burma achieved independence in 1948 a group called the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) rebelled against the government because these areas were not included in the projected state of Karen. In 1949 the KNDO captured Mandalay, raided Bassein, and even attacked Yangon (Rangoon), but eventually the hard-pressed government prevailed and the organization collapsed.

In 1952 Karen State was formed, at that time largely consisting of the Salween district, and in 1955 five additional townships voted for inclusion. The original plan was to include the Karen majority areas of the four Karenni states directly east of Toungoo, but three of these states decided to combine as the separate Kayah State and the fourth decided to join the Shan State. In the early 1960s the population of the state of Karen was estimated at more than 600,000; by 1994 it had reached an estimated 1,323,000.