BASSEIN

bassein, a district and town in the irrawaddy division of lower burma, in the delta of the irrawaddy. the district has been reduced to 4127 sq. m., from 8954 sq. m. in 1871, having given up a large tract to the district of myaungmya formed in 1896. a mountain range called the anauk-pet taungmyin stretches through the district from n. to s. along the coast. the principal river of the district is the irrawaddy, which debouches on the sea at its eastern extremity through a delta intersected with salt water creeks, among which the pyamalaw, pyinzalu, kyunton, and ngawun shagegyi or bassein river rank as important arms of the sea. irrawaddy and inyegyi are the only two lakes in the district. the delta of the irrawaddy forms, wherever cultivable, a vast sheet of rice, with cotton, sesamum, and tobacco as subsidiary crops. in 1901 the population was 391,427.