Sagaing Region
Northwestern Myanmar resistance heartland with People's Defence Forces controlling rural areas amid devastating conflict.
Sagaing Region is Myanmar's northwestern heartland—a predominantly Bamar region where popular resistance to the 2021 coup emerged earliest and strongest. The People's Defence Forces (PDF) established control over rural areas, making Sagaing a focal point of civil conflict.
Agriculture historically dominated the economy. Rice cultivation, sesame production, and other crops supported rural populations. Copper and other mining added industrial activity. Monywa, the regional capital, provided commercial services.
Following the coup, Sagaing became a resistance stronghold. PDF units formed from civilian volunteers; local populations supported the uprising despite military reprisals. By 2025, fighting had displaced hundreds of thousands and devastated the agricultural economy. Military airstrikes and ground operations destroyed villages.
The biological pattern is resistance-reprisal cycle: Sagaing's population rejected military rule, triggering escalating violence that destroyed the economic base both sides nominally seek to control.