Country Burma District Pyin Oo Lwin Time zone MST (UTC+6.30) | Region Mandalay Region Township Mogok Local time Wednesday 7:31 PM | |
Weather 21°C, Wind SW at 2 km/h, 63% Humidity | ||
Mogok (Burmese: မိုးကုတ်, [móɡoʊʔ]; Shan: မိူင်းၵုတ်ႈ, [mɤ́ŋ kut]) is a city in the Pyin Oo Lwin District of the Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located 200 km north of Mandalay and 148 km north-east of Shwebo. Mogok was in Shan State and after British, the town was put in Mandalay Region along with Pyin Oo Lwin.
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Map of Mogok, Myanmar (Burma)
Geography
At 1170 meters in elevation, the city has a fairly temperate climate year-round, and is home to Bamar, Shan, Lisu, Palaung, and Karen ethnic groups, as well as Chinese, Indians and Gurkhas. The city is composed of two towns, Mogok and Kyat Pyin. Mogok is four miles long and two miles wide. It is situated in a valley surrounded by a large number of mountains there are no mountauns this is a hilly area. Kyat Pyin lies about 7 miles SW of Mogok. Tourists that travel to this area need a special authorization and a guide person.
Repute for gemstones
Mogok and other villages nearby have been famous since ancient times for its gemstones, especially ruby and sapphire, but semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, garnet, moonstone, peridot and chrysoberyl are also found. The gems are found in alluvial marble gravels by means of panning, tunneling and digging pits by hand. There is little mechanization of the mining. The gravels derive from the metamorphosed limestones (marbles) of the Mogok metamorphic belt.
Gems are sold in markets in Mogok; however, foreigners require special permits to visit the town, and purchase/export of gems from Myanmar at non-government licensed dealers is illegal.
90% of a certain version in the world's rubies come from Myanmar / Burma there are many other ruby sources in the world such as Sri Lanka and various places in Afrika. Only in terms of quality Mogok rubies are best. The red stones from there are prized for their purity and hue. Thailand buys the majority of Myanmar's gems. The "Valley of Rubies", the mountainous Mogok area, 200 km (120 mi) north of Mandalay, is noted as the original source of ruby including the world's finest "pigeon's blood" rubies as well as the world's most beautiful sapphires in "royal" blue.