Yangon: History, Former Names & Timeline

Port below the Shwedagon Pagoda and capital of British Burma.

Map showing Yangon in 1945 — Border map for 1945. See the world in 1945.

Embed this interactive map on your site

Free to use on blogs, school pages and course sites. Copy the code below; please keep the credit line.

<iframe src="https://chronicamaps.com/?embed=1#y1945-c-yangon-l-en" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Yangon: History, Former Names &amp; Timeline"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:4px 0 0">Interactive map: <a href="https://chronicamaps.com/en/city/yangon">Yangon: History, Former Names &amp; Timeline</a> · Chronica Maps</p>

Former names of Yangon

From	Name	Note
1755	Dagon / Rangoon

Timeline of Yangon

Year	Event
1755	Alaungpaya renames the town Yangon
1852	Second Anglo-Burmese War: Britain occupies Rangoon
1948	Burma becomes independent
1988	The 8888 pro-democracy uprising breaks out in Yangon
2006	The capital moves officially to Naypyidaw

Who ruled Yangon

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

Period	State
500 BC–401 BC	Unclaimed / no data
400 BC–324 BC	Austro-Asiatic rice cultures
323 BC–201 BC	Unclaimed / no data
200 BC–101 BC	Mon-Khmer
100 BC–799	Unclaimed / no data
800–899	Mon state
900–999	Mon States
1000–1099	Kingdom of Pagan
1100–1299	Mon state
1300–1491	Pagan
1492–1649	Pegu
1650–1782	Ava
1783–1879	Burma
1880–1944	British Raj
1945–today	Burma

Nearby cities

Bagan · about 497 km
Ayutthaya · about 549 km
Bangkok · about 580 km

Questions about Yangon

What was Yangon called in the past?

Yangon has been known as Dagon / Rangoon (from 1755). Its present name dates from 1755.

Which states have ruled Yangon?

On the historical border maps from 500 BC to today, Yangon lies within 10 different states: Austro-Asiatic rice cultures, Mon-Khmer, Mon state, Mon States, Kingdom of Pagan, Pagan, Pegu, Ava, Burma, British Raj.

What are the key dates in the history of Yangon?

1755: Alaungpaya renames the town Yangon. 1852: Second Anglo-Burmese War: Britain occupies Rangoon. 1948: Burma becomes independent. 1988: The 8888 pro-democracy uprising breaks out in Yangon. 2006: The capital moves officially to Naypyidaw.

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.