; population: 100,000 (2006 estimate)) is a loggingtown and sugar canerefinery center in Mandalay Division of Myanmar. The administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved to a militarised greenfield site (which the leader, Than Shwe, dubbed Naypyidaw, or Royal City) two miles (3.2 km) west of Pyinmana on November 6, 2005. Pyinmana is approximately north of Yangon. The village of Yezin, a few miles north and east of Pyinmana, has been the site of national scientific research institutions since the late 1970s.
Pyinmana was the base of the Burma Independence Army (later renamed and reorganized into the Burma National Army by the Japanese). It was in Pyinmana that the army and its officers were trained. Later the BNA changed sides, aiding the allies with guerrilla warfare, and the operations were seen as a victory by the Burmese. Pyinmana became an icon in the Burmese Army, as the place where 'superior invaders' were defeated by the Burmese. Many have said that this is one of the reasons why the current junta chose the Pyinmana region - a place from which superior invaders would be defeated if Myanmar was invaded again.
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