1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Salween (district)

SALWEEN, a district in the Tenasserim division of Lower Burma. Area, 2666 sq.m. Pop. (1901) 37,837, consisting largely of aboriginal tribes, Karens (33,448) and Shans (2816). Nearly the whole district is a maze of mountains intersected by deep ravines, the only level land of any considerable extent being found in the valley of the Yōnzalīn, While the country is covered with dense forest, of which 128 sq. m. are reserved. The district is drained by three principal rivers, the Salween, Yōnzalīn and Bilīn, fed by mountain torrents. The Yōnzalīn, which rises in the extreme N., is navigable with some difficulty in the dry season as far as Papun; the Bilīn is not navigable within the limits of the district except by small boats and rafts. The district is in charge of a superintendent of police, with headquarters at Papun. The total rainfall in 1905 was 114.48 in., recorded at Papun. Apart from cotton-weaving, there are no manufactures. A considerable trade is carried on with Siam by bridle paths across the mountains.