Chauk

For the village in Iran, see Chauk, Iran.
Chauk
ချောက်
Town
The Bagan-Chauk Road crossing, close to Bagan
The Bagan-Chauk Road crossing, close to Bagan
Chauk is located in Myanmar
Chauk
Chauk
Location in Myanmar (Burma)
Coordinates: 20°53′N 94°49′E / 20.883°N 94.817°E / 20.883; 94.817
Country Myanmar
Division Magway Region
DistrictMagway District
TownshipChauk Township
Population
 (2014 Census)
 • Total
44,289
Time zoneUTC+6.30 (MMT)

Chauk (Burmese: ချောက်) is a town and river port in Magway Region, north-central Myanmar (Burma), on the Irrawaddy River. It is located across the river from Seikphyu (ဆိပ်ဖြူ) and is connected by a bridge.[citation needed]

History

In 1902, the Chauk-Lonywa oil field was discovered near Chauk, which is presently a major source of income for the town.

On January 2, 2014, Singapore's Interra Resources announced that its jointly controlled entity, Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company Inc., had commenced drilling development well CHK 1177 in the Chauk oil field in Myanmar.[1]

Climate

Located in the “Dry Valley” of central Myanmar in the rain shadow of the Arakan Mountains, Chauk has a borderline hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), being a little too dry to qualify as a tropical savanna climate (Aw) due to the extreme heat and high potential evapotranspiration. Unlike most monsoonal semi-arid climates, the rainy season in the “Dry Valley” is relatively long at around five to seven months, while variability and extreme monthly and daily rainfalls are much lower than usual with this type of climate.[2]

Climate data for Chauk (1991–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.0
(87.8) 		34.6
(94.3) 		38.4
(101.1) 		40.7
(105.3) 		38.7
(101.7) 		35.6
(96.1) 		35.2
(95.4) 		34.6
(94.3) 		34.2
(93.6) 		33.9
(93.0) 		32.8
(91.0) 		30.8
(87.4) 		35.0
(95.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 22.1
(71.8) 		24.9
(76.8) 		29.1
(84.4) 		32.6
(90.7) 		32.4
(90.3) 		30.7
(87.3) 		30.5
(86.9) 		30.1
(86.2) 		29.7
(85.5) 		28.9
(84.0) 		26.5
(79.7) 		23.0
(73.4) 		28.4
(83.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 13.1
(55.6) 		15.3
(59.5) 		19.8
(67.6) 		24.4
(75.9) 		26.1
(79.0) 		25.9
(78.6) 		25.8
(78.4) 		25.6
(78.1) 		25.2
(77.4) 		24.0
(75.2) 		20.1
(68.2) 		15.3
(59.5) 		21.7
(71.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 4.9
(0.19) 		1.3
(0.05) 		3.3
(0.13) 		8.8
(0.35) 		81.7
(3.22) 		70.4
(2.77) 		38.7
(1.52) 		99.6
(3.92) 		138.4
(5.45) 		132.3
(5.21) 		20.1
(0.79) 		3.8
(0.15) 		603.4
(23.76)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 0.3 0.1 0.4 1.2 5.3 6.8 4.8 8.4 9.8 7.5 1.8 0.6 47.0
Source: World Meteorological Organization[3]

Earthquake

The 6.8 Mw Myanmar earthquake shook north-central Myanmar on August 24, 2016, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). Four people were killed and several ancient temples were damaged.

Economy

A refinery was built in Chauk for the Chauk-Lonywa oil field that also processes crude oil that comes down a pipeline from Yenangyaung.[4] The Chauk field was still producing natural gas as of 1995.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ "Interra starts drilling in Myanmar's Chauk field". Oil Patch Asia. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  2. ^ See Camberlin, Pierre (2010). "More variable tropical climates have a slower demographic growth" (PDF). Climate Research. 41: 157–167. doi:10.3354/cr00856.
  3. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Bečka, Jan (1995) "Chauk" Historical Dictionary of Myanmar Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey, p. 58, ISBN 0-8108-2840-5


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