Bamar 4,873,027 (76.98%) and Karen 1,426,973 (22.5%) form the majority of the population, with a small minority of Rakhine (0.47%) in western coastal regions.

[4] Minority religious communities include Christians (6.3%), Muslims (1.4%), and Hindus (0.1%) who collectively comprise the remainder of Ayeyawady Region's population.

In addition to rice, other crops include maize, sesame, groundnut, sunflower, beans, pulses, and jute.

Rice paddy agriculture is dominant during the monsoon but irrigation is limited, especially in smaller farms, during the dry season.

Inye lake is located in Kyonpyaw township, 59 miles (95 km) north east of Pathein.

This area fell under Burmese (and occasional Arakanese and Mon) rule from the 11th century AD onwards.

An ancient overland pre-Tang trade route from Sichuan (modern Yunnan Province) to Bengal passed through Ayeyarwady.

[7] Ayeyarwady Region was the site of heavy devastation when Cyclone Nargis made landfall in early May 2008.

Nargis was the most expensive tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean at the time, costing $12 billion in aid.

[9] Burma's state-controlled news media reported that Nargis left more than 66,000 people dead or missing after it struck the Irrawaddy Delta region May 2, unleashing torrential rains, 120 mph sustained winds and a 12-foot (3.7 m) storm surge.

Foreign relief officials and diplomats said the death toll could exceed 100,000,[10] making it the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar.

The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on health care, consistently ranking among the lowest in the world.

[14][15] Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals.