Wa State

Wa State (Wa: Mēng Vax or Meung Va; Chinese: 佤邦; pinyin: Wǎ Bāng; Burmese: ဝပြည်နယ်) is an unrecognised state in Myanmar (Burma) and is currently subsumed under the official Wa Special Region 2 of northern Shan State. The administrative capital is Pangkham (Chinese: 邦康; pinyin: Bāngkāng, formerly known as Panghsang, 邦桑). The name Wa derives from the Wa ethnic group, who speaks a language in the Austroasiatic family of languages. Wa State has a population of an estimated 558,000. Wa State is an undefined area that encloses eastern Shan State.

Many of the Wa are animists, and a small proportion of the population follows a derivative of either Buddhism or Christianity. The Wa were once known as the "Wild Wa" by the British due to their practice of headhunting.

Politics and society

Wa State is divided into northern and southern regions which are separated from one another, with the 13,000 square kilometre southern region bordering Thailand and consisting of 200,000 people. The total area of the region controlled by the Wa State is 17,000 square kilometres. Political leaders of the Wa State are mostly ethnic Wa people. The government of the Wa State emulates many political features of the government of China, having a Central Committee and a central party known as the United Wa State Party. Whilst the Wa State is de facto highly autonomous from the control of the central Myanmar government, their relationship is based on peaceful coexistence and the Wa State recognises the sovereignty of the central government over all of Myanmar.