 pathein (, ; , ), also called bassein, is a port city with a 2004 population estimated at 315,600, and the capital of the ayeyarwady region, burma. it lies on the pathein river (bassein), which is a western branch of the irrawaddy river. pathein is the fourth largest city of burma (myanmar), situated  west of yangon. it is located within the pathein township of pathein district and is also the seat of all. although once part of the mon kingdom, pathein has few ethnic mon residents today. the majority are of bamar, burmese indians, kayin ethnicity. there are, however, notable minorities of karen and rakhine. ==etymology== the city's name is believed to derive from the mon name,  ().dictionary of modern spoken mon by h.l. shorto (1962, oxford university press) the name was corrupted to bassein during the british colonial period. an alternate theory holds that the city's name comes from the classical name of pathein, kusimanagara, a name used by ancient writings an the kalyani inscriptions. pathein itself is a corruption of [[mon langua
Populated_places_in_Ayeyarwady_Region Township_capitals_of_Burma