Bhamo [key], town (1981 est. pop. 14,000), NE Myanmar, on the upper Ayeyarwady River. Located c.900 mi (1,450 km) from the sea, it is the head of navigation on the Ayeyarwady. Bhamo is the market town for the surrounding hill region and is also important for its ruby mines. Formerly significant as a center of overland trade with China, it was linked in World War II by the building of the Stilwell Road to Ledo in Assam, India. Although most of the population is now Kachin, in 1884 the Burmese authorities used Chinese freebooters to repel a Kachin attack on the town.
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