{| class=”wikitable sortable”
{| class=”wikitable sortable”
|+ Region/State Codes
|+ Region/State Codes
! Region/State !! Code
! Region/State !! Code
|-
|-
| [[Kachin State]] || 1
| [[Kachin State]] || 1
|-
|-
| [[Kayah State]] || 2
| [[Kayah State]] || 2
|-
|-
| [[Kayin State]] || 3
| [[Kayin State]] || 3
|-
|-
| [[Chin State]] || 4
| [[Chin State]] || 4
|-
|-
| [[Sagaing Region]] || 5
| [[Sagaing Region]] || 5
|-
|-
| [[Tanintharyi Region]] || 6
| [[Tanintharyi Region]] || 6
|-
| [[Bago Region]] || 7
|-
| [[Magway Region]] || 8
|-
| [[Mandalay Region]] || 9
|-
| [[Mon State]] || 10
|-
| [[Rakhine State]] || 11
|-
| [[Yangon Region]] || 12
|-
| Eastern [[Shan State]] || 13
|-
| Southern [[Shan State]] || 14
|-
| Northern [[Shan State]] || 15
|-
| [[Ayeyarwady Region]] || 16
|-
| [[Naypyidaw Union Territory]] || 17
|}
|}
Myanmar’s road network consists of five types of roads:[1]
- Expressways
- National Highways (also known as Union Highways)
- Main Arterials
- Sub Arterials
- Asian (ASEAN) Highways
Myanmar’s expressway network is undergoing gradual modernization, with the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway (E 1) serving as its backbone. Completed in 2010, the E 1 is a 590-kilometer, four-lane highway linking the country’s largest city Yangon with the central hub Mandalay via Naypyidaw, the capital. Beyond the E 1, Myanmar has outlined plans for five additional expressways.[2]
In 2021, the Ministry of Construction published a list of 50 national highways.[3] This numbering system is designed as a grid, with numbers increasing from south to north. There is no clear system within this grid, but the numbers are somewhat zoned. However, certain numbers do not run east-west or north-south. Some routes do not actually exist as drivable road connections.
National Highways in Myanmar
Old Numbering System
[edit]
In the past, there was a different system where single-digit roads formed the main routes, with the 1 and 2 between Yangon and Mandalay, with other single-digit roads branching off from them, and the two-digit roads branching off from the single-digit roads. This created a zoned system with three-digit numbers as well.
The main highways are as follows:
- 1 – Runs from Yangon to Mandalay, passing through Bago, Taungoo, Pyinmana and Meiktila.
- 2 – Runs from Yangon to Mandalay, passing through Pyay, Magwe, Kyaukpadaung and Myingyan.
- 3 – Runs from Mandalay to Muse, on the border with China, passing through Lashio.
- 4 – Runs from Meiktila to Tachileik, on the border with Thailand, passing through Taunggyi and Kengtung.
- 5 – Runs from Taungoo to Hopong, passing through Loikaw.
- 6 – Runs from Yangon to Pathein.
- 7 – Runs from Mandalay to Moreh, on the border with India, passing through Shwebo and Kale.
- 8 – Runs from Payagyi to Myeik, passing through Moulmein, Ye and Dawei.
- 17– Runs from Tada-U to Myingyan, passing through Gway Kone, and Myo Thar.
- 31 – Runs from Mandalay to Myitkyina, passing through Mogok and Bhamo.
Main arterials are designated with one to two digits numbers. The numbering of arterials are numbered according to their direction: north-south roads are assigned odd numbers, increasing from west to east; east-west roads are assigned even numbers, increasing from south to north.[4]
Sub arterials road numbers consist of two parts: the first part is the region/state code and the second part is the road code. The road number are numbered according to their direction: north-south roads are assigned odd numbers, increasing from west to east; east-west roads are assigned even numbers, increasing from south to north. Roads numbered 1 to 99 are within the same region/state, and roads numbered 201 to 299 are connecting two regions/states.[5]
There are seven Asian Highway routes within Myanmar, three of which are also ASEAN highways.[6]
Myanmar faces severe rural accessibility challenges, with around two-thirds of its rural population physically isolated for part or all of the year. The country has about 64,000 villages but only 75,000 km of all-season roads—roughly one kilometer per village, far below what is needed for universal access. An estimated 20 million people, or 40% of the population, live in villages without all-season road access. Of these, 9.2 million people in 25,000 villages lack any road connection at all, while another 11.3 million in 20,000 villages are linked only by roads that become impassable during the rainy season.
Using the Rural Access Index (RAI), which measures the share of the rural population living within 2 km of an all-season road, Myanmar scores only 36%, the second lowest in Asia after Afghanistan. This means 64% of rural residents—about 24 million people—must travel more than 2 km to reach an all-season road. Access varies widely across regions: Mon State has relatively high access (73%), while Chin State (11%), Kachin State, Kayin State, and Rakhine State (15–18%) face extremely poor connectivity, comparable only to some of the least connected countries in Africa.[7]
