Magway Region million years old were excavated in the Pondaung and Ponnya areas in Magway Region, leading the government to proclaim that Myanmar as "the birthplace of humanity in the world," a claim which is unsupported by anthropologists. An ancient city of the Pyu, Peikthano-myo, about 2000 years old, is located in Taungdwingyi Township, Magway Region. The history of Magway Region mirrors that of the other divisions of central Burma. Magway Region is made up of the districts of Magwe, Minbu, Thayet, Pakokku and Gangaw comprising 25 townships and 1,696 ward village-tracts. The capital is the city of Magwe (1994 population estimated
Bago, Negros Occidental under which a native prince Mapagic died according to the writings of a Spanish historian, Diego de Povedano. Another version, however, noted that the name came from the shrub, "bago-bago" that grew abundantly in the riverbanks. Around the 17th and 18th Centuries, settlers from Molo, Iloilo formed a little village at the mouth of Bago River, presently a rich source of sand and gravel. The village grew into a large settlement prompting its elders to pass a petition for its conversion into a town or "pueblo", which was granted in 1800. Its history has its beginning on September 6, 1571