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Kawthoolei
Kawthoolei (S'gaw Karen: ကီၢ်သူလ့ၤ, lit. 'land without darkness', Pwo Eastern Karen: ခါန်ႋဆူလါင့်; Burmese: ကော့သူးလေ) is the endonym for a proposed state that the Karen nationalists have sought to establish in Myanmar since the beginning of the Karen conflict in the late 1940s. In general, Kawthoolei refers to the aspirational hypothetical state imagined by Karen separatist leaders. The area variously defined as being part of Kawthoolei includes areas where other ethnic groups, such as the Mon people, predominantly live.
Kawthoolei was first described as an autonomous region for the Karen people to be set up following Burma's independence from the British. But after the outbreak of the Burmese civil war in 1949, it evolved into the name of the territories controlled by the Karen National Union. In 1953, the KNU announced the declaration of the Kawthoolei Free State, based in its capital, Papun. In the 1990s, the KNU chairman Bo Mya re-aligned KNU strategy towards protecting a smaller Kawthoolei territory in Eastern Myanmar based in Manerplaw, establishing his vision of an alternate society to military dominated Myanmar.
On 7 January 2026, the splinter armed group Kawthoolei Army declared the independence of the "Republic of Kawthoolei".
The name "Kaw-thu-lay" was used by the government of the Union of Burma in the drafting of its 1948 constitution, which made provisions for an autonomous region for the Karenni people. Questions regarding what a Karen territory would look like and even who counts as part of the Karen ethnicity were questions left unsettled at the time of independence, in part because the Karen National Union had boycotted the elections at the time. While the Karenni and the Shan State were given a right of secession in the constitution, The Karen State was explicitly not allowed to secede. Instead, Article 181 of the Constitution allowed for "Kawthulay" to created as a special region comprising the Salween District and nearby Karen majority areas to be later determined by a special commissioner.
It is unclear as to why the name "Kawthoolei" was adopted. Kawthoolei is not the only name used to refer to a Karen country. The precise meaning of Kawthoolei is disputed even by the Karen themselves. the Pwo Karen use the phrase "Kan Su Line", meaning literally, 'land cool cave'. Kawthoolei, itself, is typically translated as 'A Land without Blemish', but is alternately possible to be interpreted as 'A Land Without Evil' or 'Land of Light'. It can also mean 'Land of the Black Flower' or the 'Garden of Flowers'.
Prior to the 1947 Panglong Conference and the Constitution using the word "Kawthulay", Karen leaders had proposed the formation of an independent state called Karenistan to the British. The British instead had demanded the ethnic groups reach an agreement together.
"Republic of Kawthoolei" corresponds to the territory partially administered by the Karen National Union (KNU), which, as of 2017, comprised the Kayin State and parts of the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, and the Ayeyarwady Division.
The KNU held a conference in Mawlamyine in October 1947 and made the decision with the leadership of about 145,000 people to declare those groups of ethnicities to be the members of the state of Kawthoolei prior to the declaration of independence. The day after independence on 5 January 1948, some Karen leaders had already announced they were seceding as part of the "Republic of Kawthoolei".
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Kawthoolei
Kawthoolei (S'gaw Karen: ကီၢ်သူလ့ၤ, lit. 'land without darkness', Pwo Eastern Karen: ခါန်ႋဆူလါင့်; Burmese: ကော့သူးလေ) is the endonym for a proposed state that the Karen nationalists have sought to establish in Myanmar since the beginning of the Karen conflict in the late 1940s. In general, Kawthoolei refers to the aspirational hypothetical state imagined by Karen separatist leaders. The area variously defined as being part of Kawthoolei includes areas where other ethnic groups, such as the Mon people, predominantly live.
Kawthoolei was first described as an autonomous region for the Karen people to be set up following Burma's independence from the British. But after the outbreak of the Burmese civil war in 1949, it evolved into the name of the territories controlled by the Karen National Union. In 1953, the KNU announced the declaration of the Kawthoolei Free State, based in its capital, Papun. In the 1990s, the KNU chairman Bo Mya re-aligned KNU strategy towards protecting a smaller Kawthoolei territory in Eastern Myanmar based in Manerplaw, establishing his vision of an alternate society to military dominated Myanmar.
On 7 January 2026, the splinter armed group Kawthoolei Army declared the independence of the "Republic of Kawthoolei".
The name "Kaw-thu-lay" was used by the government of the Union of Burma in the drafting of its 1948 constitution, which made provisions for an autonomous region for the Karenni people. Questions regarding what a Karen territory would look like and even who counts as part of the Karen ethnicity were questions left unsettled at the time of independence, in part because the Karen National Union had boycotted the elections at the time. While the Karenni and the Shan State were given a right of secession in the constitution, The Karen State was explicitly not allowed to secede. Instead, Article 181 of the Constitution allowed for "Kawthulay" to created as a special region comprising the Salween District and nearby Karen majority areas to be later determined by a special commissioner.
It is unclear as to why the name "Kawthoolei" was adopted. Kawthoolei is not the only name used to refer to a Karen country. The precise meaning of Kawthoolei is disputed even by the Karen themselves. the Pwo Karen use the phrase "Kan Su Line", meaning literally, 'land cool cave'. Kawthoolei, itself, is typically translated as 'A Land without Blemish', but is alternately possible to be interpreted as 'A Land Without Evil' or 'Land of Light'. It can also mean 'Land of the Black Flower' or the 'Garden of Flowers'.
Prior to the 1947 Panglong Conference and the Constitution using the word "Kawthulay", Karen leaders had proposed the formation of an independent state called Karenistan to the British. The British instead had demanded the ethnic groups reach an agreement together.
"Republic of Kawthoolei" corresponds to the territory partially administered by the Karen National Union (KNU), which, as of 2017, comprised the Kayin State and parts of the Mon State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, and the Ayeyarwady Division.
The KNU held a conference in Mawlamyine in October 1947 and made the decision with the leadership of about 145,000 people to declare those groups of ethnicities to be the members of the state of Kawthoolei prior to the declaration of independence. The day after independence on 5 January 1948, some Karen leaders had already announced they were seceding as part of the "Republic of Kawthoolei".