Kayah in eastern Myanmar is a region of mirror lakes and emerald fields, studded with soaring, craggy mountains. Nestled between Shan and Kayin, Kayah is Myanmar’s smallest state by both geographical area and population — just 286,627 people live here — but it is also one of the country’s most diverse. The main ethnic groups are the Kayah, Kayaw and Kayan (sometimes called by the Shan term Padaung, though most prefer Kayan).

With their towering brass neck coils, Kayan women are some of Myanmar’s most recognisable people. Traditionally the rings are stacked higher as a girl goes through adolescence and are never taken off. The heavy loops give the appearance of lengthening the Kayan women’s necks, but in fact compress their shoulders. There are many stories to explain the practice, including to protect against tiger attacks and to ward off unwanted suitors from other ethnic groups. 

The rings are still regarded as a proud symbol of Kayan heritage, although fewer and fewer women opt to wear them. They have also generated controversy. War and economic hardship caused tens of thousands of people from Kayah to flee across the state’s border with Thailand during the years of military rule. The striking appearance of the Kayan women among this diaspora led to the creation of special tourist villages, likened to human zoos, where the women are put on display to be photographed by foreign visitors. 

Despite its small size, Kayah has some eight ethnic armed groups operating on its territory and conflict continues to blight the region.

Three quarters of Kayah’s population live in rural areas and agriculture is the economic backbone of the state. Land-grabbing is a serious and pernicious problem in the state, where farming communities have struggled to stand up to powerful interests, particularly the national military.

Kayah’s major crops are rice, maize, sesame and groundnuts. Two of these can be combined to make arguably the state’s favourite product: rice wine. 

Myanmar’s biggest and oldest hydropower project, Lawpita, is also in Kayah. Built in the 1960s the Lawpita plant was generating about a fifth of Myanmar’s energy supply as recently as 2014. But it is hugely controversial among local people, who have seen little benefit from the plant. The vast majority of the energy produced at Lawpita goes to big central cities; Yangon and Mandalay. 

There are now major efforts to electrify Kayah, but just two years ago, less than 50% of people had electricity to power their household lighting. Small solar panels, which can be bought cheaply at local markets, accounted for 17% and candles 20%.

Lawpita and other major infrastructure have often been accompanied by heavy militarisation and the spread of land mines. 

The state capital Loikaw loosely translates as “mountainous island” in Shan. The city’s most famous sight, the Buddhist Taung Kwe Paya, is perched high on a cluster of these vertiginous formations.

A little under half of Kayah’s population is Buddhist, 46% are Christian — both Catholic and Baptist  — and almost 2% identify are animist. The 2014 census found small Hindu and Muslim communities, while another 1% listed their religion as ‘other’.

The state was virtually closed to outsiders until recently and many areas are still restricted to foreigners. The latest Lonely Planet guide to Myanmar has a four-page entry on Kayah, one of which is dedicated to relating the difficulty the author had actually getting into the state, a cautionary tale of tortuous bureaucracy.  

Nevertheless, Kayah’s natural beauty, great cultural diversity and laid back charm is likely to be a significant draw for visitors as Myanmar’s tourism industry expands its reach.