The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

A model poses at Checkpoint Charlie, a historic place in the German capital to promote the fashion magazine “Sous” on June 12, 2012. (Photo by Maurizio Gambarini)

A girl presents the new Oktoberfest beer festival mug in a Oktoberfest tent in Munich, southern Germany, on August 21, 2014. The world famous beer festival Oktoberfest will takes place from September 20 to October 5, 2014. (Photo by Christof Stache/AFP Photo)

A Buddhist monk uses a traditional needle to tattoo the body of a man at Wat Bang Phra in Nakhon Pathom province on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, March 18, 2016. Believers from across Thailand travel to the monastery to have their bodies adorned with tattoos and to pay their respects to the temple's master tattooist. They believe the tattoos have mystical powers, ward off bad luck and protect them from harm. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Athletes from Australia's Olympic team going to the 2016 Olympics in Rio present their uniforms alongside Brazilian Samba dancer Sashya Jay at an official unveiling ceremony at Sydney's Bondi Beach, March 30, 2016. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

A roadside ice-cream vendor waits for customers at a market in New Delhi, India, April 7, 2016. The Indian economy is characterized by the existence of a vast majority of informal or unorganized labor employment. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

A picture made available on 14 July 2016 shows Greyhound dogs racing at the Wentworth Park Stadium in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 13 July 2016. Greyhound racing has returned to Sydney's Wentworth Park and other NSW tracks for the first time since the state government announced plans to ban it. NSW Premier Mike Baird announced last week plans to shut down the sport in NSW following a Special Commission of Inquiry report that found “chilling” evidence of systemic animal cruelty within the industry. (Photo by David Moir/EPA)

Children try to push an injured and weak dolphin back into the water after it washed ashore during bad weather and high tide on a beach in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia August 12, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Idhad Zakaria/Reuters/Antara Foto)