Manerplaw is a city in the Kayin State of Burma and is also the suggested capital of the proposed Kawthoolei state that the Karen people of Burma have been trying to establish since the late 1940s. The headquarters of the Karen National Union were located in Manerplaw until January 1995.
The Kawthoolei region is currently part of the Kayin State of Burma. The name Kawthoolei in the Karen language means the Green Land, although according to Martin Smith, an expert in the field, it can also be translated as the Land Burnt Black; implying that it must be won back by fighting. The proposed Kawthoolei state encompasses most of the current Kayin State and it also includes parts of the Ayeyarwady River delta, an area that the Karen people have claimed on occasion.
Manerplaw was never a city but the HQ for the Karen National Union (KNU)and the Karen National Liberation Army KNLA). Nevertheless, it had an impressive social organization and was a contact point between many ethnic groups.