Provinces of Vietnam

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Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces (Vietnamese: tỉnh) and 5 municipalities existing at the same level as provinces (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương).

The provinces are divided into districts (huyện), provincial cities (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh), and county-level towns (thị xã), which are subdivided into commune-level towns (thị trấn) or communes ().

The municipalities are divided into rural districts (huyện) and urban districts (quận), which are subdivided into wards (phường).

Coat of arms of Vietnam.svg
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Vietnam
Administrative divisions
of Vietnam
First level
Province
(Tinh)
Municipality
(thành phố trực thuộc trung ương)
Second level
Provincial city
(thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh)
District
(huyện)
District-level town
(thị xã)
Urban district
(quận)
Third level
Commune-level town
(thị trấn)
Commune
()
Ward
(phường)

Contents

Government

Vietnamese provinces are controlled by a People's Council, elected by the inhabitants. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial government. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of the situation in Vietnam's national government. Provincial governments are expected to be subordinate to the central government.

People's Council

Each People's Council has a Standing Council made up of the Chairman and his/her deputies, who are elected from among the representatives in the People's Council. The Standing Council has a number of functions, including representing the People's Council when it is not in session. There are also a number of other committees established to deal with specific issues. All provinces have an Economic and Budgetary Committee, a Social and Cultural Committee, and a Legal Committee. If a province has many inhabitants who are not ethnically Vietnamese, there will probably be a Committee for Ethnic Affairs as well.

Citizens are eligible to vote in People's Council elections from when they are aged eighteen, but cannot stand for election until they are aged twenty-one. To become a candidate, one can either nominate oneself or be selected by the Fatherland Front. Nominated candidates are then voted on at "voters' conferences", which are organized by the Fatherland Front. Attendees determine, sometimes by secret balot and sometimes by a show of hands, whether candidates meet the criteria set down by the People's Council. Candidates in whom the conference does not "express trust" cannot stand for election.

The number of candidates elected per voting district is between one and three. There must be more candidates standing in each district than there are seats to be filled.

People's Committee

The People's Committee is, as mentioned previously, the executive arm of a provincial government, and is responsible for formulating and implementing policy. It may be thought of as the equivalent of a cabinet. The People's Committee will have a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, and between nine and eleven ordinary members.

List and statistics

A clickable map of Vietnam exhibiting its 58 provinces and 5 centrally controlled municipalities.
Lai Chau Province Ha Giang Province Lao Cai Province Dien Bien Province China Laos Thailand Cambodia Son La Province Yen Bai Province Cao Bang Province Bac Kan Province Tuyen Quang Province Lang Son Province Quang Ninh Province Thai Nguyen Province Phu Tho Province Hai Phong Province Thai Binh Province Nam Dinh Province Bac Giang Province Ha Noi Hoa Binh Province Ninh Binh Province Thanh Hoa Province Nghe An Province Ha Tinh Province Quang Binh Province Quang Tri Province Da Nang Binh Dinh Province Quang Nam Province Quang Ngai Province Kon Tum Province Gia Lai Province Thua Thien-Hue Province Dak Lak Province Phu Yen Province Khanh Hoa Province Dak Nong Province Ninh Thuan Province Lam Dong Province Binh Thuan Province Binh Phuoc Province Tay Ninh Province Binh Duong Province Dong Nai Province Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province Ho Chi Minh City Long An Province Don Thap Province An Giang Province Kien Giang Province Ca Mau Province Tien Giang Province Can Tho Province Vinh Long Province Ben Tre Province Tra Vinh Province Hau Giang Province Soc Trang Province Bac Lieu Province Vinh Phuc Province Ha Noi Bac Ninh Province Hai Duong Province Hung Yen Province Ha Nam Province Vinh Phuc Province Ha Noi Bac Ninh Province Hai Duong Province Hung Yen Province Ha Nam ProvinceA clickable map of Vietnam exhibiting its provinces.
About this image

According to the census results of April 1, 2009, the population of Vietnam is 85,789,573 people. The most populous top-level administrative unit in Vietnam is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities. It has 7,123,340 people living within its official boundaries. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently-expanded Hà Nội with 6,448,837 people. Prior to the expansion of the capital city, this rank belonged to Thanh Hóa with 3,400,239 people. The least populous is Bắc Kạn, a mountainous province in the remote northeast with 294,660 people.1

In terms of land area, the largest province is Nghệ An, which runs from the city of Vinh up the wide Sông Cả valley. The smallest is Bắc Ninh, located in the populous Red River Delta.

The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, April 1, 2009.2

Province/City Capital Area (km²)
2
Population
2
Density (/km²)
2
% Urban
2
Region
Hà Nội (city) ----- 3,119.0 6,451,909 2,068.6 41.0 Red River Delta
Ha Giang Province Hà Giang 7,945.8 724,537 91.2 11.6 Northeastern
Cao Bang Province Cao Bằng 6,724.6 507,183 75.4 16.9 Northeastern
Bac Kan Province Bắc Kạn 4,868.4 293,826 60.4 16.1 Northeastern
Tuyen Quang Province Tuyên Quang 5,870.4 724,821 123.5 13.0 Northeastern
Lao Cai Province Lào Cai 6,383.9 614,595 96.3 21.0 Northeastern
Dien Bien Province Điện Biên Phủ 9,562.5 490,306 51.3 15.0 Northwestern
Lai Chau Province Lai Châu 9,112.3 370,502 40.7 14.2 Northwestern
Son La Province Sơn La 14,174.4 1,076,055 75.9 13.8 Northwestern
Yen Bai Province Yên Bái 6,899.5 740,397 107.3 18.8 Northeastern
Hoa Binh Province Hòa Bình 4,684.2 785,217 167.6 15.0 Northwestern
Thai Nguyen Province Thái Nguyên 3,546.6 1,123,116 316.7 25.6 Northeastern
Lang Son Province Lạng Sơn 8,331.2 732,515 87.9 19.2 Northeastern
Quang Ninh Province Hạ Long 6,099.0 1,144,988 187.7 51.9 Northeastern
Bac Giang Province Bắc Giang 3,827.4 1,554,131 406.1 9.4 Northeastern
Phu Tho Province Việt Trì 3,528.4 1,316,389 373.1 15.8 Northeastern
Vinh Phuc Province Vĩnh Yên 1,373.2 999,786 728.1 22.4 Red River Delta
Bac Ninh Province Bắc Ninh 823.1 1,024,472 1,244.7 23.5 Red River Delta
Hai Duong Province Hải Dương 1,652.8 1,705,059 1,031.6 19.0 Red River Delta
Hải Phòng (city) ----- 1,520.7 1,837,173 1,208.1 46.1 Red River Delta
Hung Yen Province Hưng Yên 923.5 1,127,903 1,221.3 12.1 Red River Delta
Thai Binh Province Thái Bình 1,546.5 1,781,842 1,152.1 9.7 Red River Delta
Ha Nam Province Phủ Lý 859.7 784,045 912.0 9.5 Red River Delta
Nam Dinh Province Nam Định 1,650.8 1,828,111 1,107.4 17.6 Red River Delta
Ninh Binh Province Ninh Bình 1,392.4 898,999 645.6 17.9 Red River Delta
Thanh Hoa Province Thanh Hóa 11,136.3 3,400,595 305.4 10.4 North Central Coast
Nghe An Province Vinh 16,498.5 2,912,041 176.5 12.9 North Central Coast
Ha Tinh Province Hà Tĩnh 6,026.5 1,227,038 203.6 14.9 North Central Coast
Quang Binh Province Đồng Hới 8,065.3 844,893 104.8 15.0 North Central Coast
Quang Tri Province Đông Hà 4,760.1 598,324 125.7 27.4 North Central Coast
Thua Thien-Hue Province Huế 5,065.3 1,087,420 214.7 36.0 North Central Coast
Đà Nẵng (city) ----- 1,257.3 887,435 705.8 86.9 South Central Coast
Quang Nam Province Tam Kỳ 10,438.3 1,422,319 136.3 18.6 South Central Coast
Quang Ngai Province Quảng Ngãi 5,152.7 1,216,773 236.1 14.6 South Central Coast
Binh Dinh Province Qui Nhơn 6,039.6 1,486,465 246.1 27.7 South Central Coast
Phu Yen Province Tuy Hòa 5,060.6 862,231 170.4 21.8 South Central Coast
Khanh Hoa Province Nha Trang 5,217.6 1,157,604 221.9 39.9 South Central Coast
Ninh Thuan Province Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm 3,363.1 564,993 168.0 36.1 South Central Coast
Binh Thuan Province Phan Thiet 7,836.9 1,167,023 148.9 39.3 South Central Coast
Kon Tum Province Kon Tum 9,690.5 430,133 44.4 33.5 Central Highlands
Gia Lai Province Pleiku 15,536.9 1,274,412 82.0 28.6 Central Highlands
Dak Lak Province Buôn Ma Thuột 13,139.2 1,733,624 131.9 24.0 Central Highlands
Dak Nong Province Gia Nghĩa 6,516.9 489,382 75.1 14.7 Central Highlands
Lam Dong Province Đà Lạt 9,776.1 1,187,574 121.5 37.8 Central Highlands
Binh Phuoc Province Đồng Xoài 6,883.4 873,598 126.9 16.5 Southeastern
Tay Ninh Province Tây Ninh 4,035.9 1,066,513 264.3 15.6 Southeastern
Binh Duong Province Thủ Dầu Một 2,696.2 1,481,550 549.5 29.9 Southeastern
Dong Nai Province Biên Hòa 5,903.9 2,486,154 421.1 33.2 Southeastern
Ba Ria–Vung Tau Province Vũng Tàu 1,989.6 996,682 500.9 49.9 Southeastern
Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (city) ----- 2,095.1 7,162,864 3,418.9 83.3 Southeastern
Long An Province Tân An 4,493.8 1,436,066 319.6 17.4 Mekong Delta
Tien Giang Province Mỹ Tho 2,484.2 1,672,271 673.2 13.7 Mekong Delta
Ben Tre Province Bến Tre 2,360.2 1,255,946 532.1 9.9 Mekong Delta
Tra Vinh Province Trà Vinh 2,295.1 1,003,012 437.0 15.3 Mekong Delta
Vinh Long Province Vĩnh Long 1,479.1 1,024,707 692.8 15.3 Mekong Delta
Dong Thap Province Cao Lãnh 3,376.4 1,666,467 493.9 17.8 Mekong Delta
An Giang Province Long Xuyên 3,536.8 2,142,709 605.8 28.4 Mekong Delta
Kien Giang Province Rạch Giá 6,348.3 1,688,248 265.9 27.0 Mekong Delta
Cần Thơ (city) ----- 1,401.6 1,188,435 847.9 65.9 Mekong Delta
Hau Giang Province Vị Thanh 1,601.1 757,300 473.0 19.6 Mekong Delta
Soc Trang Province Sóc Trăng 3,312.3 1,292,853 390.3 19.4 Mekong Delta
Bac Lieu Province Bạc Liêu 2,584.1 856,518 331.5 26.1 Mekong Delta
Ca Mau Province Cà Mau 5,331.7 1,206,938 226.4 20.4 Mekong Delta

See also List of postal codes in Vietnam

Regions

VietnameseRegions.png

The Vietnamese government often groups the various provinces into eight regions. These regions are not always used, and alternative classifications are possible. The regions include:

Northwestern (Tây Bắc Bộ) contains four inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern part. Two of them border with Laos, and one borders China.

Northeastern (Đông Bắc Bộ) contains eleven provinces (many of which are mountainous) that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands.

Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng) contains nine provinces that are small but populous – based around the Red River, including the national capital Hanoi, and the municipality of Hải Phòng (both of which are independent of any provincial government).

North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ) contains six provinces in the northern half of Vietnam's narrow central part. All provinces in this region stretch from the coast in the east to Laos in the west.

South Central Coast (Nam Trung Bộ) contains five coastal provinces in the southern half of Vietnam's central part. Vietnam is wider at this point than in the North Central Coast region, so the inland areas are separate provinces. The region also includes the independent municipality of Đà Nẵng.

Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên) contains the five inland provinces (much of whose terrain is mountainous) of south-central Vietnam, mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities, although many Viet people live there as well.

Southeastern (Đông Nam Bộ) contains those parts of lowland southern Vietnam which are north of the Mekong Delta. There are seven provinces, plus the independent municipality of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

Mekong Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Cửu Long) is Vietnam's southernmost region, and contains twelve mostly small but populous provinces in the delta of the Mekong, plus the independent municipality of Cần Thơ. The other name of this region is Southwestern (Tây Nam Bộ).

Historical provinces of Vietnam

See also

References

External links