Provinces of Vietnam

Source From Wikipedia English.

On the first tier, Vietnam is divided into fifty-eight provinces (tỉnh) and five municipalities under the command of the central government (Vietnamese: thành phố trực thuộc trung ương). Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in Vietnam. Municipalities are centrally-controlled cities and have special status equal to the provinces.

Provinces and Municipalities of Vietnam
Các tỉnh, thành phố trực thuộc Trung ương Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationVietnam
Created
  • 1976
Number58 provinces
5 municipalities (as of 2020)
Populations338,000 (Bắc Kạn) –9,125,000 (Hồ Chí Minh City)
Areas822.7 km2 (317.6 sq mi) (Bắc Ninh) – 16,493.7 km2 (6,368.3 sq mi) (Nghệ An)
Government
Subdivisions

The provinces are divided into provincial cities (thành phố thuộc tỉnh), municipal city (thành phố trực thuộc thành phố trung ương), towns/borough (thị xã), urban district (quận), rural districts (huyện) as the second-tier units. At the third tier, provincial city or town is divided into ward (phường) and commune (), township (thị trấn).

Governance

Provincial Committee of the Communist Party

Provincial Committee of the Communist Party (Đảng bộ Đảng Cộng sản cấp tỉnh or Tỉnh ủy Đảng Cộng sản) is a provincial subordinate of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Since Vietnam is a one party state, the provincial committee of the Communist Party is the most prominent organ of provincial governance.

Each provincial committee of the Communist Party is headed by a Secretary (Bí thư). The Secretary is de facto leader of the province.

People's Council

The legislative branch of a province is the People's Council (Hội đồng Nhân dân or HDND for short). The People's Council votes on the policy, regulations and orders for development of the province.

Members of People's Council are called delegates or councillors (đại biểu) and are elected by people living within that province. It is equivalent to the legislative National Assembly of Vietnam. The People's Council is headed by a Chairman (Chủ tịch) and a Vice Chairman (Phó Chủ tịch).

The number of councillors varies from province to province, depending on the population of that province. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial governance. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of the situation in Vietnam's national government. Provincial governments are subordinates to the central government.

People's Committee

The executive branch of a province is the People's Committee (Uỷ ban Nhân dân or UBND for short). The People's Committee is responsible for implementing policy and executing laws and orders. The People's Committee is equivalent to the executive Government of Vietnam. People's Committee also manages the provincial departments (Sở) which are equivalent to the Ministries.

Members of the People's Committee are called commissioners (Ủy viên). The People's Committee is headed by a Chairman (Chủ tịch) and Vice Chairmen (Phó Chủ tịch), and consists of between 4 and 7 commissioners. The number of commissioners depends on the population of the province. The chairman and Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee are also councillors of the People's Council.

People's Court

The judiciary branch of a province is the People's Court (Tòa án Nhân dân or TAND for short). The People's Court is responsible for judiciary processes and trials. The People's Court is equivalent to the judiciary Supreme People's Court of Vietnam.

The People's Court is headed by a Chief Judge (Chánh án) and consists of a number of judges (thẩm phán).

Police Department

Provincial police department is under direct command of the Ministry of Public Security.

State Treasury

Provincial Military Command

List and statistics

Provinces of Vietnam

Island areas:

*-Bạch Long Vĩ Island (Bạch Long Vĩ District, Haiphong Municipality [3])

**-Phú Quý Islands (Phú Quý District, Bình Thuận Province [46])

***-Côn Đảo Islands (Côn Đảo District, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province [51])

****-Phú Quốc Island (Phú Quốc City, Kiên Giang Province [58])

*****-Thổ Chu Islands (Thổ Châu Commune, Phú Quốc City, Kiên Giang Province [58])

✱-Paracel Islands (Hoàng Sa District, Đà Nẵng Municipality [4])

✱✱-Spratly Islands (Trường Sa District, Khánh Hòa Province [43])

According to the census results of April 1, 2023, the population of Vietnam is 103,403,000 people. The most populous top-level administrative unit in Vietnam is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities. It has 9,125,000 people living within its official boundaries. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently expanded Hà Nội with 8,146,000 people. Prior to the expansion of the capital city, this rank belonged to Thanh Hóa with 3,689,000 people. The least populous is Bắc Kạn, a mountainous province in the remote northeast with 338,000 people.

In 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 region.

Per capita personal income 2022 (Vietnamese đồng/month): Binh Duong 8,076,000, Ha Noi 6,423,000, Ho Chi Minh City 6,392,000, Dong Nai 6,346,000, Hai Phong 5,897,000, Da Nang 5,807,000, Bac Ninh 5,470,000, Can Tho 5.324,000, Vinh Phuc 5,194,000, Nam Dinh 5,100,000, Hai Duong 4,936,000, Ninh Binh 4,893,000, Ba Ria Vung Tau 4,815,000, Quang Ninh 4,811,000...

GDP Per capita 2022 (Vietnamese đồng/year): Ba Ria Vung Tau 331,100,000, Quang Ninh 197,600,000, Hai Phong 175,000,000, Bac Ninh 170,000,000, Binh Duong 166,000,000...

GDP/GRDP 2022 (Vietnamese đồng/year): Ho Chi Minh City 1,479,000,000,000, Ha Noi 1,196,000,000,000, Binh Duong 459,000,000,000, Dong Nai 435,000,000,000, Ba Ria Vung Tau 390,000,000,000, Hai Phong 365,500,000,000, Quang Ninh 269,000,000,000...

Economic growth (2017–2021): Hai Phong 14,162 %/year, Bac Giang 13,274 %/year, Thanh Hoa 11,338%/ year, Quang Ninh 10,708 %/year, Ninh Thuan 10,216%/ year...

Economic growth (2022): Khanh Hoa 20,7%, Bac Giang 19,3%, Da Nang 14,05%, Hau Giang 13,94%, Hung Yen, 13,41%, Can Tho 12,64%, Thanh Hoa 12,51%, Hai Phong 12,32%,...

Economic growth (2023): Bac Giang 13,45%, Hau Giang 12,27%, Quang Ninh 11,03%, Khanh Hoa 10,35%, Hai Phong 10,34%, Nam Dinh 10,19%, Hung Yen 10,05%, Ha Nam 9,41%, Ninh Thuan 9,40%, Phu Yen 9,16%, Tra Vinh 8,25%, Hai Duong 8,16%, Binh Thuan 8,10%, Ha Tinh 8,05%, Ca Mau 7,83%, Binh Dinh 7,61%, Tuyen Quang 7,46%, Thai Binh 7,37%, An Giang 7,34%, Kon Tum 7,32%, Ninh Binh 7,27%, Bac Lieu 7,24%, Nghe An 7,14%, Thua Thien Hue 7,03%, Thanh Hoa 7,01%, Lang Son 7,00% ...

HDI (2020): Ha Noi 0,799, Ho Chi Minh City 0,795, Ba Ria Vung Tau 0,793, Hai Phong 0,782, Da Nang 0,779, Quang Ninh 0,769, Bac Ninh 0,768,...

The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, April 1, 2023, based on 2023.04.01 Census and 2018 area data from Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Province/city Number
on map
Administrative
center
Area (in km2)
[citation needed]
Population
Density (/km2)
% Urban
HDI (2012)
GDP per capita
(2011 PPP US$)
Region
Bắc Giang province 20 Bắc Giang 3,895.59 1,884,000 463 11.4 0.711 1,909.44 Northeast
Bắc Kạn province 14 Bắc Kạn 4,859.96 338,000 65 20.7 0.685 1,766.68
Cao Bằng province 10 Cao Bằng 6,700.26 576,000 79 23.3 0.653 1,564.27
Hà Giang province 9 Hà Giang 7,929.48 910,000 108 15.9 0.586 1,083.72
Lạng Sơn province 11 Lạng Sơn 8,310.09 828,000 94 20.4 0.707 2,201.98
Phú Thọ province 17 Việt Trì 3,534.56 1,515,000 414 18.1 0.715 1,916.23
Quảng Ninh province 21 Hạ Long 6,178.21 1,387,000 214 64.1 0.784 7,834.55
Thái Nguyên province 15 Thái Nguyên 3,526.64 1,356,000 365 31.9 0.741 2,547.11
Tuyên Quang province 13 Tuyên Quang 5,867.90 1,056,000 134 13.8 0.699 1,948.18
Lào Cai province 8 Lào Cai 6,364.03 898,000 115 23.5 0.670 2,767.55 Northwest
Yên Bái province 12 Yên Bái 6,887.46 950,000 119 19.8 0.657 1,845.51
Điện Biên province 6 Điện Biên Phủ 9,541.25 705,000 63 14.4 0.611 1,589.03
Hòa Bình province 22 Hòa Bình 4,590.57 979,000 186 15.7 0.715 2,343.13
Lai Châu province 7 Lai Châu 9,068.79 527,000 51 17.8 0.560 1,081.84
Sơn La province 16 Sơn La 14,123.49 1,356,000 88 13.8 0.634 1,773.90
Bắc Ninh province 19 Bắc Ninh 822.71 1,447,000 1,664 27.5 0.771 4,451.41 Red River Delta
Hà Nam province 26 Phủ Lý 861.93 945,000 989 16.7 0.724 2,131.93
Hải Dương province 24 Hải Dương 1,668.24 2,003,000 1,134 25.2 0.746 2,513.92
Hưng Yên province 23 Hưng Yên 930.22 1,340,000 1,347 12.2 0.743 2,503.79
Nam Định province 27 Nam Định 1,668.57 1,852,000 1,067 18.2 0.726 1,904.97
Ninh Bình province 28 Ninh Bình 1,386.79 1,102,000 708 21 0.733 2,478.79
Thái Bình province 25 Thái Bình 1,586.35 1,934,000 1,173 10.6 0.738 2,090.86
Vĩnh Phúc province 18 Vĩnh Yên 1,235.87 1,296,000 932 25.6 0.764 3,990.61
Hà Nội city 1 Hoàn Kiếm District 3,358.60 8,146,000 2,398 49.2 0.794 3,923.21
Hải Phòng city 3 Hồng Bàng District 1,561.76 2,138,000 1,299 45.6 0.773 3,849.18
Hà Tĩnh province 31 Hà Tĩnh 5,990.67 1,402,000 215 19.5 0.725 2,117.32 North Central Coast
Nghệ An province 30 Vinh 16,481.41 3,399,000 202 14.7 0.715 2,379.59
Quảng Bình province 32 Đồng Hới 8,065.3 992,000 112 21 0.716 2,203.01
Quảng Trị province 33 Đông Hà 4,621.72 687,000 137 30.9 0.696 2,672.10
Thanh Hóa province 29 Thanh Hóa 11,114.65 3,689,000 328 14.9 0.716 2,434.69
Thừa Thiên-Huế province 34 Huế 4,902.44 1,257,000 230 49.5 0.735 3,072.58
Đắk Lắk province 41 Buôn Ma Thuột 13,030.50 2,016,000 143 24.7 0.708 2,555.78 Central Highlands
Đắk Nông province 42 Gia Nghĩa 6,509.27 670,000 96 15.2 0.710 3,000.70
Gia Lai province 38 Pleiku 15,510.99 1,586,000 98 29 0.689 3,023.20
Kon Tum province 37 Kon Tum 9,674.18 589,000 56 32 0.656 2,075.42
Lâm Đồng province 44 Đà Lạt 9,783.34 1,390,000 133 39.2 0.735 3,331.80
Bình Định province 39 Quy Nhon 6,066.21 1,679,000 245 31.9 0.742 3,089.10 South Central Coast
Bình Thuận province 46 Phan Thiết 7,943.93 1,498,000 155 38.1 0.732 3,090.17
Khánh Hòa province 43 Nha Trang 5,137.79 1,371,000 240 42.2 0.752 4,180.68
Ninh Thuận province 45 Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm 3,355.34 720,000 176 35.8 0.695 2,402.34
Phú Yên province 40 Tuy Hòa 5,023.42 1,056,000 174 28.7 0.728 2,541.80
Quảng Nam province 35 Tam Kỳ 10,574.86 1,697,000 141 25.4 0.745 3,192.34
Quảng Ngãi province 36 Quảng Ngãi 5,155.78 1,355,000 239 16.3 0.718 3,516.44
Đà Nẵng city 4 Hải Châu District 1,284.88 1,294,000 883 87.2 0.803 4,811.58
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province 51 Bà Rịa 1,980.98 1,303,000 580 58.4 0.901 36,786.39 Southeast
Bình Dương province 49 Thủ Dầu Một 2,694.64 2,564,000 901 80 0.751 3,663.54
Bình Phước province 47 Đồng Xoài 6,876.76 1,313,000 145 23.7 0.734 3,606.56
Đồng Nai province 50 Biên Hòa 5,863.60 3,227,000 528 32.9 0.763 3,485.16
Tây Ninh province 48 Tây Ninh 4,041.25 1,207,000 289 17.7 0.744 4,058.65
Hồ Chí Minh City 2 District 1 2,061.41 9,125,000 4,363 79.2 0.820 7,147.09
An Giang province 56 Long Xuyên 3,536.68 2,057,000 540 31.6 0.730 3,791.46 Mekong Delta
Bạc Liêu province 62 Bạc Liêu 2,669.01 1,105,000 340 27.7 0.742 3,701.98
Bến Tre province 55 Bến Tre 2,394.81 1,331,000 538 9.8 0.750 2,978.48
Cà Mau province 63 Cà Mau 5,221.19 1,369,000 229 22.7 0.743 3,121.66
Đồng Tháp province 53 Cao Lãnh 3,383.85 1,838,000 473 19.1 0.718 2,240.56
Hậu Giang province 59 Vị Thanh 1,621.70 853,000 452 25.4 0.743 2,943.84
Kiên Giang province 58 Rạch Giá 6,348.78 1,789,000 271 28.3 0.750 4,336.43
Long An province 52 Tân An 4,494.94 1,730,000 376 16.1 0.764 4,012.39
Sóc Trăng province 61 Sóc Trăng 3,311.88 1,256,000 362 32.4 0.715 2,835.46
Tiền Giang province 54 Mỹ Tho 2,510.61 1,898,000 703 14 0.770 3,781.77
Trà Vinh province 60 Trà Vinh 2,358.26 1,067,000 428 17.2 0.717 2,662.89
Vĩnh Long province 57 Vĩnh Long 1,525.73 1,100,000 670 16.6 0.757 3,360.01
Cần Thơ city 5 Ninh Kiều District 1,438.96 1,456,000 858 69.7 0.788 6,260.52

See also List of postal codes in Vietnam

Regions

 
Regions of Vietnam

The Vietnamese government often groups the various provinces into eight regions, which are often grouped into three macro-regions: Northern, Central and Southern. These regions are not always used, and alternative classifications are possible. The regions include:

Regions of Vietnam
Macro-region Region Provinces
included
Area
(km2)
Population
(April 1, 2023)
Population
density
(people /km2)
Notes
Northern Vietnam
(Bắc Bộ, Bắc Kỳ, Bắc Phần, Miền Bắc)
Northwest
(Tây Bắc Bộ)
44,301.1 5,415,000 100.37 Contains inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern region. Two of them are along Vietnam's border with Laos, and three border China (Dien Bien borders both China and Laos).
Northeast
(Đông Bắc Bộ)
50,684.1 9,850,000 169.05 Contains most of the mountainous provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Four of them are along Vietnam's border with China.
Red River Delta
(Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng)
14,957.7 22,203,000 1,318.00 Contains the small but populous provinces along the mouth of the Red River. The Red River Delta has the smallest area but highest population and population density of all regions. It is also the only region without any land borders with neighbouring countries.
Central Vietnam
(Trung Bộ, Trung Kỳ, Trung Phần, Miền Trung)
North Central
(Bắc Trung Bộ)
51,455.6 11,426,000 203.53 Contains the coastal provinces in the northern half of Vietnam's narrow central part. They all stretch from the coast in the east to Laos in the west.
South Central Coast
(Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ)
44,376.8 10,670,000 206.98 Contains the coastal provinces in the southern half of Vietnam's central part. One province borders Laos.
Central Highlands
(Tây Nguyên)
54,641.0 6,251,000 102.63 Contains the mountainous provinces to the west of south-central Vietnam. There are a significant number of ethnic minorities in the region. One province is along Vietnam's border with Laos, and four border Cambodia (Kon Tum borders both Laos and Cambodia).
Southern Vietnam
(Nam Bộ, Nam Kỳ, Nam Phần, Miền Nam)
Southeast
(Đông Nam Bộ, Miền Đông)
23,590.7 18,739,000 683.65 Contains those parts of lowland southern Vietnam which are north of the Mekong delta. Two provinces border Cambodia.
Mekong River Delta
(Đồng Bằng Sông Cửu Long)
or Southwest
(Tây Nam Bộ, Miền Tây)
40,576.0 18,849,000 434.00 Vietnam's southernmost region, mostly containing small but populous provinces in the delta of the Mekong. It is sometimes referred to as the Southwest region (Tây Nam Bộ). Four provinces border Cambodia.

^† Municipality (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương)

Historical provinces of Vietnam

  • Ái Châu – existed during the third Chinese domination.
  • An Xuyên – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Biên Hòa – existed from 1832 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Bình Trị Thiên – administrative grouping of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên - Huế provinces between 1976 and 1992.
  • Bình Tuy – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Chợ Lớn – existed from 1900 until 1957.
  • Vĩnh Phú – administrative grouping of Vĩnh Phúc and Phú Thọ provinces between 1968 and 1996.
  • Chương Thiện – existed from 1961 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Cửu Long – administrative grouping of Vĩnh Long and Vĩnh Bình provinces between 1976 and 1992.
  • Bắc Thái – administrative grouping of Bắc Kạn and Thái Nguyên provinces between 1965 and 1996.
  • Định Tường – existed from 1832 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Gia Định – existed from 1832, became Hồ Chí Minh City following the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Gò Công – existed from 1900 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Hà Bắc – administrative grouping of Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh provinces between 1962 and 1996.
  • Hà Nam Ninh – administrative grouping of Hà Nam, Nam Định and Ninh Bình provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Hà Tây – existed from 1965 to 1975 and 1991 until 2008, when it was merged into Hà Nội.
  • Hà Đông – existed from 1904 until 1965.
  • Hải Hưng – administrative grouping of Hải Dương and Hưng Yên provinces between 1968 and 1996.
  • Hậu Nghĩa – existed from 1963 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Long Khánh – existed from 1956, became Đồng Nai province following the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Minh Hải – administrative grouping of Cà Mau and Bạc Liêu provinces between 1976 and 1996.
  • Nghệ Tĩnh – administrative grouping of Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh provinces between 1976 and 1991.
  • Phú Bổn – in 1962 split from Pleiku province until 1976.
  • Phước Long – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Phước Thành – existed from 1959 until 1965.
  • Nghĩa Bình – administrative grouping of Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định provinces between 1975 and 1989.
  • Phước Tuy – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Quảng Tín – existed from 1962 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Sa Đéc – existed from 1900 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Sông Bé – administrative grouping of Bình Dương and Bình Phước provinces between 1976 and 1997.
  • Tân An – existed from 1900 until 1956.
  • Vĩnh Bình – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Quảng Nam - Đà Nẵng/Quảng Đà – administrative grouping of Quảng Nam provinces and Đà Nẵng city, between 1975 and 1996.
  • Phú Khánh – administrative grouping of Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa provinces between 1975 and 1989.
  • Gia Lai - Kon Tum – administrative grouping of Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Thuận Hải – administrative grouping of Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Quảng Đức – existed from 1959 until 1976.
  • Tuyên Đức – existed from 1958 until 1976.
  • Hà Sơn Binh – administrative grouping of Hà Tây (old) and Hòa Bình provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Hoàng Liên Sơn – administrative grouping of Lào Cai and Yên Bái provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Hưng Hóa – existed from 1831 until 1903.

See also

Notes

References

External links