Wikipedia

Provinces of Vietnam

"Tinh" redirects here. For the Etruscan god, see Tinia.

Vietnam is divided into 34 first-level subdivisions, comprising 28 provinces (tỉnh) and six municipalities under the command of the central government (Vietnamese: thành phố trực thuộc trung ương). A proposal reported in April 2025 show the number of provinces and cities to be reduced to 34 through mergers.[1][2]

Provinces and municipalities of Vietnam
Tỉnh và thành phố trực thuộc trung ương Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationVietnam
Created
  • 2 July 1976
Number28 provinces
6 municipalities (as of 2025)
Populations512,601 (Lai Châu) –14,002,958 (Ho Chi Minh City)
Areas2,514.81 km2 (970.97 sq mi) (Hưng Yên) – 24,233.07 km2 (9,356.44 sq mi) (Lâm Đồng)
Government
Subdivisions

Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in Vietnam.[3] Municipalities are centrally-controlled cities and have special status equal to that of the provinces.

The provinces and municipalities are divided into communes (xã), wards (phường) and special administrative regions (đặc khu) as the second-tier units.

Governance

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Provincial Committee of the Communist Party

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Provincial Committee of the Communist Party (Đảng bộ Đảng Cộng sản cấp tỉnh or Tỉnh ủy Đảng Cộng sản, simply Tỉnh ủy - Provincial Committee for short) 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

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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 the 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

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Further information: People's Committee (Vietnam)

The executive branch of a province is the People's Committee (Ủy 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

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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

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

State Treasury

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Provincial Military Command

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List and statistics

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Provinces of Vietnam

Island areas:

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

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

-Phú Quý Islands (Phú Quý district, Lâm Đồng province [28])

-Phú Quốc Island (Phú Quốc City, An Giang province [32])

-Thổ Chu Islands (Phú Quốc City, An Giang province [32])

-Côn Đảo Islands (Côn Đảo district, Ho Chi Minh City [2])

-Spratly Islands (Trường Sa district, Khánh Hòa province [27])

According to the census results of April 1, 2019, the population of Vietnam was 96,208,984.[4] The most populous top-level administrative unit is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities, having 9,125,000 people living within its official boundary. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently expanded Hà Nội with 8,146,000 people.[5] 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.

The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, according to the 2023 Census and the 2018 area data from Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.[6][7] Municipalities are written in bold.

Province/city Number
on map 		Administrative
center 		Area (in km2)
[citation needed] 		Population
[6] 		Density (/km2)
[5][note 1] 		HDI (2012)
[8] 		GDP per capita
(2011 PPP US$)[8] 		Region
Cao Bằng province 10 Thục Phán ward Northeast
Lạng Sơn province 11 Lương Văn Tri ward
Phú Thọ province 15 Việt Trì ward
Quảng Ninh province 17 Hạ Long ward
Thái Nguyên province 13 Phan Đình Phùng ward
Tuyên Quang province 12 Minh Xuân ward
Lào Cai province 9 Yên Bái ward Northwest
Điện Biên province 7 Điện Biên Phủ ward
Lai Châu province 8 Tân Phong ward
Sơn La province 14 Chiềng Cơi ward
Bắc Ninh province 16 Tân Tiến ward Red River Delta
Hưng Yên province 18 Phố Hiến ward
Ninh Bình province 19 Hoa Lư ward
Hanoi 1 Hoàn Kiếm ward
Haiphong 3 Hồng Bàng ward
Hà Tĩnh province 22 Thành Sen ward North Central Coast
Nghệ An province 21 Trường Vinh ward
Quảng Trị province 23 Đồng Hới ward
Thanh Hóa province 20 Hạc Thành ward
Huế 6 Thuận Hóa ward
Đắk Lắk province 26 Buôn Ma Thuột ward Central Highlands
Gia Lai province 25 Quy Nhon ward
Lâm Đồng province 28 Xuân Hương – Đà Lạt ward
Khánh Hòa province 27 Nha Trang ward South Central Coast
Quảng Ngãi province 24 Cẩm Thành ward
Da Nang 4 Hải Châu ward
Đồng Nai province 30 Trấn Biên ward Southeast
Tây Ninh province 29 Long An ward
Ho Chi Minh City 2 Saigon ward
An Giang province 32 Rạch Giá ward Mekong Delta
Cà Mau province 34 Tân Thành ward
Đồng Tháp province 31 Mỹ Tho ward
Vĩnh Long province 33 Long Châu ward
Cần Thơ 5 Ninh Kiều ward
See also: Postal codes in Vietnam

Regions

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Main article: Regions of Vietnam
See also: Subdivisions of Vietnam
 
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)[9] 		Population
density
(people /km2) 		Notes
Northern Vietnam
(Bắc Bộ) 		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 (Điện Biên 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) 		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
(Nam Trung Bộ) 		99,017.8 16,921,000 170.89 Contains the coastal provinces in the southern half of Vietnam's central part. Two provinces borders Laos. There are a significant number of ethnic minorities in the region. One province is along Vietnam's border with Laos, and four border Cambodia (Quảng Ngãi borders both Laos and Cambodia).
Southern Vietnam
(Nam Bộ) 		Southeast
(Đông Nam Bộ) 		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) 		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

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  • Ái Châu – existed during the third Chinese domination.
  • An Xuyên – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Bắc Thái – administrative grouping of Bắc Kạn and Thái Nguyên provinces between 1965 and 1996.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Gia Lai – Kon Tum – administrative grouping of Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • 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 Đông – existed from 1904 until 1965.
  • Hà Sơn Binh – administrative grouping of Hà Tây (old) and Hòa Bình provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Hà Tây – existed from 1965 to 1975 and 1991 until 2008, when it was merged into Hà Nội.
  • 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.
  • Hoàng Liên Sơn – administrative grouping of Lào Cai and Yên Bái provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Hưng Hóa – existed from 1831 until 1903.
  • 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.
  • Nghĩa Bình – administrative grouping of Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định provinces between 1975 and 1989.
  • Phú Bổn – in 1962 split from Pleiku province until 1976.
  • Phú Khánh – administrative grouping of Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa provinces between 1975 and 1989.
  • Phước Long – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Phước Thành – existed from 1959 until 1965.
  • Phước Tuy – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Quảng Đức – existed from 1959 until 1976.
  • Quảng Nam–Đà Nẵng/Quảng Đà – administrative grouping of Quảng Nam provinces and Đà Nẵng city, between 1975 and 1996.
  • 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.
  • Thừa Thiên Huế, the southernmost province of Vietnam's North Central Coast region, existed until 2025 of which the whole province is now direct-controlled as a municipality.
  • Thuận Hải – administrative grouping of Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces between 1975 and 1991.
  • Tuyên Đức – existed from 1958 until 1976.
  • Vĩnh Bình – existed from 1956 until the Vietnamese reunification of 1976.
  • Vĩnh Phú – administrative grouping of Vĩnh Phúc and Phú Thọ provinces between 1968 and 1996.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The density is rounded like presented here in the official census data; the data matches exactly with the area data from the 2018 area statistics if rounded to nearest integer.

References

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  1. ^ "Provisional list of new names for 34 provinces, cities in Việt Nam". vietnamnews.vn. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Vietnam to slash provinces as cost-cutting drive expands". www.channelnewsasia.com. 18 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  3. ^ ISO 3166-2:VN
  4. ^ "Phần III – biểu tổng hợp" [Part III – Tabulated tables] (PDF). Kết quả Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở thời điểm 0 giờ ngày 01 tháng 4 năm 2019 [Results of the Census of Population and Housing at 0 o'clock January 2019] (pdf) (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: Statistical publishing house, Central Population and Housing Census Steering Committee, General Statistics Office of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Nhà xuất bản thống kê, Ban chỉ đạo Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở Trung ương, Tổng cục Thống kê). December 2019. ISBN 978-604-75-1448-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Phần III – biểu tổng hợp" [Part III – Tabulated tables] (PDF). Kết quả Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở thời điểm 0 giờ ngày 01 tháng 4 năm 2019 [Results of the Census of Population and Housing at 0 o'clock April 1, 2019] (pdf) (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: Statistical publishing house, Central Population and Housing Census Steering Committee, General Statistics Office of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Nhà xuất bản thống kê, Ban chỉ đạo Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở Trung ương, Tổng cục Thống kê). December 2019. ISBN 978-604-75-1448-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Phần III – biểu tổng hợp" [Part III – Tabulated tables] (PDF). Kết quả Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở thời điểm 0 giờ ngày 01 tháng 4 năm 2019 [Results of the Census of Population and Housing at 0 o'clock January 2023] (pdf) (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: Statistical publishing house, Central Population and Housing Census Steering Committee, General Statistics Office of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Nhà xuất bản thống kê, Ban chỉ đạo Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở Trung ương, Tổng cục Thống kê). December 2019. ISBN 978-604-75-1448-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  7. ^ Phê duyệt và công bố kết quả thống kê diện tích đất đai của cả nước năm 2018 [Announcements of area statistics for the whole country in 2018] (2908/QĐ-BTNMT) (in Vietnamese). Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Vietnam). 13 November 2019. Archived 16 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine – the data in the report are in ares, rounded to integers
  8. ^ a b "Growth that works for all: Viet Nam Human Development Report 2015 on Inclusive Growth" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. January 2016. pp. 173–174. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  9. ^ General Statistics Office (2023): Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam 2023. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi
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