First-level subdivisions of Vietnam

First-level subdivisions of Vietnam
CategoryUnitary state
Location Vietnam
Created
  • 2 September 1945 (DRV)
  • 2 July 1976 (reunification and expansion)
  • 1 July 2025 (current form)
Number25 provinces
9 municipalities (as of 20 September, 2026)
Populations512,601 (Lai Châu) –
14,002,598 (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

Vietnam is divided into 34 first-level subdivisions, comprising 25 provinces and 9 municipalities under the command of the central government.

List and statistics

By the end of 2024, the population of Vietnam was 101,343,800. The most populous top-level administrative unit is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the nine centrally governed cities, having 14,002,598 people living within its official boundary. The second most populous administrative unit is Hà Nội with 8,807,523 people. The least populous is Lai Châu, a mountainous province in the northwest with 512,601 people. In land area, the largest province is Lâm Đồng with 24,233.09 km2, the smallest is Hưng Yên (2,514.81 km2), located in the Red River Delta region.

The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area. Municipalities are written in bold.

Seal City/province Type Map number Administrative center Land Area (km²) Population Density (/km²) Administrative divisions Region
Communes Wards Special Zones
Cao Bằng Province 16 Thục Phán 6,700 573,119 85 53 3 0 Northeast
Lạng Sơn Province 17 Lương Văn Tri 8,310 881,384 106 61 4 0
Phú Thọ Province 20 Việt Trì 9,361 4,022,638 429 133 15 0
Thái Nguyên Province 19 Phan Đình Phùng 8,376 1,799,489 214 76 15 0
Tuyên Quang Province 18 Minh Xuân 13,796 1,865,270 135 177 7 0
Lào Cai Province 14 Yên Bái 13,257 1,778,785 134 89 10 0 Northwest
Điện Biên Province 12 Điện Biên Phủ 9,540 673,091 70 42 3 0
Lai Châu Province 13 Tân Phong 9,069 512,601 56 36 2 0
Sơn La Province 15 Chiềng Cơi 14,110 1,404,587 99 67 8 0
Bắc Ninh City 9 Bắc Giang 4,719 3,619,433 1,132 66 33 0 Red River Delta
Hưng Yên Province 10 Phố Hiến 2,515 3,567,943 1,418 93 11 0
Ninh Bình Province 11 Hoa Lư 3,943 4,412,464 1,119 97 32 0
Hanoi City 1 Hoàn Kiếm 3,360 8,807,523 2,621 75 51 0
Haiphong City 3 Thủy Nguyên 3,195 4,664,124 1,459 67 45 2
Quảng Ninh City 8 Hạ Long 6,208 1,497,477 241 22 30 2
Hà Tĩnh Province 23 Thành Sen 5,994 1,622,901 270 60 9 0 North Central
Nghệ An Province 22 Trường Vinh 16,486 3,831,694 232 119 11 0
Quảng Trị Province 24 Đồng Hới 12,700 1,870,845 147 69 8 1
Thanh Hóa Province 21 Hạc Thành 11,115 4,324,783 389 147 19 0
Huế City 6 Thuận Hóa 4,947 1,432,986 289 19 21 0
Đắk Lắk Province 27 Buôn Ma Thuột 18,096 3,346,853 184 88 14 0 South Central Coast and Central Highlands
Gia Lai Province 26 Quy Nhơn 21,577 3,583,693 166 110 25 0
Lâm Đồng Province 29 Xuân Hương – Đà Lạt 24,233 3,872,999 159 103 20 1
Khánh Hòa Province 28 Nha Trang 8,556 2,243,554 262 48 16 1
Quảng Ngãi Province 25 Cẩm Thành 14,833 2,161,755 145 86 9 1
Da Nang City 4 Hải Châu 11,833 3,065,628 258 70 23 1
Đồng Nai City 7 Trấn Biên 12,737 4,491,408 352 62 33 0 Southeast
Tây Ninh Province 30 Long An 8,537 3,254,170 381 82 14 0
Ho Chi Minh City City 2 Saigon 6,773 14,002,598 2,067 54 113 1
An Giang Province 32 Rạch Giá 9,889 4,952,238 500 85 14 3 Mekong Delta
Cà Mau Province 34 Tân Thành 7,942 2,606,672 328 55 9 0
Đồng Tháp Province 31 Mỹ Tho 5,939 4,370,046 735 82 20 0
Vĩnh Long Province 33 Long Châu 6,296 4,257,581 676 105 19 0
Cần Thơ City 5 Ninh Kiều 6,361 4,199,824 660 72 31 0

Regions

The provinces of Vietnam are sometimes divided into seven regions (sometimes Northeast and Northwest regions are merged into Northern midlands and mountainous region), which are 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 / municipalities Area
(km2)		 Population
 Population
density
(people /km2)		 Notes
Northern Vietnam
(Bắc Bộ)		 Northwest
(Tây Bắc Bộ)		 45,974.47 4,369,064 95 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)		 52,750.61 10,639,377 201 Contains most of the mountainous provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Three of them are along Vietnam's border with China.
Red River Delta
(Đồng bằng sông Hồng)		 16,206.71 25,071,487 1,546 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. One province (Quảng Ninh) borders China.
Central Vietnam
(Trung Bộ)		 North Central Coast
(Bắc Trung Bộ)		 51,242.77 11,212,364 218 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
and Central Highlands
(Duyên Hải Nam Trung Bộ và Tây Nguyên)		 99,154.4 18,274,482 184 Contains the coastal and mountainous provinces in the southern half of Vietnam's central part. There are a significant number of ethnic minorities in the region. Two provinces are 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)		 28,046.21 21,748,176 775 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)		 36,426.97 20,386,361 559 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). Two provinces border Cambodia.

^† Indicates a municipality (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương)

Historical provinces

Province Established Dissolved Note
An Xuyên 1956 1976 Merged into Minh Hải province
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu 1991 2025 Merged with Ho Chi Minh city
Bạc Liêu 1997 2025 Merged with Cà Mau province
Bắc Giang 1997 2025 Merged with Bắc Ninh province
Bắc Kạn 1997 2025 Merged with Thái Nguyên province
Bắc Thái 1965 1996 Split into Bắc Kạn and Thái Nguyên provinces
Bến Tre 1976 2025 Merged with Vĩnh Long province
Biên Hòa 1832 1976 Merged with Đồng Nai province
Bình Dương 1997 2025 Merged with Hồ Chí Minh city
Bình Định 1989 2025 Merged with Gia Lai province
Bình Phước 1997 2025 Merged with Đồng Nai province
Bình Thuận 1991 2025 Merged with Lâm Đồng province
Bình Trị Thiên 1976 1992 Split into Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên – Huế provinces
Bình Tuy 1956 1976 Merged into Thuận Hải province
Chợ Lớn 1900 1957 Split amonst neighboring provinces
Chương Thiện 1961 1976 Merged into Hậu Giang province
Cửu Long 1976 1992 Split into Vĩnh Long and Vĩnh Bình provinces
Đắk Nông 2004 2025 Merged with Lâm Đồng province
Định Tường 1832 1976 Merged into Tiền Giang province
Gia Định 1832 1976 Converted to Hồ Chí Minh city
Gia Lai – Kon Tum 1975 1991 Split into Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces
Gò Công 1900 1976 Merged into Tiền Giang province
Hà Bắc 1962 1996 Split into Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh provinces
Hà Đông 1904 1965 Merged into Hà Tây province
Hà Giang 1991 2025 Merged with Tuyên Quang province
Hà Nam 1991 2025 Merged with Ninh Bình province
Hà Nam Ninh 1975 1991 Split into Hà Nam, Nam Định and Ninh Bình provinces
Hà Sơn Bình 1975 1991 Split into Hà Tây and Hòa Bình provinces
Hà Tây 1965 1975 Merged into Hà Sơn Bình province
Hà Tây 1991 2008 Merged into Hà Nội city
Hà Tuyên 1975 1991 Split into Hà Giang and Tuyên Quang provinces
Hải Hưng 1968 1996 Split into Hải Dương and Hưng Yên provinces
Hải Dương 1997 2025 Merged with Haiphong city
Hậu Giang 2004 2025 Merged with Cần Thơ city
Hậu Nghĩa 1963 1976 Split amonst neighboring provinces
Hòa Bình 1991 2025 Merged with Phú Thọ province
Hoàng Liên Sơn 1975 1991 Split into Lào Cai and Yên Bái provinces
Hưng Hóa 1831 1903
Kiên Giang 1976 2025 Merged with An Giang province
Kiến An 1888 1962 Merged with Hải Phòng city
Kon Tum 1991 2025 Merged with Quảng Ngãi province
Long An 1976 2025 Merged with Tây Ninh province
Long Khánh 1956 1976 Merged into Đồng Nai province
Minh Hải 1976 1996 Split into Cà Mau and Bạc Liêu provinces
Nam Định 1991 2025 Merged with Ninh Bình province
Nghệ Tĩnh 1976 1991 Split into Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh provinces
Nghĩa Bình 1975 1989 Split into Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định provinces
Ninh Thuận 1992 2025 Merged with Khánh Hòa province
Phú Bổn 1962 1976 Merged with Đắk Lắk province
Phú Khánh 1975 1989 Split into Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa provinces
Phúc Yên 1904 1950 Merged into Vĩnh Phúc province
Phú Yên 1989 2025 Merged with Đắk Lắk province
Phước Long 1956 1976 Merged into Sông Bé province
Phước Thành 1959 1965
Phước Tuy 1956 1976 Merged with Đồng Nai province
Quảng Bình 1989 2025 Merged with Quảng Trị province
Quảng Đức 1959 1976 Merged with Đắk Lắk province
Quảng Nam 1997 2025 Merged with Đà Nẵng city
Quảng Nam–Đà Nẵng/Quảng Đà 1975 1996 Split into Quảng Nam province and Đà Nẵng city
Quảng Tín 1962 1976 Merged with Quảng Nam province
Sa Đéc 1900 1976 Merged into Đồng Tháp provicne
Sóc Trăng 1991 2025 Merged with Cần Thơ city
Sông Bé 1976 1997 Split into Bình Dương and Bình Phước provinces
Tân An 1900 1956 Merged into Long An province
Thái Bình 1890 2025 Merged with Hưng Yên province
Thừa Thiên Huế 1989 2025 Converted to Huế city
Thuận Hải 1975 1991 Split into Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces
Tiền Giang 1976 2025 Merged with Đồng Tháp province
Trà Vinh 1992 2025 Merged with Vĩnh Long province
Tuyên Đức 1958 1976 Merged with Lâm Đồng province
Vĩnh Bình 1956 1976 Merged into Cửu Long province
Vĩnh Phú 1968 1996 Split into Vĩnh Phúc and Phú Thọ provinces
Vĩnh Phúc 1997 2025 Merged with Phú Thọ province
Yên Bái 1991 2025 Merged with Lào Cai province

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE FOURTH QUARTER AND 2024". www.gso.gov.vn. General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO). 6 January 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Nghị quyết số 202/2025/QH15 về việc sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh". Cổng thông tin điện tử Quốc hội Việt Nam. Archived from the original on 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "Vietnam Officially Consolidates from 63 to 34 Provinces and Cities". Vietnam Briefing News. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Nghị quyết số". quochoi.vn. Retrieved 10 October 2026.