Administrative units of Vietnam |
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First-level |
Second-level |
Third-level |
Fourth-level (unofficial) |
Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces and 5 municipalities. It is a unitary state.
Pursuant to the constitution, there are three levels of administrative divisions in Vietnam: provinces, districts, and communes. Depending on the level of urbanisation, each level of administrative division comprises multiple types of administrative units:
A fourth, unofficial tier also exists, including hamlets (xóm, ấp), villages (làng, thôn, bản) and neighbourhoods (tổ dân phố, khu phố).
Level | Provincial level | District level | Commune level |
---|---|---|---|
Type | Municipality (Thành phố trực thuộc trung ương) | Municipal city (Thành phố thuộc thành phố trực thuộc trung ương) | Ward (Phường) |
Urban district/borough (Quận) | Ward (Phường) | ||
Town (Thị xã) | Ward (Phường) | ||
Commune (Xã) | |||
Rural district (Huyện) | Township (Thị trấn) | ||
Commune (Xã) | |||
Province (Tỉnh) | Provincial city (Thành phố thuộc tỉnh) | Ward (Phường) | |
Commune (Xã) | |||
Town (Thị xã) | Ward (Phường) | ||
Commune (Xã) | |||
Rural district (Huyện) | Township (Thị trấn) | ||
Commune (Xã) |
On the first level, there are 5 municipalities and 58 provinces.
Municipalities are subdivided into district-level cities (municipal cities), urban districts, towns, and rural districts. There is no official capital or seat of the municipality but local authority headquarters are usually located in one or more central urban districts.
Provinces are subdivided into district-level cities (provincial cities), towns, and rural districts. Currently, all provinces have their capitals in a district-level city, although some were previously towns.
As of 2015, there are 707 Second Tier units. [2]
As urbanisation progresses, rural districts may be reclassified as towns, then to provincial cities (or towns and municipal cities in municipalities, and eventually to urban districts if they merge into the central urban area of a municipality). Note that the term
Urban districts are subdivided into wards, while cities and towns are subdivided into (urban) wards and (rural) communes. Rural districts are subdivided into (urban) townships (or townlets) and (rural) communes. Only rural districts have designated capitals, usually in a township.
As of 2020, GSO indicated that there are 10,614 third-level units with 1,712 wards, 605 townships and 8,297 communes. [2]
Townships are known as thị trấn in Vietnamese, but less common type of townships are farm townships (thị trấn nông trường). These were formerly more common during the planned economy era. [3]
Vietnam is also divided into electoral divisions and military regions.
For various administrative, planning, and statistical purposes, the Vietnamese government often groups its cities and municipalities into 3 geographic regions and 8 administrative regions:
Geographical Region | Administrative Region |
---|---|
Northern Vietnam (Bắc Bộ, Miền Bắc) | Northeast (Đông Bắc Bộ) |
Northwest (Tây Bắc Bộ) | |
Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng) | |
Central Vietnam (Trung Bộ, Miền Trung) | North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ) |
South Central Coast (Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ) | |
Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên) | |
Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, Miền Nam) | Southeast (Đông Nam Bộ, Miền Đông) |
Mekong River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Cửu Long) or Southwest (Tây Nam Bộ, Miền Tây) |
For electoral purposes, each province or municipality is divided into electoral units (đơn vị bầu cử) which are further divided into voting zones (khu vực bỏ phiếu). The number of electoral divisions varies from election to election and depends on the population of that province or municipality.
Since the 2011 National Assembly election, there have been 183 electoral units and 89,960 voting zones.
Vietnam People's Army is organised into 8 military regions:
Tây Ninh is a province in the Southeast region of Vietnam, with the capital at the town of Tây Ninh.
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, under South Vietnam, the province was called Phước Tuy.
Cam Ranh is a city in Southern Khánh Hòa Province, in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam.
Hưng Yên is a province in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. It covers an area of 930.20 km2 (359.15 sq mi), comprising 1 city, 8 rural districts, and 1 district-leveled town, it had a population of 1,290,850 in 2022 with 250,000 people in urban areas and 1,040,850 people in rural areas. The province is a settlement along the banks of the Red River, bordered by 5 provinces and municipalities.
Long Xuyên, formally named Thủ Đông Xuyên, is the capital city of An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta region of south-western Vietnam.
Thủ Dầu Một is the capital city of Bình Dương province, Vietnam, located at around 10°58′0″N106°39′0″E. The city has an area of 118.91 km², with a population of 336.705, and is located 20 km north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, on the left bank of the Saigon River, upstream from the city.
Thanh Hóa is the northernmost coastal province in the North Central Coast region of Central Vietnam. It borders Sơn La, Hòa Bình, and Ninh Bình to the north, Nghệ An to the south, the Laotian province of Houaphanh to the west with a boundary of over 192 kilometres (119 mi) long, and the South China Sea to the east.
Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2019, the city had a population of 101,765, and cover an area of 105.29 square kilometres (40.65 sq mi).
Cầu Giấy is an urban district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. It is located within the Nhuệ and Tô Lịch River, situating roughly to the south-west of West Lake. With the sixth-highest population density among Hanoi's districts, Cầu Giấy hosts many administrative and corporate headquarters within the Trung Hoà–Nhân Chính urban area and is the central education hub of Hanoi.
Ba Đồn is a town in Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. The town is equal to a huyện and is located on National Route 1, about 40 km north of the provincial capital, Đồng Hới. The township is the commercial and service centre serving surrounding rural areas. Ba Đồn was incorporated into a 3rd municipality including some neighboring communes of Quảng Trạch District on December 20, 2013.
A provincial city is a type of second-level subdivision of Vietnam. It has equal status along with urban districts, districts, municipal cities, and towns. Also by virtue of Decree No. 42/2009/ND-CP, provincial cities are officially classified into Class-1, Class-2 or Class-3.
A district-level town is a type of second tier subdivision of Vietnam. District-level towns along with urban districts, districts, municipal cities, and provincial cites have equal status. Also by virtue of Decree No. 42/2009/ND-CP, towns are officially classified into Class-3 or Class-4.
A commune is a type of third tier subdivision of Vietnam. It is divided into 11,162 units along with wards and townships, which have an equal status.
On the first tier, Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces and 5 municipalities. Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in Vietnam. Municipalities are centrally-controlled cities and have special status equal to a province.
Districts, also known as rural districts or counties, are one of several types of second-tier administrative subdivisions of Vietnam, the other types being urban districts, provincial cities, municipal cities, and district-level towns. The districts are subdivisions of the first-tier divisions, namely the provinces and municipalities. Districts are subdivided into third-tier units, namely townships and communes.
For electoral purpose, each province or municipality of Vietnam is subdivided into electoral units which are further subdivided into voting zones. The number of electoral divisions varies from election to election and depend on the population of that province or municipality