Regions

Often, the Vietnamese government groups the various provinces into eight regions:

Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen)

Contains the five inland provinces of south-central Vietnam. Much of this region is mountainous. While mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities, there are many Vietnamese living here.

Mekong River Delta (Dong Bang Song Cuu Long)

Vietnam's southernmost region, mostly containing small but populous provinces in the delta of the Mekong. There are twelve provinces, plus the municipality of Can Tho.

North Central Coast (Bac Trung Bo)

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.

Northeast (Dong Bac)

Contains eleven provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Many of these provinces are mountainous.

Northwest (Tay Bac)

Contains four inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern part. Two of them are along Vietnam's border with Laos, and one borders China.

Red River Delta (Dong Bang Song Hong)

Contains the small but populous provinces based around the Red River. There are nine provinces in this region. It also includes the national capital, Hanoi, and the municipality of Haiphong - both are independent of any provincial government.

South Central Coast (Nam Trung Bo)

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, and so the inland areas are separate provinces. The region also includes the independent municipality of Danang.

Southeast (Dong Nam Bo)

Contains those parts of lowland southern Vietnam which are north of the Mekong delta. There are seven provinces, plus the municipality of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).