BA RIA VUNG TAU PROVINCE, SOUTHERN VIETNAM

General Information Of Ba Ria Vung Tau Province

Ba Ria Vung Tau Province
Capital: Ba Ria
Area: 1,980.98 km2
Population: 1,148,313 (2019 Census)
Density: 580/km2
Demographics: Vietnamese, Chinese, Cho-ro, Khmer
Calling code: 254
Website: http://www.baria-vungtau.gov.vn

Ba Ria Vung Tau is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country’s southeastern region. It also includes the Con Dao islands, located some distance off Vietnam’s southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, this province belonged to South Vietnam.

Ba Ria Vung Tau Province Administration

Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is subdivided into eight district-level sub-divisions:

5 districts: Chau Duc, Con Dao (island district), Dat Do, Long Dien, and Xuyen Moc
1 district-level town: Phu My
2 provincial cities: Ba Ria (capital), and Vung Tau (the largest city)

Offroad Vietnam Motorbike Adventures - Ba Ria Vung Tau province, South Vietnam

Economy

Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial economic activities include: petroleum (the most important), electricity at Phu My Power Center and Ba Ria Power Plant (accounting for approx. 40% of the country’s total power capacity), petrochemicals: Phu My Urea Plant (800,000 metric tonnes per year, polyethylene (100,000 metric tonnes/year), steel production, and cement production.

Important economic activities

Tourism, commerce, and fishing are also important economic activities of the province. Ba Ria-Vung Tau contributes greatly to the country’s budget. In 2005, it accounted for around 24% of Vietnam’s budget (42,000 billion dongs) of a total of 180,000 billion dongs (the exchange rate is 16,000 dong/dollar), ranking second, after Ho Chi Minh City before Hanoi (28,000 billion dongs in 2005). The provincial GDP per capita ranks second to none in the country, over $4,000, if excluding petroleum GDP, it is over $2000 (Ho Chi Minh City ranks second with this index $1,850). In terms of living standards, Ba Ria-Vung Tau ranks third, behind Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

FDI

Ba Ria-Vung Tau is also one of the leading direct foreign investment (FDI) attractions of Vietnam. In fact, it’s in the top five FDI acquisition provinces of Vietnam. In tourism, there are some big projects such as Saigon Atlantis resort (capitalized USD 300 million), Vung Tau Aquarium and Bau Trung entertainment park ($500), and Xuyen Moc safari ($200).

Ba Ria Vung Tau Province Tourism

Vung Tau is an important tourist destination. In fact, it’s particularly famous for its beaches, for its colonial-era architecture, and the Christ of Vung Tau, a large statue built by Vietnam’s Catholic minority. It was completed in 1974, with a height of 32 metres and two outstretched arms spanning 18.4 metres. Honestly, it is among the tallest statues of Christ in Asia. Among the most famous tourist destinations are the existing very popular and crowded beaches of Vung Tau and Long Hai and the new up and coming destinations of Ho Tram and Ho Coc located further along the East Sea coast. The main media agency in the province is the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Daily Newspaper.

History

With the exception of the Con Dao islands, all of Ba Ria Vung Tau province was once a part of Dong Nai province to the north. In 1979, Vung Tau has broken away from Dong Nai and merged with the Con Dao islands (formerly part of Hau Giang province), forming the new Vung Tau-Côn Dao “special zone”. Later, in 1992, Ba Ria broke away from Dong Nai province, merging with Vung Tau-Con Dao to form the current province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

For more details about other provinces and cities of Vietnam, please follow this link.

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