THANH HOA PROVINCE, CENTRAL VIETNAM

Thanh Hoa Province General Information

Thanh Hoa Province, Central Vietnam
Region: North Central Coast
Capital: Thanh Hóa
Area: 11,114.65 km²
Population: 3,640,128 (2019 Census)
Density: 328/km²
Demographics: Vietnamese, Muong, Thai, Tho, Dao, and H’Mông
Calling code: 237
Website: thanhhoa.gov.vn

Thanh Hóa is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. Its capital and largest city is Thanh Hóa with a population of 176,400. The province has a seaside resort called Sam Son, which is situated about 15 km from the provincial capital. The largest towns are Bim Son (pop. 53,000) and Sam Son (pop. 52,000).

Thanh Hoa is the province with the largest population in Vietnam. The people of Thanh Hoa suffer from typhoons and floods every year and live a very hard life. To some Vietnamese people, Thanh Hoa people are not easy to make friends with. They also have a special accent and can’t pronounce one of the Vietnamese special tones: ~

Thanh Hoa Province Administrative Divisions

Thanh Hóa is subdivided into 27 district-level sub-divisions:

23 rural districts

Bá Thuoc
Cam Thuy
Dông Son
Hà Trung
Hau Loc
Hoang Hóa
Lang Chánh
Muong Lát
Nga Son
Ngoc Lac
Nhu Thanh
Nhu Xuân
Nông Cong
Quan Hóa
Quan Son
Quang Xuong
Thach Thành
Thieu Hóa
Tho Xuân
Thuong Xuân
Trieu Son
Vinh Loc
Yên Dinh

2 district-level towns

Bim Son
Nghi Son

2 provincial cities

Thanh Hóa (capital)
Sam Son

They are further subdivided into 28 commune-level towns (or townlets), 579 communes, and 30 wards.

Etymology

The province’s name derives from Sino-Vietnamese.

Geography

Among of five provinces in North-Central Vietnam, Thanh Hoa Province is surrounded by Son La, Hoa Binh, Ninh Binh provinces on the north, Nghe An Province on the south, East Sea on the east with 102km coastline, and Laos on the west.

Topography

Topography is divided into plain, coastal, and mountainous regions. Hilly and mountains account for three-quarters of the total area. The Western region owns abundant resources of forest products and huge hydroelectric potentials. The plain is the third largest one of Vietnam.

Owing to the cool climate and high rainfall, the province has an annual average temperature of 24.50C. The rainy season often begins in June and ends in October.

Tourism

Located 16km from Thanh Hoa City, Sam Son Beach attracts a lot of visitors to relax and swimming. Besides the beach, Sam Son offers scenic spots such as Trong Mai Rocks, Doc Cuoc Temple, and Mount Co Tien.

Tourists also like to discover Ben En National Park in Nhu Thanh, Nhu Xuan districts. The park is a complex of tropical forests, hills, mountains, rivers, springs, and Muc Lake. With natural landscapes and diversified flora and fauna, Ben En is suitable for eco-tourism, sightseeing, and scientific studies.

Cam Luong Fish Spring is another interesting place in Thanh Hoa, The stream contains thousands of fish that no one dares to catch it. Fish in the stream have red mouth and fins, and brown scales, resembling carp. Please come to this place to play with fish, visit beautiful caves and grottos, watch dancing performances of Muong people and enjoy traditional lam rice and can wine.

In addition to these, Thanh Hoa is famous for historical vestiges like Ham Rong Bridge, Ho Citadel and Lam Kinh Remains. Lam Son is the birthplace of national hero Le Loi and the starting point of the Lam Son revolutionary insurrection.

Transportation

Thanh Hoa is 153km from Hanoi, 62km from Ninh Binh, and 139km from Vinh (Nghe An). National Highway No.1A and North-South Express Train run through the province. There is National Highway No.15 linking to Nghe An and National Highway No.217 connecting to Laos via Na Meo Border gate.

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