Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces (Vietnamese: tỉnh) and 5 municipalities existing at the same level as provinces (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương).
The provinces are divided into districts (huyện), provincial cities (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh), and county-level towns (thị xã), which are subdivided into commune-level towns (thị trấn) or communes (xã).
The municipalities are divided into rural districts (huyện) and urban districts (quận), which are subdivided into wards (phường).
Vietnamese provinces are controlled by a People's Council, elected by the inhabitants. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial government. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of the situation in Vietnam's national government. Provincial governments are expected to be subordinate to the central government.
According to the census results of April 1, 2009, the population of Vietnam is 85,789,573 people. The most populous top-level administrative unit in Vietnam is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities. It has 7,123,340 people living within its official boundaries. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently-expanded Hà Nội with 6,448,837 people. Prior to the expansion of the capital city, this rank belonged to Thanh Hóa with 3,400,239 people. The least populous is Bắc Kạn, a mountainous province in the remote northeast with 294,660 people.
In terms of land area, the largest province is Nghệ An, which runs from the city of Vinh up the wide Sông Cả valley. The smallest is Bắc Ninh, located in the populous Red River Delta.
The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, April 1, 2009
The provinces are divided into districts (huyện), provincial cities (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh), and county-level towns (thị xã), which are subdivided into commune-level towns (thị trấn) or communes (xã).
The municipalities are divided into rural districts (huyện) and urban districts (quận), which are subdivided into wards (phường).
Vietnamese provinces are controlled by a People's Council, elected by the inhabitants. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial government. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of the situation in Vietnam's national government. Provincial governments are expected to be subordinate to the central government.
According to the census results of April 1, 2009, the population of Vietnam is 85,789,573 people. The most populous top-level administrative unit in Vietnam is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities. It has 7,123,340 people living within its official boundaries. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently-expanded Hà Nội with 6,448,837 people. Prior to the expansion of the capital city, this rank belonged to Thanh Hóa with 3,400,239 people. The least populous is Bắc Kạn, a mountainous province in the remote northeast with 294,660 people.
In terms of land area, the largest province is Nghệ An, which runs from the city of Vinh up the wide Sông Cả valley. The smallest is Bắc Ninh, located in the populous Red River Delta.
The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, April 1, 2009
| Province/City | Capital | Area (km²) | Population | Density (/km²) | % Urban | HDI | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hà Nội (city) | ----- | 3,119.0 | 6,451,909 | 2,068.6 | 41.0 | 0.768 | Red River Delta |
| Ha Giang province | Hà Giang | 7,945.8 | 724,537 | 91.2 | 11.6 | 0.600 | Northeastern |
| Cao Bang province | Cao Bằng | 6,724.6 | 507,183 | 75.4 | 16.9 | 0.527 | Northeastern |
| Bac Kan province | Bắc Kạn | 4,868.4 | 293,826 | 60.4 | 16.1 | 0.602 | Northeastern |
| Tuyen Quang province | Tuyên Quang | 5,870.4 | 724,821 | 123.5 | 13.0 | 0.664 | Northeastern |
| Lao Cai province | Lào Cai | 6,383.9 | 614,595 | 96.3 | 21.0 | 0.665 | Northeastern |
| Dien Bien province | Điện Biên Phủ | 9,562.5 | 490,306 | 51.3 | 15.0 | 0.545 | Northwestern |
| Lai Chau province | Lai Châu | 9,112.3 | 370,502 | 40.7 | 14.2 | 0.542 | Northwestern |
| Son La province | Sơn La | 14,174.4 | 1,076,055 | 75.9 | 13.8 | 0.497 | Northwestern |
| Yen Bai province | Yên Bái | 6,899.5 | 740,397 | 107.3 | 18.8 | 0.533 | Northeastern |
| Hoa Binh province | Hòa Bình | 4,684.2 | 785,217 | 167.6 | 15.0 | 0.595 | Northwestern |
| Thai Nguyen province | Thái Nguyên | 3,546.6 | 1,123,116 | 316.7 | 25.6 | 0.656 | Northeastern |
| Lang Son province | Lạng Sơn | 8,331.2 | 732,515 | 87.9 | 19.2 | 0.648 | Northeastern |
| Quang Ninh province | Hạ Long | 6,099.0 | 1,144,988 | 187.7 | 51.9 | 0.668 | Northeastern |
| Bac Giang province | Bắc Giang | 3,827.4 | 1,554,131 | 406.1 | 9.4 | 0.602 | Northeastern |
| Phu Tho province | Việt Trì | 3,528.4 | 1,316,389 | 373.1 | 15.8 | 0.513 | Northeastern |
| Vinh Phuc province | Vĩnh Yên | 1,373.2 | 999,786 | 728.1 | 22.4 | 0.523 | Red River Delta |
| Bac Ninh province | Bắc Ninh | 823.1 | 1,024,472 | 1,244.7 | 23.5 | 0.484 | Red River Delta |
| Hai Duong province | Hải Dương | 1,652.8 | 1,705,059 | 1,031.6 | 19.0 | 0.502 | Red River Delta |
| Hải Phòng (city) | Dang nang | 1,520.7 | 1,837,173 | 1,208.1 | 46.1 | 0.595 | Red River Delta |
| Hung Yen province | Hưng Yên | 923.5 | 1,127,903 | 1,221.3 | 12.1 | 0.501 | Red River Delta |
| Thai Binh province | Thái Bình | 1,546.5 | 1,781,842 | 1,152.1 | 9.7 | 0.585 | Red River Delta |
| Ha Nam province | Phủ Lý | 859.7 | 784,045 | 912.0 | 9.5 | 0.499 | Red River Delta |
| Nam Dinh province | Nam Định | 1,650.8 | 1,828,111 | 1,107.4 | 17.6 | 0.539 | Red River Delta |
| Ninh Binh province | Ninh Bình | 1,392.4 | 898,999 | 645.6 | 17.9 | 0.601 | Red River Delta |
| Thanh Hoa province | Thanh Hóa | 11,136.3 | 3,400,595 | 305.4 | 10.4 | 0.579 | North Central Coast |
| Nghe An province | Vinh | 16,498.5 | 2,912,041 | 176.5 | 12.9 | 0.547 | North Central Coast |
| Ha Tinh province | Hà Tĩnh | 6,026.5 | 1,227,038 | 203.6 | 14.9 | 0.543 | North Central Coast |
| Quang Binh province | Đồng Hới | 8,065.3 | 844,893 | 104.8 | 15.0 | 0.553 | North Central Coast |
| Quang Tri province | Đông Hà | 4,760.1 | 598,324 | 125.7 | 27.4 | 0.529 | North Central Coast |
| Thua Thien-Hue province | Huế | 5,065.3 | 1,087,420 | 214.7 | 36.0 | 0.565 | North Central Coast |
| Đà Nẵng (city) | ----- | 1,257.3 | 887,435 | 705.8 | 86.9 | 0.689 | South Central Coast |
| Quang Nam province | Tam Kỳ | 10,438.3 | 1,422,319 | 136.3 | 18.6 | 0.548 | South Central Coast |
| Quang Ngai province | Quảng Ngãi | 5,152.7 | 1,216,773 | 236.1 | 14.6 | 0.618 | South Central Coast |
| Binh Dinh province | Qui Nhơn | 6,039.6 | 1,486,465 | 246.1 | 27.7 | 0.591 | South Central Coast |
| Phu Yen province | Tuy Hòa | 5,060.6 | 862,231 | 170.4 | 21.8 | 0.594 | South Central Coast |
| Khanh Hoa province | Nha Trang | 5,217.6 | 1,157,604 | 221.9 | 39.9 | 0.555 | South Central Coast |
| Ninh Thuan province | Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm | 3,363.1 | 564,993 | 168.0 | 36.1 | 0.556 | South Central Coast |
| Binh Thuan province | Phan Thiet | 7,836.9 | 1,167,023 | 148.9 | 39.3 | 0.637 | South Central Coast |
| Kon Tum province | Kon Tum | 9,690.5 | 430,133 | 44.4 | 33.5 | 0.593 | Central Highlands |
| Gia Lai province | Pleiku | 15,536.9 | 1,274,412 | 82.0 | 28.6 | 0.697 | Central Highlands |
| Dak Lak province | Buôn Ma Thuột | 13,139.2 | 1,733,624 | 131.9 | 24.0 | 0.596 | Central Highlands |
| Dak Nong province | Gia Nghĩa | 6,516.9 | 489,382 | 75.1 | 14.7 | 0.563 | Central Highlands |
| Lam Dong province | Đà Lạt | 9,776.1 | 1,187,574 | 121.5 | 37.8 | 0.545 | Central Highlands |
| Binh Phuoc province | Đồng Xoài | 6,883.4 | 873,598 | 126.9 | 16.5 | 0.665 | Southeastern |
| Tay Ninh province | Tây Ninh | 4,035.9 | 1,066,513 | 264.3 | 15.6 | 0.537 | Southeastern |
| Binh Duong province | Thủ Dầu Một | 2,696.2 | 1,481,550 | 549.5 | 29.9 | 0.643 | Southeastern |
| Dong Nai province | Biên Hòa | 5,903.9 | 2,486,154 | 421.1 | 33.2 | 0.489 | Southeastern |
| Ba Ria–Vung Tau province | Vũng Tàu | 1,989.6 | 996,682 | 500.9 | 49.9 | 0.700 | Southeastern |
| Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (city) | ----- | 2,095.1 | 7,162,864 | 3,418.9 | 83.3 | 0.798 | Southeastern |
| Long An province | Tân An | 4,493.8 | 1,436,066 | 319.6 | 17.4 | 0.435 | Mekong Delta |
| Tien Giang province | Mỹ Tho | 2,484.2 | 1,672,271 | 673.2 | 13.7 | 0.811 | Mekong Delta |
| Ben Tre province | Bến Tre | 2,360.2 | 1,255,946 | 532.1 | 9.9 | 0.607 | Mekong Delta |
| Tra Vinh province | Trà Vinh | 2,295.1 | 1,003,012 | 437.0 | 15.3 | 0.676 | Mekong Delta |
| Vinh Long province | Vĩnh Long | 1,479.1 | 1,024,707 | 692.8 | 15.3 | 0.503 | Mekong Delta |
| Dong Thap province | Cao Lãnh | 3,376.4 | 1,666,467 | 493.9 | 17.8 | 0.483 | Mekong Delta |
| An Giang province | Long Xuyên | 3,536.8 | 2,142,709 | 605.8 | 28.4 | 0.596 | Mekong Delta |
| Kien Giang province | Rạch Giá | 6,348.3 | 1,688,248 | 265.9 | 27.0 | 0.708 | Mekong Delta |
| Cần Thơ (city) | ----- | 1,401.6 | 1,188,435 | 847.9 | 65.9 | 0.389 | Mekong Delta |
| Hau Giang province | Vị Thanh | 1,601.1 | 757,300 | 473.0 | 19.6 | 0.666 | Mekong Delta |
| Soc Trang province | Sóc Trăng | 3,312.3 | 1,292,853 | 390.3 | 19.4 | 0.554 | Mekong Delta |
| Bac Lieu province | Bạc Liêu | 2,584.1 | 856,518 | 331.5 | 26.1 | 0.586 | Mekong Delta |
| Ca Mau province | Cà Mau | 5,331.7 | 1,206,938 | 226.4 | 20.4 | 0.494 | Mekong Delta |