Hưng Yên Province

Hưng Yên Province Tỉnh Hưng Yên
Province
Nickname(s): Idyllic Prosperity
Location of Hưng Yên within Vietnam
Coordinates: 20°50′N 106°5′E / 20.833°N 106.083°ECoordinates: 20°50′N 106°5′E / 20.833°N 106.083°E
Country	Vietnam
Region	Red River Delta
Capital	Hưng Yên
Government
• People's Council Chair	Cao Văn Cường
• People's Committee Chair	Nguyễn Văn Cường
Area[1]
• Total	926.0 km^2 (357.5 sq mi)
Population (2014)[1]
• Total	1,159,700
• Density	1,300/km^2 (3,200/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnicities	Vietnamese, Tày, Nùng, Hoa
Time zone	ICT (UTC+7)
Calling code	321
ISO 3166 code	VN-66
Website	Hung Yen Portal

Hưng Yên ( listen) is a province in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam.

History

Feudal dynasties

The area of the province of Hưng Yên has been inhabited for millennia.

During the legendary Hưng Kings period, Hưng Yên belonged to Giao Chi area, Du Chien district. Under the Ngô Dynasty, it was called Dang Chau. It was then renamed Thái Bình phủ (phủ is an administrative unit) under the Early Lê Dynasty, Dang Chau and Khoai Chau phủ under the Lý Dynasty and Long Hung lo (lo is an administrative unit) and Khoai lo under the Trần Dynasty. Under the Later Lê Dynasty, Hưng Yên belonged to Son Nam and then divided into Son Nam Thuong lo and Son Nam Ha lo.

The Nguyễn Dynasty implemented administrative reforms in 1831 to dismantle the tran administrative units and establish provinces. Five districts of Dong Yen, Kim Dong, Thien Thi, Phu Cu and Tien Lu were separated from Khoai Chau phủ of Son Nam Thuong trấn and three districts of Than Khe, Duyen Ha and Hung Nhan were separated from Tien Hung phủ of Nam Định trấn of lower Son Nam town to establish Hưng Yên Province. The initial center of the province was located in An Vu and Luong Dien communes and then moved to Nhi Tan of Xich Dang commune (now Hưng Yên city).

This area has favourable transport conditions with communes and markets lying side by side, enabling trading activities to be busier and busier. The Chronicle of Hung yen province stated: "The streets are very busy and bustle, crowded with vehicles; the old images of Phổ Hiền in Son Nam can been seen now in this land".

French colonization

The name Hưng Yên officially appeared in the directory of the country in 1831. For that reason, prior to the French occupation of Vietnam, Hưng Yên was a province located on both sides of the Luoc River. Since its establishment, the province's territory has changed many times.

On March 27, 1833, French troops led by Captain Henri Rivière moved along the Red River from Hanoi and defeated Nam Định citadel. He then demanded Sub lieutenant Edgard de Trentinian to lead a unit of troops to attack Hưng Yên citadel. After occupying Hưng Yên, they made many efforts to strengthen their puppet government and establish various troop stations on one hand while speeding up the measuring and mapping work for deep involvement into communes and hamlets. However, they met many difficulties, confronting resistance by the Bãi Sậy uprising.

In 1890, the French set up the Bãi Sậy area consisting of Yen My, Yen Hao, Van Lam and Cam Luong districts for the purpose of easier suppression of revolts. After the failure of the Bai Say rebellion, they merged Van Lam, Yen My and Yen Hao districts into Hưng Yên Province and returned Cam Luong district (now Cẩm Giàng) to Hải Dương Province.

Also in 1890, the French split Than Khe district from Tien Hung phủ of Hưng Yên province and Thái Bình phủ and Kien Xuong phu from Nam Định province and set up a new province called Thái Bình. Afterwards, they went on to cut Hung Nhan and Duyen Ha districts and transferred Tien Lu district (formerly belonging to Tien Hung area) to merge into Khoai Chau phu. Ever since, the Luoc River has served as the natural border between Hưng Yên and Thái Bình. This period lasted from French colonization to the August Revolution in 1945.

Modern Vietnam

When the anti-French resistance war was won and peace was restored in the north, district-level administrative units remained unchanged, except the changes in the administrative names of some wards and communes.

On January 26, 1968, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly approved a resolution on the unification of Hải Dương and Hưng Yên into Hải Hưng Province. After that, Van Giang and Yen My districts were unified into Van Yen district; Tien Lu and Phu Cu districts were unified into Phu Tien district; Van Lam and My Hao districts were unified into Van My; Kim Dong and An Thi districts were unified into Kim Thi district. Van Yen and Van My districts were unified into My Van; Khoai Chau district and a part of Van Giang district were unified into Chau Giang district.

On November 6, 1996, the National Assembly approved the division of Hai Hung into Hải Dương and Hưng Yên. After that, the unified districts were split as the former administrative units. Hưng Yên now has ten district and town-level administrative units: Hưng Yên city, districts of Van Lam, Van Giang, My Hao, Yen My, Khoai Chau, An Thi, Kim Dong, Tien Lu and Phu Cu with 161 communes, districts and towns.

Location

Hưng Yên is a province located in the Red River Delta, in the Northern Focal Economic Zone and the Hanoi-Hai Phong–Quảng Ninh Economic Triangle.

The eastern gateway to Hanoi, Hưng Yên has 23 km of the 5A National Highway and over 20 km of the Hanoi-Haiphong railway route. In addition, the national highways 39A and 38, which are prolonged from the National Highway 5, passing by Hưng Yên city, running to the National Highway 1A through Yen Lenh Bridge and to the National Highway 10 through Trieu Duong Bridge. This is an important transportation axis linking southwestern provinces in the Northern Delta (Hà Nam, Ninh Bình, Nam Định and Thanh Hóa) with Hải Dương, Haiphong and Quảng Ninh provinces.

Hưng Yên is close to Hai Phong and Cai Lan seaports and Noi Bai International Airport. It has borders with Hanoi and the provinces of Bắc Ninh, Hà Tây, Hà Nam, Thái Bình and Hải Dương.

Administrative divisions

Hưng Yên is subdivided into 10 district-level sub-divisions:

• 9 districts:

• Ân Thi
• Khoái Châu
• Kim Động
• Mỹ Hào
• Phù Cừ
• Tiên Lữ
• Văn Giang
• Văn Lâm
• Yên Mỹ

• 1 provincial city:
  • Hưng Yên (capital)

They are further subdivided into 9 commune-level towns (or townlets), 145 communes, and 7 wards.

Climate

Like other provinces in the Red River Delta, Hưng Yên is also affected by the hot and damp tropical monsoon climate. Every year, there are two separate hot and cold seasons in the province. The sun shines on average 1,519 hours per year and the average number of sunny days is per month is 24. The average temperature is 23.2 °C in the summer and 16 °C in the winter.

The average rainfall is between 1,450 and 1,650 mm and the rainfall from May to October accounts up to 70% of the year's total. The average humidity in the air is 86%; the highest level of humidity is 92% while the lowest level is 79%.

Natural resources

Hưng Yên has the features of a delta province: flat topography without hills and mountains. There are 61,037 hectares of agricultural land, of which 55,645ha (accounting 91% of the total) are for yearly cultivation; and the remaining for cultivation of perennial plants, fish farming, specialized cultivation and other purposes. The area of unused natural land is about 7,471 hectares, which are all available for agricultural production and development.

Hưng Yên has a plentiful fresh water source because it is surrounded by the Hong River and Luoc River. Its underground water source is also bountiful with a huge reserve. In the area along the 5A National Highway, from Như Quỳnh to Quan Goi, there lie mammoth underground water mines with a reserve of millions of cubic metres, which not only can supply water for industrial development and urban daily consumption but also can supply a big water volume for neighboring localities.

Hưng Yên's brown coal source, which is a part of the brown basin in the Red River Delta and has a 30-billion-tonne reserve, has not been exploited yet. However, this is a big potential to develop the mining industry, meeting the energy demand in the domestic market and export.

Workforce

The natural population growth rate is 1% per year. Hưng Yên has 57,000 young and highly educated people of working age, representing 51% of the provincial population. The number of workers having attended training courses accounts 25% of the population, mainly of whom are graduates from universities, colleges and high schools; and technical workers.

Etymology

The province's name derives from Sino-Vietnamese 興安, meaning "prosperous and peace".

References

1. Statistical Handbook of Vietnam 2014, General Statistics Office Of Vietnam