Thanh Hóa Province

Thanh Hóa Province Tỉnh Thanh Hóa
Province
Location of Thanh Hóa within Vietnam
Coordinates: 20°0′N 105°30′E / 20.000°N 105.500°ECoordinates: 20°0′N 105°30′E / 20.000°N 105.500°E
Country	Vietnam
Region	North Central Coast
Capital (and Largest city)	Thanh Hóa
Government
• People's Council Chair	Trịnh Văn Chiến
• People's Committee Chair	Nguyễn Đình Xứng
Area[1]
• Total	11,129,5 km^2 (42,971 sq mi)
Population (2014)[1]
• Total	3,496,100
• Density	31/km^2 (81/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnicities	Vietnamese, Mường, Thai, Thổ, Dao, and H'Mông
Time zone	ICT (UTC+7)
Calling code	373
ISO 3166 code	VN-21
Website	thanhhoa.gov.vn

Thanh Hóa or Thanh Hoá ( listen) is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. This is a relatively large province, which ranks as 5th in area and as 3rd in population among 63 central administrative subdivisions. Its capital and largest city is Thanh Hóa City . The province is widely called Xứ Thanh which means Thanh Hoa land in Vietnamese.

Human civilization has existed in Thanh Hoa for about 6000 years ago as one of the earliest destination of ancient Vietnamese. Archaeological excavations revealed that the first culture presented was Đa Bút Culture, a culture located along the Sông Đáy river and the Sông Mã river.

Thanh Hoa is located in the middle of North Vietnam and North Central Coast as a transition at many aspects: geology, climate, administrative division and local culture. Thus, these factors show that Xứ Thanh is a province with many particular local habits and customs and cultures.

Thanh Hoa has 1 provincial municipality, 2 townships and 24 counties with area of 11,133.4 km2 and population of approximate 3.5 million. Sầm Sơn township is a famous seaside resort situated 16  km from the Thanh Hoa city centre. Whilst, Bỉm Sơn township is a large industrial centre especially cement. The province is also home of many ethnic groups, in which the most 7 ethnicities are Kinh, Mường, Thái, H'Mông, Dao, Thổ, Khơ-mú.

Administrative divisions

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

• 24 districts:

• • Bá Thước
  • Cẩm Thủy
  • Đông Sơn
  • Hà Trung
  • Hậu Lộc
  • Hoằng Hóa
  • Lang Chánh
  • Mường Lát
  • Nga Sơn
  • Ngọc Lặc
  • Như Thanh
  • Như Xuân
  • Nông Cống
  • Quan Hóa
  • Quan Sơn
  • Quảng Xương
  • Thạch Thành
  • Thiệu Hóa
  • Thọ Xuân
  • Thường Xuân
  • Tĩnh Gia
  • Triệu Sơn
  • Vĩnh Lộc
  • Yên Định

• 2 district-level towns:

• • Bỉm Sơn
  • Sầm Sơn

• 1 provincial city:
  • Thanh Hóa (capital)

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 清化.

External links

• Official Site of Thanh Hóa Government
• Official Site of Thanh Hóa City Government

References

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