Country Vietnam Capital Bà Rịa Calling code 64 Population 1.073 million (2015) ISO 3166 code Vietnam | Region Southeast Time zone ICT (UTC+7) Area 1,987 km² Area code 64 | |
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Website www.baria-vungtau.gov.vn University Trường Đại học Dầu khí Việt Nam Points of interest Ho May Park, Back Beach, The Small Mountain, Dinh Cô, The Big Mountain Destinations Côn Đảo, Vũng Tàu, Long Hải, Hồ Tràm, Phước Hải - Đất Đỏ | ||
Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu (Hanoi accent: [ɓa˨˩ ɹɨə˨˧ vuŋ˧ˀ˥ taʊ̯˨˩], Saigon accent: [ɓa˨˩ ɹɨə˨˧ vuŋ˧˩˧ taːw˨˩]) is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, this province belonged to South Vietnam.
Contents
Map of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Vietnam
History
With the exception of the Côn Đảo islands, all of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province was once a part of Đồng Nai Province to the north. In 1979, Vũng Tàu was broken away from Đồng Nai and merged with the Côn Đảo islands (formerly part of Hậu Giang Province), forming the new Vũng Tàu-Côn Đảo "special zone". Later, in 1992, Bà Rịa broke away from Đồng Nai Province, merging with Vũng Tàu-Côn Đảo to form the modern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu.
Administrative divisions
Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is subdivided into 8 district-level sub-divisions:
They are further subdivided into 8 commune-level towns (or townlets), 49 communes, and 25 wards.
Demographics
According to 2015 statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the province has a population of 1,072,600. Urbanization in the province is above the country's average (50.52%).
Economy
Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu provincial economic activities include: petroleum (the most important), electricity at the Phú Mỹ Power Plants and Bà Rịa 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. Tourism, commerce and fishing are also important economic activities of the province. Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu contributes greatly to the country's budget. In 2005, it accounted for around 24 percent of Vietnam's budget (42,000 billion dong) of a total of 180,000 billion dong (exchange rate is 16,000 dong/dollar), ranking second, after Ho Chi Minh City before Hanoi (28,000 billion dong 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 (Hồ Chí Minh City ranks second with this index $1,850). In term of living standards, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu ranks third, behind Hồ Chí Minh City and Hanoi.
Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu is also one of the leading direct foreign investment (FDI) attractions of Vietnam, in the top five of FDI acquisition provinces of Vietnam. In tourism, there are some big projects licensed or to be licensed soon: Saigon Atlantis resort (capitalized USD 300 million), Vũng Tàu Aquarium and Bàu Trũng entertainment park ($500), and Xuyên Mộc safari ($200).
Vũng Tàu is an important tourist destination, being particularly well known for its beaches, for its colonial-era architecture, and the Christ of Vũng Tàu, a large statue built by Vietnam's Catholic minority. It was completed in 1974, with the height of 32 metres and two outstretched arms spanning 18.4 metres. 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 Vũng Tàu and Long Hải and the new up and coming destinations of Hồ Tràm and Hồ Cốc located further along the South China Sea coast. The main media agency in the province is the Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Daily Newspaper.