Hà Tĩnh Province

Geography

Hà Tĩnh Province is located in the northern part of central Vietnam, about 340 km (211 miles) south of Hanoi, facing Nghệ An Province to the north, Quảng Bình Province to the south, Laos to the west, and the Eastern Sea to the east.

Administrative divisions

Hà Tĩnh is subdivided into 13 district-level sub-divisions:

They are further subdivided into 12 commune-level towns (or townlets), 235 communes, and 15 wards.

Tourism and Notables

Hà Tĩnh has many touristic locations of historical and cultural interest. It is home to national figures such as Le Huu Trac, Nguyễn Du (the author of the epic poem Kim Van Kieu), Nguyễn Công Trứ, Phan Đình Phùng, Trần Phú, Ngô Đức Kế, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Hoang Ngoc Phach, Xuân Diệu, Huy Cận, Hoàng Xuân Hãn, Nguyễn Khắc Viện, Lê Văn Thiêm, Diem Phung Thi and Nguyen Do. Notable scenic areas include La River, Vũ Môn Falls, Vũ Quang Garden, Kẻ Gỗ Lake, Sơn Kim hot springs, Đèo Ngang pass, Hương Tích Pagoda, and beautiful beaches at Thiên Cầm, Ðèo Con, Xuân Thành, Chân Tiên...Most of them are along the Highway 1A and 8.

Transport

Hà Tĩnh has 130 km (82 miles) of Highway 1A stretching from Ben Thuy Bridge (Vinh City) to Deo Ngang Pass linking Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình. Ho Chi Minh Route is the second most important of the province. Besides, Hà Tĩnh enjoys Road 8 which runs from Hong Linh town to Laos and Viet-Lao highway from Vung Ang Harbour (Kỳ Anh District) to Laos. In 2007, a railway link to Laos was proposed from Hà Tĩnh province.

Economy

Hà Tĩnh is among the poorest provinces of Vietnam with a GDP in 2008 of US$420 per person. The poverty can be attributed to the harsh natural conditions with severe coldness in winter and extreme heat in summer, floods and storms every autumn and unfavorable soil and natural resources. A badly-operated district and provincial government is also a hurdle to prosperity. Agriculture, forestry and fishery takes up 35.5 percent of total GDP and the province's GDP accounts for 0.7 percent of Vietnam's GDP. Hà Tĩnh takes slow steps in economic reforms though better signs in recent time are incentive. Vung Ang harbour with some plants, factories and thermal power station is becoming the most active economic hub. Vietnam Steel operates an iron mine in Thach Khe District, with reserves of 544 million tonnes of iron one of the largest mines in southeast Asia. A US$10 billion iron and steel plant is being built in Vung Ang. (see Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation.) The steel plant is part of an industrial park, which is estimated to cost more than US$20 billion. When finished in 2020, the industrial park will have a port, a 2,100-MW power plant and a steel plant with six blast furnaces. In 2016, the Formosa Steel plant was accused to release untreated waste water with heavy metals and other toxins into nearby sea, which may link to the killing of millions of fish and endangering the lives of millions of humans through subsequent poisoning.

History

In Sino-Vietnamese characters, the province's name is written as 河靜, meaning "river quiet". Beginning in 1930 Hà Tĩnh, along with Nghệ An and Quảng Ngãi, was one of the early grounds for the Vietnamese rural Soviet movement and protests.