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Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC; Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, IPA: [tʰan˨˩ fow˦˥ how˨˩ cɪj˦˥ mɨn˧˧]), formerly known as Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn, IPA: [saːj˨˩ ɣɔŋ˨˩]), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of 14,002,598 in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigon River. As the largest financial centre in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the largest gross regional domestic product out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities, contributing around a quarter of the country's total GDP. Ho Chi Minh City's metropolitan area is ASEAN's 5th largest economy, also the biggest outside an ASEAN country capital.
The area was initially part of Cambodian states until it became part of the Vietnamese Nguyễn lords in 1698, due to Đại Việt's expansionist policy of Nam tiến. It was capital of the Nguyễn lords at the end of their existence before the Nguyễn dynasty was formed. After the fall of the Citadel of Saigon, it became the capital of French Cochinchina from 1862 to 1949. It was also the capital of French Indochina from 1887 to 1902, and again from 1945 until its cessation in 1954. After France recognized Vietnam's independence and unity, it was the capital of the State of Vietnam from 1949 to 1955. Following the 1954 partition, it became the capital of South Vietnam until it was captured by North Vietnam, leading to a unified communist state in 1976. The city was subsequently renamed after the late leader Ho Chi Minh, though Saigon is still widely used in informal usages but slowly out of use. Beginning in the 1990s, the city underwent rapid expansion and modernization, which contributed to Vietnam's post-war economic recovery and helped revive its international trade hub status.
Ho Chi Minh City has a long tradition of being one of the centers of economy, entertainment and education in Southern Vietnam in particular and Vietnam in general. It is also the busiest international transport hub in Vietnam, with Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport accounting for nearly half of all international arrivals to Vietnam, and the Port of Saigon among the busiest container ports in Southeast Asia. The city is also a tourist attraction; some of its historic landmarks with modern landmarks, including the Independence Palace, Bitexco Financial Tower, Landmark 81 Tower, the War Remnants Museum, and Bến Thành Market. It is also known for its narrow walkable alleys and bustling nightlife, most notably the Phạm Ngũ Lão Ward and its Bùi Viện street.
In 2025, the Bình Dương and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu provinces were merged into Ho Chi Minh City, making it a megacity while inheriting the major industrial towns and coastal cities of the two former provinces. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is facing increasing threats of sea level rise and flooding as well as heavy strains on public infrastructures.
The first known human habitation in the area was either a Cham settlement called Baigaur, or a Cambodian city named Prey Nokor, which was a small fishing village. Over time, under the control of the Vietnamese, it was officially renamed Gia Định (嘉定) in 1698, a name that was retained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when it adopted the name Sài Gòn, francized as Saïgon, although the city was still indicated as 嘉定 on Vietnamese maps written in chữ Hán until at least 1891. An old name of Gia Định was Phan Yên 藩安, which was later commonly glossed as Phiên An.
The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after reunification in 1976 to honour Ho Chi Minh. Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech. However, there is a technical difference between the two terms: Sài Gòn is commonly used to refer to the city centre in District 1 and the adjacent areas, while Ho Chi Minh City refers to all of its urban and rural districts.
The original toponym behind Sài Gòn was attested earliest as 柴棍, with two phonograms whose Sino-Vietnamese readings are sài and côn respectively, in Lê Quý Đôn's "Miscellaneous Chronicles of the Pacified Frontier" (撫邊雜錄, Phủ biên tạp lục c. 1776), wherein Lê relates that, in 1674, Cambodian prince Ang Nan was installed as uparaja in 柴棍 (Sài Gòn) by Vietnamese forces.
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Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC; Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, IPA: [tʰan˨˩ fow˦˥ how˨˩ cɪj˦˥ mɨn˧˧]), formerly known as Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn, IPA: [saːj˨˩ ɣɔŋ˨˩]), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of 14,002,598 in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigon River. As the largest financial centre in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the largest gross regional domestic product out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities, contributing around a quarter of the country's total GDP. Ho Chi Minh City's metropolitan area is ASEAN's 5th largest economy, also the biggest outside an ASEAN country capital.
The area was initially part of Cambodian states until it became part of the Vietnamese Nguyễn lords in 1698, due to Đại Việt's expansionist policy of Nam tiến. It was capital of the Nguyễn lords at the end of their existence before the Nguyễn dynasty was formed. After the fall of the Citadel of Saigon, it became the capital of French Cochinchina from 1862 to 1949. It was also the capital of French Indochina from 1887 to 1902, and again from 1945 until its cessation in 1954. After France recognized Vietnam's independence and unity, it was the capital of the State of Vietnam from 1949 to 1955. Following the 1954 partition, it became the capital of South Vietnam until it was captured by North Vietnam, leading to a unified communist state in 1976. The city was subsequently renamed after the late leader Ho Chi Minh, though Saigon is still widely used in informal usages but slowly out of use. Beginning in the 1990s, the city underwent rapid expansion and modernization, which contributed to Vietnam's post-war economic recovery and helped revive its international trade hub status.
Ho Chi Minh City has a long tradition of being one of the centers of economy, entertainment and education in Southern Vietnam in particular and Vietnam in general. It is also the busiest international transport hub in Vietnam, with Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport accounting for nearly half of all international arrivals to Vietnam, and the Port of Saigon among the busiest container ports in Southeast Asia. The city is also a tourist attraction; some of its historic landmarks with modern landmarks, including the Independence Palace, Bitexco Financial Tower, Landmark 81 Tower, the War Remnants Museum, and Bến Thành Market. It is also known for its narrow walkable alleys and bustling nightlife, most notably the Phạm Ngũ Lão Ward and its Bùi Viện street.
In 2025, the Bình Dương and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu provinces were merged into Ho Chi Minh City, making it a megacity while inheriting the major industrial towns and coastal cities of the two former provinces. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is facing increasing threats of sea level rise and flooding as well as heavy strains on public infrastructures.
The first known human habitation in the area was either a Cham settlement called Baigaur, or a Cambodian city named Prey Nokor, which was a small fishing village. Over time, under the control of the Vietnamese, it was officially renamed Gia Định (嘉定) in 1698, a name that was retained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when it adopted the name Sài Gòn, francized as Saïgon, although the city was still indicated as 嘉定 on Vietnamese maps written in chữ Hán until at least 1891. An old name of Gia Định was Phan Yên 藩安, which was later commonly glossed as Phiên An.
The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after reunification in 1976 to honour Ho Chi Minh. Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech. However, there is a technical difference between the two terms: Sài Gòn is commonly used to refer to the city centre in District 1 and the adjacent areas, while Ho Chi Minh City refers to all of its urban and rural districts.
The original toponym behind Sài Gòn was attested earliest as 柴棍, with two phonograms whose Sino-Vietnamese readings are sài and côn respectively, in Lê Quý Đôn's "Miscellaneous Chronicles of the Pacified Frontier" (撫邊雜錄, Phủ biên tạp lục c. 1776), wherein Lê relates that, in 1674, Cambodian prince Ang Nan was installed as uparaja in 柴棍 (Sài Gòn) by Vietnamese forces.