Huế, formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province, is the southernmost coastal city in the North Central Coast region, approximately in the center of the country, and an educational, medical, scientific, and cultural hub of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Trị to the north, Đà Nẵng to the south, Salavan and Sekong of Laos to the west and the South China Sea to the east. As one of the country's six direct-controlled municipalities, it falls under the administration of the central government.

Huế has 128 km of coastline, 22,000 ha of lagoons and over 200,000 ha of forest. The city is located in the middle of the North Central and South Central regions (including the South Central Coast and Central Highlands), and is transitional in many aspects: geology, climate, administrative division and local culture.

Huế and its surroundings is widely known as Xứ Huế (the Land of Huế). What is now the modern city was historically part of Thuận Hóa, a territory ceded by Champa to Đại Việt in 1306 as a wedding dowry. Huế (then known as Phú Xuân) became the provincial capital in 1687, then the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775, and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the Imperial Citadel and administrative capital for the Nguyễn dynasty, and later functioned as the administrative capital of the protectorate of Annam during the French Indochina period.

Huế is today a popular tourist destination, thanks to its extensive UNESCO-designated complex of imperial palaces, tombs and temples. Alongside its moat and thick stone walls, the complex encompasses the Imperial City of Huế, with palaces and shrines; the Forbidden Purple City, once the emperor's home; a replica of the Royal Theater; as well as temples and monuments in the city's outskirts.

In the present day, there are no sources of information that definitively confirm when the place name Huế officially appeared, but according to some information:

The region's history dates back some 2,800 years according to archaeological findings from the Sa Huỳnh culture, as well as from relics in the region.

The oldest ruins in Huế belong to the Kingdom of Lâm Ấp, dating back to the 4th century AD. The ruins of its capital, the ancient city of Kandarpapura (lit. 'the city where Śiva burnt Kama'), is now located in Long Tho Hill, three kilometers to the west of the city. Kandarpapura might have only been established during the reign of Kandarpadharma (r. 629–640) and it was named after the king, certainly it may be not the name of the capital of former Lâm Ấp kingdom. Another Champa ruin in the vicinity, the ancient city of Hoa Chau is dated back to the 9th century. Đại Việt became an independent nation in 938 AD; four centuries of territorial conflicts between Đại Việt and Champa followed. The two provinces then changed their names to Thuận and Hóa.

In 1306, the King of Champa, Chế Mân offered Vietnam two Cham prefectures, Ô and Lý, in exchange for marriage with a Vietnamese (Trần dynasty) princess named Huyền Trân. The Vietnamese King Trần Anh Tông accepted this offer. He took and renamed Ô and Lý prefectures to Thuận prefecture and Hóa prefecture, respectively, the two being often referred collectively to as Thuận Hóa region. In 1307, Đoàn Nhữ Hài was appointed by the emperor, Trần Anh Tông, to administer the area. Settlers from the north (Thanh Hóa) migrated south and integrated with the people of the Kingdom of Champa. During this time, the settlement of Hóa Châu province began, which included the area of present-day Huế.