Dozens of provinces do not meet criteria on area and population.

The Politburo and the Secretariat have just issued instructions to continue to reorganize and streamline the apparatus. They require the Government Party Committee and relevant agencies to study the abolition of the district level and the merger of some provinces and report to the Politburo in the third quarter of 2025.

Ha Nam is one of four provinces that do not meet all three minimum standards on area, population, and number of district-level units.

PHOTO: TN

Many opinions say that the study of merging provinces can be based on current criteria of population and natural area, but must take into account other criteria of history and culture.

Currently, the criteria on natural area and population size are "hard" criteria stipulated by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in Resolution 1211 of 2016 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on criteria for administrative units and classification of administrative units, amended and supplemented by Resolution 27 of 2022, to implement the merger of commune-level and district-level administrative units carried out in the recent past.

According to regulations of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the standards of provinces and cities (rural administrative units) include population size, natural area and number of affiliated district-level administrative units.

For provinces, the minimum population size must be 900,000 people or more (for mountainous and highland provinces). For non-mountainous and highland provinces, it must be 1.4 million people or more.

In terms of area, the minimum standard for a province is 5,000 km2 or more. For mountainous and highland provinces, the area standard is higher, at 8,000 km2.

The minimum standard for the number of district-level units is 9 units or more.

For centrally-run cities, the standards are different. Specifically, in terms of population, centrally-run cities must have at least 1 million people; a natural area of ​​1,500 km2 or more; the number of similar district-level administrative units must be 9 or more, in which the proportion of districts, towns, and centrally-run cities (ie urban administrative units) must be 60% or more and at least 2 districts.

Dozens of provinces fail to meet minimum standards

According to current standards, dozens of provinces fail to meet minimum standards.

Specifically, 15 provinces do not meet the minimum population standard of 900,000 people (as of 2023, according to data from the General Statistics Office), including: Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Bac Kan, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Ha Nam, Quang Tri, Kon Tum, Ninh Thuan, Dak Nong, Phu Yen, Hau Giang.

Of which, the province with the smallest population is Bac Kan with just over 326,000 people; Lai Chau province is 489,000 people, Cao Bang is over 547,000 people; Kon Tum province is over 591,000 people...

There are 34 provinces and cities with natural areas below the minimum standard of 5,000 km2, however, of which 6 are centrally-governed cities (the area standard is only 1,500 km2). Therefore, according to current standards, there are 28 provinces that do not meet the minimum natural area standard.

These 28 provinces include: Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Vinh Phuc, Ninh Binh, Vinh Long, Thai Binh, Hau Giang, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang, Bac Lieu, Binh Duong, Soc Trang, Ninh Thuan, Dong Thap, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, An Giang, Bac Giang, Tay Ninh, Long An, Hoa Binh, Quang Tri, Bac Kan.

Of these, there are 3 provinces with an area of ​​less than 1,000 km2, which is less than 1/5 of the minimum standard, including: Bac Ninh (822.7 km2); Ha Nam (861.9 km2); Hung Yen (930.2 km2).

11 provinces have an area of ​​only 1,000 - 2,000 km2. 14 other provinces have an area of ​​2,000 - under 5,000 km2.

14 provinces and cities have 9 district-level administrative units below the standard, including: Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Vinh Long, Lai Chau, Thai Binh, Hau Giang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dak Nong, Tuyen Quang, Bac Lieu, Ninh Thuan, Quang Binh, Bac Kan.

If we consider both population and area standards, there are 6 provinces that do not meet both standards, including: Ha Nam, Hau Giang, Ninh Thuan, Hoa Binh, Quang Tri, and Bac Kan.

If calculating all 3 standards of population, area, number of district-level administrative units, there are 4 provinces that do not meet all 3 standards, including: Ha Nam, Hau Giang, Ninh Thuan, Bac Kan.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-chuc-tinh-khong-du-tieu-chi-ve-dien-tich-dan-so-18525022114004486.htm