From 72 provinces and cities, our country reduced to 38 after the merger 50 years ago.

Resolution No. 245-NQ/TW, Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party dated September 20, 1975. Source: National Archives Center III, Government Organization and Personnel Department - Photocopied by Znews.

Merge small provinces into new provinces

Regarding the merger of provinces, Resolution No. 245-NQ/TW dated September 20, 1975 of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party on the abolition of zones and the merger of provinces clearly stated: "The merger of small provinces into new provinces is aimed at building provinces into economic, planning and administrative units capable of solving to the highest level the requirements of promoting production, organizing the material and cultural life of the people, consolidating national defense, protecting security and the best ability to contribute to the common cause of the whole country; at the same time, to reduce intermediate levels and reduce the number of central agencies".

According to the report on the administrative boundary situation of our country in the Report No. 51/BCSĐ of the Party Committee of the Government dated August 24, 1995, before the reunification of the country on April 30, 1975, the North had 28 provinces, cities, and special zones, while the South had 44 provinces and cities. There were a total of 72 provincial-level administrative units in the country.

At the end of 1975, the National Assembly passed a resolution to abolish the regional level, dissolve autonomous regions, merge administrative units, and merge a series of northern and north central provinces; at the same time, the merger of provincial-level administrative units was carried out widely throughout the country.

Resolution dated December 27, 1975 of the National Assembly on the merger of several provinces. Source: National Archives Center III, National Assembly background, file 1573 - Znews copied.

The time when our country had the least number of administrative units

According to the Complete National Assembly Documents, the National Assembly decided to merge many provinces and cities in December 1975 and early 1976.

In the North, Cao Bang province merged with Lang Son to form Cao Lang. Tuyen Quang merged with Ha Giang to form Ha Tuyen. Hoa Binh merged with Ha Tay to form Ha Son Binh. Nam Ha merged with Ninh Binh to form Ha Nam Ninh. The three provinces of Yen Bai, Lao Cai, and Nghia Lo merged to form Hoang Lien Son.

In addition, the North also includes the provinces of Bac Thai, Ha Bac, Hai Hung, Lai Chau, Quang Ninh, Son La, Thai Binh, Vinh Phu and two centrally-run cities, Hanoi and Hai Phong.

In the Central region, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces merged into Nghe Tinh. Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Vinh Linh area merged into Binh Tri Thien province.

The two provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Da merged to form Quang Nam - Da Nang. Quang Ngai merged with Binh Dinh to form Nghia Binh. Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa merged to form Phu Khanh. The three provinces of Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Binh Tuy merged to form Thuan Hai.

Kon Tum and Gia Lai merged into Gia Lai - Kon Tum province. Thanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Lam Dong provinces remained the same as before.

Appendix 2, Report No. 51/BCSĐ of the Government Party Committee dated August 24, 1995. Source: National Archives Center III, Government Office background, file 4247 - Znews copied.

In the South, in 1976, the National Assembly changed the name of Saigon - Gia Dinh city to Ho Chi Minh City - a centrally-governed city.

The three provinces of Binh Duong, Binh Long, and Phuoc Long merged into Song Be province. The provinces of Bien Hoa, Tan Phu, and Ba Ria - Long Khanh merged into Dong Nai province. Dong Thap province was established on the basis of merging Sa Dec and Kien Phong provinces.

Long Xuyen and Chau Doc provinces merged into An Giang. My Tho, Go Cong provinces and My Tho city merged into Tien Giang province.

Hau Giang province was established on the basis of merging Phong Dinh, Ba Xuyen and Chuong Thien provinces. Kien Giang province was re-established on the basis of the entire area of ​​Rach Gia province and three districts of Chau Thanh A, Ha Tien and Phu Quoc of the previous Long Chau Ha province.

Vinh Long and Tra Vinh provinces merged into Cuu Long. Bac Lieu and Ca Mau merged into Minh Hai. In addition, Kien Hoa province changed its name to Ben Tre. The South also has Tay Ninh and Long An provinces.

According to Appendix 2, Report No. 51/BCSĐ of the Government Party Committee dated August 24, 1995, after merging a number of small provinces into large provinces in December 1975 and early 1976, our country had 38 provinces and cities, including 35 provinces and 3 centrally-run cities, of which the North had 17 provinces and the South had 21 provinces. This was the time when our country had the fewest number of administrative units since 1945.

Source znews

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