According to Conclusion No. 126-KL/TW, the Politburo and the Secretariat requested to study the orientation of continuing to arrange and remove the intermediate administrative level (district level) and merge a number of provincial administrative units.
Also according to statistics from the General Statistics Office until 2024, there are 8 mountainous provinces that do not simultaneously meet both criteria on area and population according to the Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee.
Specifically, Bac Kan (0.3 million people, 4,859.96 km2), Tuyen Quang (0.8 million people, 5,867.90 km2), Lao Cai (0.8 million people, 6,364.00 km2), Dak Nong (0.7 million people, 6,509.30 km2), Cao Bang (0.5 million people, 6,700.30 km2), Yen Bai (0.7 million people, 6,887.70 km2), Ha Giang (nearly 0.9 million people, 7,929.50 km2), Hoa Binh (nearly 0.9 million people, 4,591.00 km2).
Resolution No. 1211/2016/UBTVQH13 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on standards for administrative units and classification of administrative units, amended and supplemented by Resolution 27/2022 of the National Assembly Standing Committee clearly states the standards of the province.
In which, mountainous and highland provinces have a population standard of 900,000 people or more and a natural area of 8,000 km2 or more.
The remaining provinces have standards for population of 1.4 million people or more and natural area of 5,000 km2 or more.
The number of district-level administrative units under the province, according to the resolution, must be from 9 units or more, including at least one city or one town.
Currently, Vietnam has 63 provincial-level administrative units, including 57 provinces and 6 centrally-run cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho and Hue.
Historically, the number of provincial-level administrative units has changed significantly.
In April 1975, Vietnam had 72 provincial-level administrative units, including 25 units in the North and 47 units in the South.
After many adjustments, by 2004, the number of provinces and cities in Vietnam reached 64 people. By 2008, Ha Tay merged into Hanoi, reducing it to 63 units as at present.
