Đông Hà () is the capital of Quảng Trị Province, in the North Central Coast region, the Central of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. As of 2024, the city's population is approximately about 164,228 people. Thành phố Đông Hà được "nâng hạng"
/ref>
/ref> It is located north of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

and south of Đồng Hới in Quảng Bình Province.

History

The city was initially part of

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

, until it was conquered by the Qin Empire who were in control of most of Vietnam at the time. In the 2nd century CE, the Cham people rebelled against Chinese rule. During the 14th and 15th century, ethnic Vietnamese gradually admixed with the Cham inhabitants. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Đông Hà was the northernmost town in South Vietnam and was the location of a strategically important

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Đông Hà Combat Base, to support Marine positions along the

Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel north, 17th parallel in Quang Tri province that was the dividing line between North Vietnam and South Vietnam from 21 July 1954 to 2 July 1976, when Vietnam was off ...

(DMZ).Keith W. Nolan ''The Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Vietnam: 1-1 Cav, 1967-1968'' ... Just north of Đông Hà on April 6 the correspondent, Brummett, and Nguyễn Ngọc Lương, the paper's interpreter, waited for a possible tank battle" During the so-called Easter Offensive in 1972, the town was the scene of a ferocious battle between the South Vietnamese army and invading North Vietnamese armored forces. The North Vietnamese army captured the town on 28 April 1972, and it was never regained by the South Vietnamese. The contemporary Vietnamese singer Như Quỳnh was born in Đông Hà in 1970.

Transportation

Đông Hà is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the North–South Railway (Reunification Express) and is served by Đông Hà Railway Station. EWEC is an economic development program which includes northeast Thailand, Southern Laos, and central Vietnam. The city currently does not have its own airport at this time but Quang Tri Airport is currently under construction and is expected to be operational from 2026. In the meantime, air travel is served by two airports in neighbouring provinces which are Đồng Hới Airport in Quảng Bình Province and Phu Bai International Airport in

Climate

Đông Hà has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Am''). There is a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

due to the northeast monsoon between August and December, peaking in October with around of rain and frequent

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

landfalls. The

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

lasts from January to July, though there is a secondary rainfall peak in May. The highest temperature recorded was 44.0 °C on 28 April 2024, while the lowest was 9.4 °C on 2 March 1986.

References

Populated places in Quảng Trị province Districts of Quảng Trị province Cities in Vietnam Provincial capitals in Vietnam {{QuangTri-geo-stub

History

Transportation

Climate

See also

References