Buôn Ma Thuột () (formerly Lac Giao) or sometimes Buôn Mê Thuột or Ban Mê Thuột, is the capital city of Đắk Lắk Province in the Central Highlands of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Its population was 420,000 in 2016, and grew to 502,170 by 2018. The city is the largest in Vietnam's Central Highlands region, and is famous as the regional "capital of coffee". Buôn Ma Thuột is served by Buôn Ma Thuột Airport.

Geography

The city is located at 12.6667° N 108.0500° E, right at the heart of the Central Highlands of Vietnam, 1300 km from Hanoi, 500 km from Da Nang, and 350 km from Ho Chi Minh City. Lying on a fairly flat highland, at an average height of above sea level, Buôn Ma Thuột has a vital role in Vietnam's national security and defense system. Buôn Ma Thuột is the capital of Đắk Lắk Province and also the biggest city in the Central Highlands region (Tây Nguyên).

History

In 1904 Đắk Lắk Province was established by the French and Buôn Ma Thuột was selected as the provincial administrative centre, rather than the trading center of Đôn on the

Srepok River The Srepok River ( km, ទន្លេស្រែពក, ; vi, Sông Sêrêpôk) is a major tributary of the Mekong River. It runs from Đắk Lắk Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam through the Ratanakiri and Stung Treng province ...

. Buôn Ma Thuột was originally settled by the

Ê Đê The Rhade or Êđê (Rade language: ''Ānāk Dāgār'' / Degar people) are an Austronesian ethnic group of southern Vietnam (population 398,671 in 2019). Etymology The ''Rhade'' is old French inscription of ''Dāgār'' in the Rade language what ...

, but due to the incoming Việt settlement after the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and the active

acculturation Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...

policy, less than 15% (around 40,000) are still Montagnards. An important

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

took place there at the end of the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

Institutions

Buôn Ma Thuột is the site of Tây Nguyên University, which was founded in 1977 and has educated more than 27,000 students. The TNU offers training in 37 university programs, 8 college programs, and 6 college-university interlinking programs and pre-university programs.

Climate

References

External links