An Giang () is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country.

Geography

An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hậu Giang and Tiền Giang branches of the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

are the dominant geographical features of the province. With the exception of the west, most of An Giang is fairly flat and is criss-crossed by many canals and small rivers. This terrain has led to An Giang being a significant agricultural center, producing significant quantities of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. The Cấm Mountains, also known as the Thất Sơn range or the "Seven Mountains", are located in the western Tịnh Biên District. Followers of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition, founded in An Giang in 1849, refer to these mountains as ''Bửu Sơn'', "Precious Mountains".

Administrative divisions

An Giang is subdivided into 11 district-level sub-divisions: * Districts: # An Phú: 2 towns and 12 rural communes # Châu Phú: 1 town and 12 rural communes # Châu Thành: 1 town and 12 rural communes # Chợ Mới: 2 towns and 16 rural communes # Phú Tân: 2 towns and 16 rural communes # Thoại Sơn: 3 towns and 14 rural communes #

Tịnh Biên Tịnh Biên is an urban municipality (''trấn thuộc huyện'') and capital town of the Tịnh Biên District of An Giang Province, Vietnam. Tịnh Biên was depicted in Robin Moore's fiction book ''The Green Berets''; chapter 1 described a ...

: 3 towns and 11 rural communes #

Tri Tôn Tri Tôn is an urban municipality (''trấn thuộc huyện'') and town in the Tri Tôn District of An Giang Province, Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country ...

: 2 towns and 13 rural communes * District-level town: # Tân Châu: 5 wards and 9 rural communes * Provincial cities: #

Châu Đốc Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2013, the city had a population of 157,298, and cover an area of . The city is located by the Hậu River (a branch of the Mekong Rive ...

: 5 wards and 2 rural communes #

Long Xuyên Long Xuyên () is the capital city of An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta region of south-western Vietnam. History In 1789, a group of explorers established a small outpost in the Tam Khe canal, naming it Dong Xuyen. Sooner after a marketpl ...

: 11 wards and 2 rural communes (capital of province) * They are further subdivided into 16 commune-level towns (or townlets), 119 communes, and 21 wards (156 in total).

Demographics

An Giang first became a province in 1832, having been settled by the Vietnamese migrants moving southwards in search of new land. It is believed that An Giang was once an important center of the 1st millennium

Óc Eo Óc Eo ( Vietnamese) is an archaeological site in modern-day Óc Eo commune of Thoại Sơn District in An Giang Province of southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, Óc Eo was a busy port of the kingdom of Funan between the 2nd century BC ...

culture, presumably owing to its position on the river. Traditionally, An Giang has been known for its

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

industry. An Giang is home to a substantial number of people from Vietnam's ethnic minorities. Due to the province's proximity to Cambodia, the Khmer Krom are the largest non-Vietnamese group. Other groups, such as the

Chams The Cham ( Cham: ''Čaṃ'') or Champa people ( Cham: , ''Urang Campa''; vi, Người Chăm or ; km, ជនជាតិចាម, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group. From the 2nd century to 1832 the Cham populated Champa, a contiguous territ ...

and ethnic Chinese ( Hoa), are also found in An Giang.

Notable people

Tôn Đức Thắng Tôn Đức Thắng (August 20, 1888 – March 30, 1980) was the second and last president of North Vietnam and the first president of the reunified Vietnam under the leadership of General Secretary Lê Duẩn. The position of president is cerem ...

, prominent Communist and former President of the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

; later became the first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Long Xuyên). *

Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ (26 May 190812 June 1976) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the first Vice President of South Vietnam, serving under President Ngô Đình Diệm from 1956 until Diệm's overthrow and assassination in 1963. He al ...

, vice-president of the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

before April 30, 1975 (Long Xuyên). *

Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum Chau Sen Cocsal ( km, ចៅ សែនកុសលឈុំ, ; 1 September 1905 – 22 January 2009), also known as Chhum (Khmer: ឈុំ, ), was a Cambodian civil servant and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia in 1962 and Pres ...

, Khmer Krom and Prime Minister of Cambodia in 1962. * Vương Trung Hiếu, writer (Thoại Sơn). * Trịnh Bửu Hoài, writer (Châu Đốc). * Hoàng Hiệp, musician (Chợ Mới). *

Võ Tòng Xuân Dr. Võ Tòng Xuân (born 6 September 1940) is former Provost of Tân Tạo University (TTU), the former rector of An Giang University (AGU) and the former vice rector of Can Tho University. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Roc ...

, academic, agronomist and former rector of

An Giang University An Giang University (AGU) ( vi, Trường Đại học An Giang) is a Vietnamese public university based in the city of Long Xuyen in An Giang Province. With over 10,000 enrolled students annually, it is one of the major educational and research ...

(Tri Tôn). *

Huỳnh Phú Sổ Huỳnh Phú Sổ (; 15 January 1920 – 16 April 1947), popularly known as Đức Thầy (lit. "Virtuous Master") or Đức Huỳnh Giáo Chủ (lit. Virtuous ectFounder (ie Patriach) Huynh), was the founder of the Hòa Hảo religious traditi ...

, founder of the

Hòa Hảo Hòa Hảo is a religious movement described either as a syncretistic folk religion or as a sect of Buddhism. It was founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ (1920–1947), who is regarded as a saint by its devotees. It is one of the major religio ...

sect of Buddhism (Phú Tân). * Thoại Ngọc Hầu, general of Nguyễn Dynasty (Chợ Mới). *Đoàn Minh Huyên, founder of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition. *Vũ Cát Tường, the singer of Vietnam.

External links

*
An Giang province: To open job transaction floor 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:An Giang Province Provinces of Vietnam

Geography

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Notable people

See also

External links