Mekong River Delta
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The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-western region ( vi, Tây Nam Bộ, links=no), is the
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in southwestern Vietnam where 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 annuall ...
approaches and empties into the sea through a network of
distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of south-western
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 ...
of over . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season. Its wet coastal geography makes it an important source of agriculture and aquaculture for the country. The delta has been occupied as early as the 4th century BC. As a product of Khmer,
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, and French settlement in the region, the delta and its waterways have numerous names, including the Khmer term Bassac to refer to the lower basin and the largest river branch flowing through it. After the
1954 Geneva Conference The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part o ...
, Vietnam was split into two with South Vietnam inheriting the southern half of Vietnam becoming the
State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...
and eventually 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 th ...
, also known as South Vietnam, with their own administrative states (see :Provinces of South Vietnam). After 1975, the Mekong Delta ceased being a part of the Republic of Vietnam, succeeded by the current Vietnamese nation. Today, the region comprises 12 provinces: Long An, Đồng Tháp, Tiền Giang,
An Giang An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. 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 t ...
, Bến Tre,
Vĩnh Long Vĩnh Long () is a city and the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Vĩnh Long covers and has a population of 147,039 (as of 2009). The name was spelled 永 隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the former Hán Nôm writing sys ...
,
Trà Vinh Trà Vinh City is the capital city of Trà Vinh province in southern Vietnam. Location It is located in the Mekong Delta region, which is in the Southern part of Vietnam. Under the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Repub ...
, Hậu Giang, Kiên Giang,
Sóc Trăng Sóc Trăng () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Sóc Trăng Province. It was upgraded from a town (thị xã) to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007. Name The name is believed to be derived from the Khmer langu ...
,
Bạc Liêu Bạc Liêu () is a provincial city and capital of the Bạc Liêu Province in the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country i ...
, and
Cà Mau Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau Province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and m ...
, along with the province-level municipality of
Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque r ...
. The Mekong Delta has been dubbed a 'biological treasure trove'. Over 1,000 animal species were recorded between 1997 and 2007 and new species of plants, fish, lizards, and mammals have been discovered in previously unexplored areas, including the
Laotian rock rat The Laotian rock rat or ''kha-nyou'' (''Laonastes aenigmamus'', Lao: ຂະຍຸ), sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a species of rodent found in the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina ...
, thought to be extinct. The low-lying coastal geography of the region makes it vulnerable to climate change caused
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
rise, alongside related issues such as
coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
and
saltwater intrusion Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to groundwater quality degradation, including drinking water sources, and other consequences. Saltwater intrusion can naturally occur in coastal aquifers ...
.


History


Funan and Chenla period

The Mekong Delta was likely inhabited long since prehistory; the civilizations of
Funan Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
and
Chenla Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
maintained a presence in the Mekong Delta for centuries. Archaeological discoveries at
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 ...
and other Funanese sites show that the area was an important part of the Funan civilization, bustling with trading ports and canals as early as in the first century AD and extensive human settlement in the region may have gone back as far as the 4th century BC. While there is no clear consensus on the ethnic makeup of those living in the region during the Funan, archaeologists suggest that they may have had connections to
Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
people. Khmer inscriptions appear during the
Chenla Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
period. Angkor Borei is a site in the Mekong Delta that existed between 400 BC-500 AD. This site had extensive maritime trade networks throughout Southeast Asia and with India, and is believed to have possibly been the ancient capital to the civilization of Funan.


Cambodian period

Together with
Southeast (Vietnam) Đông Nam Bộ (literally "Southeast region") is a region in Vietnam. This region includes one municipality, Ho Chi Minh City; and five provinces: Đồng Nai, Bình Dương, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province, Bình Phước and Tây Ninh. ...
, the region was known as ''
Kampuchea Krom Kampouchea Krom ( km, កម្ពុជាក្រោម, ; "Lower Cambodia") is the region variously known as Southern Vietnam, Nam Bo, and the former French Cochinchina. Bordering present-day Cambodia, the region is positioned in Cambodian ...
'' (Lower Cambodia) to the Khmer Empire, which likely maintained settlements there centuries before its rise in the 11th and 12th centuries."At the height of the Khmer Empire's economic and political strength, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, its rulers established and fostered the growth of Prey Nokor ..It is possible that there already had been a settlement at this location in the Mekong marshes for some centuries, depending, as Prey Nokor did, on the handling of goods traded between the countries bordering the South China Sea and the interior provinces of the empire." The kingdom of
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
, though mainly based along the coast of modern
Central Vietnam Central Vietnam ( vi, Trung Bộ or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by South Vietnam, and Annam under French Indochina, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam. The name Trung Bộ was used by ...
, is known to have expanded west into the Mekong Delta, seizing control of Prey Nokor (the precursor to modern-day
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
) by the end of the 13th century."Such a trading center was bound to be one of the prizes in the struggle for power that developed in the thirteenth century between the declining Khmer Empire and the expanding kingdom of Champa, and by the end of that century the Cham people had seized control of the town." Author Nghia M. Vo suggests that a Cham presence may indeed have existed in the area prior to Khmer occupation."Saigon began as the Cham village of Baigaur, then became the Khmer Prey Nokor before being taken over by the Vietnamese and renamed Gia Dinh Thanh and then Saigon." However, this does not take into account that Kampuchea Krom (including Prey Nokor) existed since early history or at least
Funan Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
(Salkin et al., 1996); and the fact that between 10th-12th century, there were several clashes between Khmer Empire and
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
(mainly based along modern
Central Vietnam Central Vietnam ( vi, Trung Bộ or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by South Vietnam, and Annam under French Indochina, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam. The name Trung Bộ was used by ...
). In the early 15th century,
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
began mounting several incursions in the Mekong Delta. The declining Kingdom of Cambodia asked the Chinese
Ming Empire The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
for intervention in 1408 and 1414. Despite that, in 1421
Indravarman VI Indravarman VI, Ba Dich Lai, Chang-pa-ti-lai, Virabhadravarman, or Ngauk Klaung Vijaya was a king of Champa, ruling from 1400 to 1441. He took the regnal name Indravarman when crowned in 1432. Reign Vr̥ṣu-Viṣṇujāti Virabhadravarman or V ...
of Champa seized and annexed the eastern part of the Mekong Delta, including the marketplace town of
Bien Hoa Bien may refer to: * Bien (newspaper) * Basic Income Earth Network * Bień, Poland {{disambiguation ...
. He installed a statue of Tribhuvanākrānta (Visnu) there to mark the southern most extent of Champa. Beginning in the 1620s, Cambodian king
Chey Chettha II Chey Chettha II ( km, ជ័យជេដ្ឋាទី២ , 1576–1628) was a king of Cambodia who reigned from Oudong, about 40 km northwest of modern-day Phnom Penh, from 1618 to 1628. He was the son of King Srei Soriyopear (r. 1603–16 ...
(1618–1628) allowed the Vietnamese to settle in the area, and to set up a custom house at Prey Nokor, which they colloquially referred to as ''Sài Gòn''. The Mekong Delta became a
territorial dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources su ...
between the Cambodians and the Vietnamese in the succeeding centuries. In 1757, Vietnamese lords had acquired control of
Cà Mau Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau Province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and m ...
. By the 1860s, French colonists had established control over the Mekong Delta and established the colony of
French Cochinchina French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; french: Cochinchine française; vi, Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ, Hán tự: ) was a colony of French Indochina, encompassing the whole region of Lower Cochinchina or Southern Vietnam fr ...
.


Vietnamese period

In 1698, the
Nguyễn lords Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...
of
Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
sent
Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh ( vi-hantu, 阮有鏡, 1650–1700), also known as Nguyễn Hữu Kính and his noble rank Lễ Thành Hầu, was a high-ranking general of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu. His military expeditions into the Mekong Delta placed the r ...
, a Vietnamese noble, to the area to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area. Rather than a state narratives of Vietnamese majorities’ expansion to the South, French, Vietnamese documents, and the (Cambodian)
Cham people 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 territo ...
regard themselves as the earliest settlers in the Mekong Delta in the 17th and 18th centuries, preceded Chinese and Vietnamese settlers. The Nguyen first established Cham–Malay military colonies in order to create establishment and control over the delta for later Vietnamese settlements. By the late 18th century when conditions were well-settled, those Cham–Malay settlers were gradually replaced by Vietnamese colonists. Vietnamese seizures of indigenous lands and colonization of the Mekong Delta were later incorporated into the modern ethnonationalist '' Nam tiến'' theory. During the Tây Sơn wars and the subsequent
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
, Vietnam's boundaries were pushed as far as the Cape Cà Mau. In 1802 Nguyễn Ánh crowned himself emperor
Gia Long Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
and unified all the territories comprising modern Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta. Upon the conclusion of the Cochinchina Campaign in the 1860s, the area became part of
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
, France's first colony in Vietnam, and later, part of
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
. Beginning during the French colonial period, the French patrolled and fought on the waterways of the Mekong Delta region with their ''Divisions navales d'assaut (
Dinassaut The Dinassaut (, ''Division Navale d'Assaut'', "Naval Assault Division") was a type of riverine military unit employed by the French Navy during the first Indochina War. It's an example of Riverine artillery. The 'Dinassaut' were created by Ge ...
)'', a tactic which lasted throughout the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
, and was later employed by the US Navy
Mobile Riverine Force In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...
. During the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, 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 Vie ...
—also referred to as the Second Indochina War—the Delta region saw savage fighting between
Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...
(NLF)
guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tacti ...
and the US 9th Infantry Division and units of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's swift boats and
hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
( PACVs) plus the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...
,
9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
, and 21st Infantry Divisions. As a military region the Mekong Delta was encompassed by the IV Corps Tactical Zone (IV CTZ). In 1975, North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong soldiers launched a massive invasion in many parts of South Vietnam. While I, II, and III Corps collapsed significantly, IV Corps was still highly intact due to under Major General Nguyen Khoa Nam overseeing strong military operations to prevent VC taking over any important regional districts. Brigadier General Le Van Hung, the head of 21st Division commander, stayed office in Can Tho to continue defending successfully against VC. On 29 April 1975, the last U.S. Consul General Terry McNamara and his diplomats evacuated by marine boat from Can Tho to the South China Sea. When the South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh ordered unconditional surrender, both ARVN generals in Can Tho, General Le Van Hung and Nguyen Khoa Nam, committed suicide. At
Binh Thuy Air Base Binh Thuy Air Base (also known as Can Tho Air Base and Trà Nóc Air Base) was a United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) ''(Khong Quan Nhan Dan Viet Nam)'' ...
some ARVN soldiers and air base personnel who defended the air base evacuated by helicopters and several jet fighters to
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
shortly after hearing Minh's surrender. Within hours, VC soldiers occupied the base and captured those ARVN and air base personnel who didn't escape. In My Tho, Brigadier General Tran Van Hai, who was in charged protecting
National Highway 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...
(now NH1A) from Saigon to Can Tho, committed suicide. Tran was one of the three ARVN generals refused to be evacuated by American when the North Vietnamese soldiers invade Saigon. Several ARVN soldiers continued to fight against the VC but later either surrendered or disbanded when faced with VC counterattacks. In the late 1970s, the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer the Delta region. This campaign precipitated the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and subsequent downfall of the Khmer Rouge.


Geography

The Mekong Delta, as a region, lies immediately to the west of
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
(also called Saigon by locals), roughly forming a triangle stretching from
Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majorit ...
in the east to
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 ...
and
Hà Tiên Hà Tiên is a Provincial city in Kiên Giang Province, Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its area is and the population as of 2019 is 81,576. The city borders Cambodia to the west. Hà Tiên is a tourist site of the region thanks to its beaches and l ...
in the northwest, down to
Cà Mau Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau Province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and m ...
at the southernmost tip of Vietnam, and including the island of
Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City, the island has a total area of and a permanent population of appr ...
. The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam displays a variety of physical landscapes, but is dominated by flat flood plains in the south, with a few hills in the north and west. This diversity of terrain was largely the product of
tectonic uplift Tectonic uplift is the geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While isostatic response is important, an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to tectonic processes of crustal thick ...
and
folding Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure * Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Abov ...
brought about by the collision of the
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
and
Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...
tectonic plates about 50 million years ago. The soil of the lower Delta consists mainly of sediment from the
Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
and its tributaries, deposited over thousands of years as the river changed its course due to the flatness of the low-lying terrain. The present Mekong Delta system has two major distributary channels, both discharging directly into the East Sea. The
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
history of the Mekong Delta shows delta progradation of about 200 km during the last 6 kyr. During the Middle Holocene the Mekong River was discharging waters into both the East Sea and the
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
. The water entering the Gulf of Thailand was flowing via a palaeochannel located within the western part of the delta; north of the Camau Peninsula. Upper
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
prodeltaic and delta front sediments interpreted as the deposits of the palaeo-Mekong River were reported from central basin of the
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
The Mekong Delta is the region with the smallest forest area in Vietnam. or 7.7% of the total area are forested as of 2011. The only provinces with large forests are Cà Mau Province and Kiên Giang Province, together accounting for two-thirds of the region's forest area, while forests cover less than 5% of the area of all of the other eight provinces and cities.


Coastal erosion

From 1973 to 2005, the Mekong Delta's seaward shoreline growth decreased gradually from a mean of 7.8 m/yr to 2.8 m/yr, becoming negative after 2005, with a retreat rate of −1.4 m/yr. The net deltaic land area gain has also been slowing, with the mean rate decreasing from 4.3 km2/yr (1973–1979) to 1.0 km2 yr (1995–2005), and then to −0.05 km2/yr (2005–2015). Thus, in about 2005, the subaerial Mekong Delta transitioned from a constructive mode to an erosional (or destructive) mode.


Climate change concerns

Being a low-lying coastal region, the Mekong Delta is particularly susceptible to floods resulting from rises in sea level due to
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. The Climate Change Research Institute at Cần Thơ University, in studying the possible
consequences of climate change The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the Effects of climate change on the water cycle, water cycle, ...
, has predicted that, besides suffering from drought brought on by seasonal decrease in rainfall, many provinces in the Mekong Delta will be flooded by the year 2030. The most serious cases are predicted to be the provinces of Bến Tre and Long An, of which 51% and 49%, respectively, are expected to be flooded if the sea level rises by .Mekong Delta: more flood and drought
". VietnamNet Bridge. March 19, 2009.
Plans are currently being made to breach dykes in the upper Mekong delta, as a
sedimentation enhancing strategy Sedimentation enhancing strategies are environmental management projects aiming to restore and facilitate land-building processes in deltas. Sediment availability and deposition are important because deltas naturally subside and therefore need se ...
. This will not only increase the water retention capacity of the upper delta region, alleviating pressure on the lower delta, but also reintroduce sediment-rich water which may result in land elevation. Another problem caused by climate change is the increasing
soil salinity Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...
near the coasts. Bến Tre Province is planning to reforest coastal regions to counter this trend. The duration of inundations at an important road in the city of Can Tho is expected to continue to rise from the current total of 72 inundated days per year to 270 days by 2030 and 365 days by 2050. This is attributed to the combined influence of sea-level rise and
land subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...
, which occurs at about annually. Several projects and initiatives on local, regional and state levels work to counter this trend and save the Mekong Delta. For example, there exists a programme for integrated
coastal management Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...
that is supported by Germany and Australia. In August 2019, a ''
Nature Communications ''Nature Communications'' is a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio since 2010. It is a multidisciplinary journal and it covers the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, earth sciences, medici ...
'' study using an improved measure of elevation estimation, found that the delta was much lower than previous estimates, only a mean above sea level, with 75% of the delta—an area where 12 million people currently live—falling below . It is expected that a majority of the delta will be
below sea level This is a list of places on land below mean sea level. Places artificially created such as tunnels, mines, basements, and dug holes, or places under water, or existing temporarily as a result of ebbing of sea tide etc., are not included. Places ...
by 2050.


Demographics

The inhabitants of the Mekong Delta region are predominantly ethnic
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
. It is home to the largest population of
Cambodians The Khmer people ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរ, ) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Cambodia. They comprise over 90% of Cambodia's population of 17 million.
outside of Cambodia. The Khmer minority population live primarily in the
Trà Vinh Trà Vinh City is the capital city of Trà Vinh province in southern Vietnam. Location It is located in the Mekong Delta region, which is in the Southern part of Vietnam. Under the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Repub ...
,
Sóc Trăng Sóc Trăng () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Sóc Trăng Province. It was upgraded from a town (thị xã) to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007. Name The name is believed to be derived from the Khmer langu ...
, and Muslim Chăm in Tân Châu,
An Giang An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. 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 t ...
provinces. There are also sizeable Hoa (ethnic Chinese) populations in the Kiên Giang, and
Trà Vinh Trà Vinh City is the capital city of Trà Vinh province in southern Vietnam. Location It is located in the Mekong Delta region, which is in the Southern part of Vietnam. Under the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Repub ...
provinces. The region had a population of 17.33 million people in 2011.General Statistics Office (2012): ''Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam 2011''. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi The population of the Mekong Delta has been growing relatively slowly in recent years, mainly due to out-migration. The region's population only increased by 471,600 people between 2005 and 2011, while 166,400 people migrated out in 2011 alone. Together with the central coast regions, it has one of the slowest growing populations in the country. Population growth rates have been between 0.3% and 0.5% between 2008 and 2011, while they have been over 2% in the neighbouring southeastern region. Net migration has been negative in all of these years. The region also has a relatively low
fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...
, at 1.8 children per woman in 2010 and 2011, down from 2.0 in 2005.


Provinces


Economy

The Mekong Delta is by far Vietnam's most productive region in agriculture and aquaculture, while its role in industry and foreign direct investment is much smaller.


Agriculture

2.6 million ha in the Mekong Delta are used for agriculture, which is one fourth of Vietnam's total. Due to its mostly flat terrain and few forested areas (except for Cà Mau Province), almost two-thirds (64.5%) of the region's land can be used for agriculture. The share of agricultural land exceeds 80% in
Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque r ...
and neighbouring Hậu Giang Province and is below 50% only in Cà Mau Province (32%) and Bạc Liêu Province (42%). The region's land used for growing cereals makes up 47% of the national total, more than northern and central Vietnam combined. Most of this is used for rice cultivation. Rice output in 2011 was 23,186,000t, 54.8% of Vietnam's total output. The strongest producers are Kiên Giang Province, An Giang Province, and Đồng Tháp Province, producing over 3 million tonnes each and almost 11 million tonnes together. Any two of these provinces produce more than the entire
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
. Only three provinces produce less than 1 million tonnes of rice ( Bạc Liêu Province, Cà Mau Province, Bến Tre Province).


Fishery

The Mekong Delta is also Vietnam's most important fishing region. It has almost half of Vietnam's capacity of offshore fishing vessels (mostly in Kien Gian with almost 1/4, Bến Tre, Cà Mau, Tiền Giang, Bạc Liêu). Fishery output was at 3.168 million tons (58.3% of Vietnam) and has experienced rapid growth from 1.84mt in 2005. All of Vietnam's largest fishery producers with over 300kt of output are in the Mekong Delta: Kiên Giang, Cà Mau, Đồng Tháp, An Giang, and Bến Tre. Despite the region's large offshore fishing fleet, 2/3 (2.13 million tonnes out of Vietnam's total of 2.93) of fishery output actually comes from aquaculture. December 2015, aquaculture production was estimated at 357 thousand tons, up 11% compared to the same period last year, bringing the total aquaculture production 3516 thousand tons in 2015, up 3.0% compared to the same period. Although aquaculture production has increased overall, aquaculture still faces many difficulties coming from export markets.


Industry and FDI

The Mekong Delta is not strongly industrialized, but is still the third out of seven regions in terms of industrial
gross output In economics, gross output (GO) is the measure of total economic activity in the production of new goods and services in an accounting period. It is a much broader measure of the economy than gross domestic product (GDP), which is limited mainly t ...
. The region's industry accounts for 10% of Vietnam's total as of 2011. Almost half of the region's industrial production is concentrated in
Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque r ...
, Long An Province and Cà Mau Province. Cần Thơ is the economic center of the region and more industrialized than the other provinces. Long An has been the only province of the region to attract part of the manufacturing booming around
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
and is seen by other provinces as an example of successful FDI attraction. Cà Mau Province is home to a large industrial zone including power plants and a fertiliser factory. Accumulated foreign direct investment in the Mekong Delta until 2011 was $10.257bn. It has been highly concentrated in a few provinces, led by Long An and Kiên Giang with over $3bn each, Tiền Giang and Cần Thơ (around 850m), Cà Mau (780m) and Hậu Giang (673m), while the other provinces have received less than 200m each. In general, the performance of the region in attracting FDI is evaluated as unsatisfactory by local analysts and policymakers. Companies from
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
have also invested heavily in the region. Their investment from 2000 to June 2011 accounted for 199 trillion VND (almost $10bn).


Infrastructure

The construction of the
Cần Thơ Bridge Cần Thơ Bridge ( vi, Cầu Cần Thơ), is a cable-stayed bridge over the Hậu ( Bassac) River, the largest distributary of the Mekong River, in the city of Cần Thơ in southern Vietnam. The bridge is 2.75 kilometres long (1.68 miles). It ha ...
, a cable-stayed bridge over the largest
distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
of the Mekong River, was completed on April 12, 2010, three years after a
collapse Collapse or its variants may refer to: Concepts * Collapse (structural) * Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept * Collapsing manifold * Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects * Collapsing user interface elements ** ...
that killed 54 and injured nearly 100 workers. The bridge replaces the ferry system that currently runs along National Route 1, and links Vĩnh Long Province and
Cần Thơ Cần Thơ, also written as Can Tho or Cantho (: , : ), is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam. It is noted for its floating markets, rice paper-making village, and picturesque r ...
city. The cost of construction is estimated to be 4.842 trillion
Vietnamese đồng The dong ( Vietnamese: ''đồng'', Chữ Nôm: 銅) (; ; sign: ₫ or informally đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the pr ...
(approximately 342.6 million
United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s), making it the most expensive bridge in Vietnam.


Culture

Life in the Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, and many of the villages are often accessible by rivers and canals rather than by road. The region is home to
cải lương ''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as cải lương ( Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, '' há ...
, a form of Kinh/Vietnamese folk opera. Cai Luong Singing appeared in Mekong Delta in the early 20th century. Cai Luong Singing is often performed in the soundtrack of guitar and zither. Cai Luong is a kind of play telling a story. A sort of play often includes two main parts: the dialogue part and the singing part to express their thoughts and emotions.


Cuisine

The Mekong Delta cuisine relies heavily on fresh products which is abundant in the new land with heavy use of seafoods and unique ingredients of the region such as
palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed s ...
,
basa Basa may refer to: Agreements * Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, between National Aviation Authority regulators People * Basa (surname) * Bassa people (Cameroon), also spelled Basa, an ethnic group * Basa, leader and namesake of the Basing ...
fish and wild herbs and flowers such as điên điển, so đũa, kèo nèo. The history of the region being a newly settled area reflects on its cuisine, with ''Ẩm thực khẩn hoang'' or ''Settlers cuisine'' means dishes are prepared fresh from wild and newly-caught ingredients. The cuisine is also influenced by Khmer, Cham and Chinese settlers. This differs itself from the cuisine of other regions of Vietnam.


Literature and movies

Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, an author from Cà Mau province, has written many popular books about life in the Mekong Delta such as: *Ngọn đèn không tắt (The Inextinguishable Light, 2000) *Ông ngoại (Grandpa, 2001) *Biển người mênh mông (The Ocean of People, 2003) *Giao thừa (New Year's Eve, 2003) *Nước chảy mây trôi (Flowing Waters, Flying Clouds, 2004) *Cánh đồng bất tận (The Endless Field, 2005) The 2004 film
The Buffalo Boy ''The Buffalo Boy'' ( vi, Mùa len trâu, links=no, french: Le Gardien des Buffles, links=no) is a 2004 film directed by Nguyễn Võ Nghiêm Minh. The movie was the official entry from Vietnam for Best Foreign Language Film category at the 78t ...
is set in Cà Mau province.


See also

* GMS Environment Operations Center * Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network *
Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance The Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance (MBDS) consortium is a self-organised and sub-regional co-operation spearheaded by health ministries from member countries to collaborate on infectious disease surveillance and control. The co-operation foc ...


Notes


References


Further reading

*Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (2012): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer. . *Kuenzer, C. and F. G. Renaud (2012): Climate Change and Environmental Change in River Deltas Globally. In: Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (eds.): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 7–48. *Renaud F. G. and C. Kuenzer (2012): Introduction. In: Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (eds.): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 3–6. *Moder, F., C. Kuenzer, Z. Xu, P. Leinenkugel and Q. Bui Van (2012): IWRM for the Mekong Basin. In: Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (eds.): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 133–166. *Klinger, V., G. Wehrmann, G. Gebhardt and C. Kuenzer (2012): A Water related Web-based Information System for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta. In: Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (eds.): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 423–444. *Gebhardt, S., L. D. Nguyen and C. Kuenzer (2012): Mangrove Ecosystems in the Mekong Delta. Overcoming Uncertainties in Inventory Mapping Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data. In: Renaud, F. G. and C. Kuenzer (eds.): The Mekong Delta System. Interdisciplinary Analyses of a River Delta (=Springer Environmental Science and Engineering). Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 315–330. *Kuenzer, C., H. Guo, J. Huth, P. Leinenkugel, X. Li and S. Dech (2013): Flood Mapping and Flood Dynamics of the Mekong Delta. ENVISAT-ASAR-WSM Based Time-Series Analyses. In: Remote Sensing 5, pp. 687–715. DOI: 10.3390/rs5020687. *Gebhardt, S., J. Huth, N. Lam Dao, A. Roth and C. Kuenzer (2012): A comparison of TerraSAR-X Quadpol backscattering with RapidEye multispectral vegetation indices over rice fields in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. In: International Journal of Remote Sensing 33 (24), pp. 7644–7661. *Leinenkugel, P., T. Esch and C. Kuenzer (2011): Settlement detection and impervious surface estimation in the Mekong Delta using optical and SAR remote sensing data. In: Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (12), pp. 3007–3019. *Kuenzer, C., I. Klein, T. Ullmann, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, R. Baumhauer and S. Dech (2015): Remote Sensing of River Delta Inundation: Exploiting the Potential of Coarse Spatial Resolution, Temporally-Dense MODIS Time Series. In: Remote Sensing 7, pp. 8516-8542. DOI: 10.3390/rs70708516. *Kuenzer, C., H. Guo, I. Schlegel, V. Tuan, X. Li and S. Dech (2013): Varying scale and capability of
envisat Envisat ("Environmental Satellite") is a large inactive Earth-observing satellite which is still in orbit and now considered space debris. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satell ...
ASAR-WSM, TerraSAR-X scansar and TerraSAR-X Stripmap data to assess urban flood situations: A case study of the mekong delta in Can Tho province. In: Remote Sensing 5 (10), pp. 5122-5142. DOI: 10.3390/rs5105122.


External links


The WISDOM Project, a Water related Information System for the Mekong DeltaImage Google map of the Mekong Delta

Fruits found at Mekong Delta


Climate change



International Centre for Environmental Management.
Release of arsenic to deep groundwater in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, linked to pumping-induced land subsidence
{{Authority control Mekong River Saigon River River deltas of Asia Landforms of Vietnam Regions of Vietnam Biosphere reserves of Vietnam Landforms of the South China Sea Landforms of An Giang province Landforms of Bạc Liêu province Landforms of Bến Tre province Landforms of Cà Mau province Landforms of Đồng Tháp province Landforms of Hậu Giang province Landforms of Kiên Giang province Landforms of Long An province Landforms of Sóc Trăng province Landforms of Tiền Giang province Landforms of Trà Vinh province Landforms of Vĩnh Long province Landforms of Cần Thơ