Phú Mỹ is a provincial city (''thành phố thuộc tỉnh'') of

Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu (abbreviated BRVT) was formerly a province of Vietnam. It was located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It bordered Đồng Nai to the north, Bình Thuận to the northeast and Ho Chi Minh City metropolit ...

in southeast Vietnam. the city had a population of 175,872. The city covers an area of 333.84 km². Phú Mỹ was formerly Tân Thành District, a

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

of the province, with its district capital lying at Phú Mỹ township. In 2018, Tân Thành District was dissolved to form the new district-level town then city of Phú Mỹ. The city seat lies at Phú Mỹ ward (former Phú Mỹ township) from which it takes its name. Phú Mỹ is a highly industrialized town with several industrial parks. It is the site of CS Wind's largest Vietnam wind tower factory. Phú Mỹ is home to

deep water port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

s of Cái Mép–Thị Vải replacing Saigon Port when the latter relocated here. Phú Mỹ Power Plant Complex with a total capacity of 4,000 MW contributes nearly 35% of Vietnam's electricity.

History

Etymology

The town takes its name from the Phú Mỹ township, the capital of former Tân Thành District. The township was formally a commune and a village established in 1934 from the merger of Phú Thạnh and Mỹ Xuân, two villages founded in the area in the 19th century.

Before Vietnamese settlement

Archaeological evidence shows that modern humans had lived in Phú Mỹ in

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. In 2004, scientists conducted excavations in Gò Cây Me, an earthen hill in Tân Hòa Commune, and found relics of stony work tools, pottery and bones. The found relics were said to date back to the early metallic age circa 3500-3000 years before present. Between the 1st and 7th century, this area was controlled by the ancient Funan Kingdom. Later it was annexed by

Chenla Chenla or Zhenla ( zh, t=真臘, s=, 真腊, p=Zhēnlà, w=Chen-la; , ; ) is the Chinese designation for the vassal of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late 6th to the early 9th century in Indochina. ...

and administered as part of Chenla until the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

Vietnamese settlement

Due to conflicts and disturbance caused by the Trịnh-Nguyễn War, climate extremes, failing crops and factionism,

Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Viet ...

from the Central region migrated south, settled on

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

and Southern region today. Many arrived in Mô Xoài (present-day Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu) and established the earliest villages in the area. In 1698, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu launched a military expedition to Southern region led by

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 ...

Port of Phú Mỹ

The Port of Phú Mỹ (pronounced foo-me) is a port cluster on Cái Mép–Thị Vải river, with the main eponymous piers, and the river flow into

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

( Vietnamese: ''Biển Đông'') at the Gành Rái Gulf, it serves as the main deep water cargo port for Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, as well as for the

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

town of

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is an important port city in southern Vietnam. It serves as the maritime port of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu covers of area and consists of 16 urban wards and on ...

. The port is 65 km from Ho Chi Minh City and 45 km from Vũng Tàu city.

Administrative divisions

The city is divided administratively into ten commune-level subdivisions with the first seven are wards, and the three latter are communes: * Hắc Dịch * Mỹ Xuân * Phú Mỹ * Phước Hoà * Tân Hải * Tân Hòa * Tân Phước * Châu Pha * Sông Xoài * Tóc Tiên

References

Districts of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu province Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu province County-level towns in Vietnam {{BaRiaVungTau-geo-stub