Rạch Giá () is a provincial city and the capital city of

Kiên Giang province Kiên Giang was a former province of Vietnam, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. It is known for fishing and rice farming. The provincial capital is Rạch Giá, from Ho Chi Minh City. Kiên Giang's area is and its popul ...

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 ...

. It is located on the Eastern coast of the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, southwest of

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. East of city, it borders Tân Hiệp and Châu Thành town, the

is to the West and surrounds some parts of the city, south of the city is Châu Thành and An Biên town, and to the North it borders Hòn Đất and Tân Hiệp.

Administrative units

Rạch Giá was upgraded from a town to a city by Government Decree No. 97/2005/NĐ-CP on July 26, 2005. The city has 12 administrative units: *Vĩnh Thanh Vân Ward *Vĩnh Thanh Ward *Vĩnh Lạc Ward *Vĩnh Lợi Ward *Vĩnh Quang Ward *An Hòa Ward *An Bình Ward *Rạch Sỏi Ward *Vĩnh Thông Ward *Vĩnh Hiệp Ward *Phi Thông Commune Rạch Giá is the first city where the Vietnamese government applied a "lấn biển" project to build out to the ocean to expand territory. The "lấn biển" project expanded the city to become one of the biggest new cities in southwest Vietnam. This project added 2 more new wards in Rạch Giá. Besides that, several future construction projects such as industrial center Rach Vuot and urban city Vĩnh Hiệp which will be started after finishing Lạc Hồng Bridge will expand Rạch Giá to the east.

Cultures and tourism

Ceremony of

Nguyễn Trung Trực Nguyễn Trung Trực (183827 October 1868), born Nguyễn Văn Lịch, was a Vietnamese fisherman who organized and led village militia forces which fought against French colonial forces in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam in the 1860s. He ...

is held annually in lunar August.

Historic

National historical sites: * Nguyễn Trung Trực temple * Tam Bảo pagoda * Vĩnh Hoà temple * Huỳnh Mẫn Đạt grave * Phật Lớn pagoda * Láng Cát pagoda * Kiên Giang museum * Quan Đế pagoda Other historical sites: * Sắc Tứ Tam Bảo Temple * Tam quan gate. This is the historical main gate and the symbol of Rạch Giá City. * Nguyễn Hiền Điều temple * Suông council * Bắc Đế temple * Thiên Hậu temple * Thiên Hậu Palace

Climate

Rạch Giá has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

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 ...

''Aw''), not quite wet enough to be classified as 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 ' ...

(''Am'') though wetter than most climates of its type. There is a very pronounced

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 ...

from December to March, but rainfall is consistently heavy for the remaining eight months of the year.

Transportation

Rạch Giá has 2 main stations: Rạch Sỏi station (main routes to neighbor towns or provinces on highway 61 and 63) and Rạch Giá station (main routes to

and

Hà Tiên Hà Tiên is a Provincial city (Vietnam), 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 th ...

). Those are the main stations to transport passengers to other towns in the province, or to other provinces in Vietnam. The bus transportation system was developed pretty early. Passengers can take the bus from Rạch Giá to 4 other towns: Châu Thành (route Rạch Giá – Tắc Cậu), Giồng Riềng (route Rạch Giá – Giồng Riềng), Tân Hiệp (route Rạch Giá – Kinh B), Hòn Đất (route Rạch Giá – Tám Ngàn). Currently, Rạch Giá Airport is the biggest airport in Rạch Giá. Rạch Giá airport has flight routes to Ho Chi Minh City with

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines () is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airlines is headquartered in Long Biên district, Hanoi ...

. Rạch Giá has 2 big ship stations: Rạch Giá ship station or Phú Quốc ship station (routes to Phú Quốc island and other big islands such as Phú Quốc, Hon Tre, Hòn Sơn and Thổ Chu) and Rạch Mẽo station (route to rural towns of Cà Mau Peninsula). High speed ship is the economic choice for passengers to Phú Quốc island or Kiên Hải islands.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rach Gia Populated places in Kiên Giang province Districts of Kiên Giang province Provincial capitals in Vietnam Cities in Vietnam