Lai Châu () is a city in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

region 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 ...

. It is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Lai Châu Province Lai or LAI may refer to: Abbreviations * Austrian Latin America Institute (Österreichisches Lateinamerika-Institut) * '' Latin American Idol'', TV series * La Trobe Institute, Melbourne, Australia * Leaf area index, leaf area of a crop or ...

. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District và Tam Đường District.

History

Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: Mường Lay) was the seat of lords of the White Tai who were dominant over other

Thai peoples Thailand is a country of some 70 ethnic groups, including at least 24 groups of ethnolinguistically Tai peoples, mainly the Central, Northeastern, and Northern Thais; 22 groups of Austroasiatic peoples, with substantial populations of Northern ...

of the area, though there was rivalry between the White Tai rulers of Muang Lay and Muang So.Michael C. Howard, Kim Be Howard ''Textiles of the Daic peoples of Vietnam'' Page 75, 2002 "In general the White Tai nobles in the north were dominant, but even among them there was intense rivalry between the rulers of Muang Lay and Muang So. In the 1870s and 1880s Chinese bandits known as

Haw Haw or HAW may refer to: Fruit * many species of hawthorn (''Crataegus'') ** Haw flakes, Chinese sweets made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn, ''Crataegus pinnatifida'' * several species of ''Viburnum'', including: ** '' Viburnum rufidulu ...

(or Ho) moved into northern ..." During the 1870s Muang Lay was the base of lord Đèo Văn Trị of the White Tai who sought to unite and become chief of the 12 mường (Sino-Vietnamese: / ) making up the Sip Song Chau Tai. This he partially achieved, with the help first of the Chinese Black Flags, then later the French. His authority, and the autonomy of the area, was recognised by the French in 1890.

Demographics

As of 2020 the city had a population of 42,973, covering an area of 92.37 km².

Administrative divisions

Lai Châu City is officially divided into 7 commune-level sub-divisions, including 5 wards (Đoàn Kết, Đông Phong, Quyết Thắng, Quyết Tiến, Tân Phong) and 2 rural communes (San Thàng, Sùng Phài).

Climate

Lai Châu has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen ''Cwa''), typical for northwestern Vietnam, with hot, oppressively humid, and wet summers and warm to very warm, dry winters.

References

Provincial capitals in Vietnam Districts of Lai Châu province Populated places in Lai Châu province Cities in Vietnam {{LaiChau-geo-stub