National Route 1 ( vi, Quốc lộ 1 (or abbrv. QL.1) or Đường 1, links=no), also known as National Route 1A, is the trans-Vietnam highway. The route begins at km 0 at Hữu Nghị Quan Border Gate near the China-Vietnam border, runs the length of the country connecting major cities including

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, and ends at km 2301.34 at Năm Căn township in Cà Mau Province.

Road layout

National Route 1 runs across provinces and cities 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 i ...

: *

Lạng Sơn Lạng Sơn () is a city in far northern Vietnam, which is the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1. History Due to its ge ...

(km 16) *

Bắc Giang Bắc Giang () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Bắc Giang Province. Its name, deriving from that of the Province Sino-Vietnamese, means "north of the river." The location is very convenient for transportation: it is 50 km north ...

(km 119) *

Bắc Ninh Bắc Ninh () is a city in the northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a population of 501,199 in N ...

(km 139) *City of

(the capital) (km 170) *

Phủ Lý Phủ Lý is the capital city of Hà Nam Province of Vietnam 60 km south of Hanoi on the river Đáy. History Phủ Lý was taken by the French canonnière ''l'Espingole'' and 28 men captained by Adrien-Paul Balny d'Avricourt on October 26 1873 ...

(km 229, Province of

Hà Nam Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ. Notable people with the surname Hà * Hà Kiều Anh, ...

) * Ninh Bình (km 263) *

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh ...

(km 323) *

Vinh Vinh () is the biggest city and economic and cultural center of north-central Vietnam. Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province, and is a key point in the East–West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The city is ...

(km 461, Nghệ An) * Hà Tĩnh (km 510) *

Đồng Hới Đồng Hới () is the capital city of Quảng Bình Province in the north central coast of Vietnam. The city's area is . Population as per the 2017 census was 119,222. It is served by National Highway 1A, the Đồng Hới Railway Station, ...

(km 658, province of Quảng Bình) *

Đông Hà Đông Hà () is the capital of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Đông Hà is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the North–South Railway (Reunificatio ...

(km 750, province of

Quảng Trị Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà. History The Sino-Vietnamese name Quả ...

) *City 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 ...

(km 824, province of Thừa Thiên–Huế) *City of Da Nang (km 929) *

Tam Kỳ Tam Kỳ () is the capital city of Quảng Nam Province, in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. History The town was established in 1906 under the Nguyễn dynasty as an administrative and tax post.Bradley Camp Davis ''States of Banditry: The ...

(km 991, province of Quảng Nam) *

Quảng Ngãi Quảng Ngãi () is a city in central Vietnam. It serves as the capital city of Quảng Ngãi Province. Quảng Ngãi City borders Tư Nghĩa District to the south and west, Sơn Tịnh District to the northwest and Bình Sơn District to the ...

(km 1054) *via 1D: Quy Nhơn (km 1232, province of Bình Định) *

Tuy Hòa Tuy Hòa () is the capital city of Phú Yên Province in south-central Vietnam. The city has a total area of and a population of 202,030 (in 2012). The city is located approximately midway between Nha Trang and Qui Nhơn. The city is formulate ...

(km 1329, province of Phú Yên) *via 1C:

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city ha ...

(km 1450, province of Khánh Hòa) *

Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, commonly known as Phan Rang, is a city in Vietnam and the capital of Ninh Thuận Province. The community has a population of 161,000 (2004), of which 91,000 (2004) live in the main city. The name ''Phan Rang'' is the V ...

(km 1528, province of Ninh Thuận) *

Phan Thiết Phan Thiết () is the capital of Bình Thuận Province on the southeast coast in Vietnam. While most of the inhabitants live in the city center, others reside in the four urban coastal wards, extending from Suối Nước beach in the northe ...

(km 1701, province of Bình Thuận) *

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hi ...

(km 1867, province of Đồng Nai) * Ho Chi Minh City (km 1889) *

Tân An Tân An is the capital city of Long An Province in Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It was upgraded from town status to city status on 26 August 2009. The population of Tân An is 165,214 as of 2009, with an area of 81.79 km2. It comprises ...

(km 1936, province of Long An) *

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 ...

(km 1959, province of Tiền Giang) *

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 ...

(km 2024) *

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 (km 2058) * Hậu Giang Province *

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 ...

(km 2119, province of

) *

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 ...

(km 2176) *

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 ...

(km 2236, province of

)

Specifications

*Total length 2,300.45 km Vietnam Road Atlas (Tập Bản đồ Giao thông Đường bộ Việt Nam). Cartographic Publishing House (Vietnam), 2004 *Road width: 10–12 m *Road surface: paved with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

*Total bridges: 874 bridges, bridge load varies from 25 to 30 metric tonnes

History

US Army tank on QL-1 near Bong Son, Vietnam circa 1968

The National Route 1 was constructed by the French colonists in early 20th century. It has been upgraded recently by Japanese ODA as well as loans from

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. During both 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 Second Indochina War (the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

), Road 1A was the site of a number of battles between Vietnamese forces and French or American troops. One of the most notable engagements was the French ''

Operation Camargue Operation Camargue was one of the largest operations by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Vietnamese National Army in the First Indochina War. It took place from 28 July until 10 August 1953. French Tank, armored platoons, paratrooper, ...

'' in 1953. During 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 ...

regime (1954-1975), there are two divided sections of the main highway from Quang Tri to Ba Xuyen (Ca Mau): QL-1 (National Highway 1) and QL-4 (National Highway 4). Extensive upgrade work was done on the QL-1, and QL-19 by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

during the 2nd Indo China War. In 1966 the 19th Engineer Battalion began to "upgrade highway QL-1 from virtually a dirt trail, to a class 31 all-weather road, from

Qui Nhon Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. H ...

north to Bong Son." By 1970, the QL-1 had been upgraded all the way to Mo Duc. QL-1 bypass the route around Saigon-Bien Hoa. In the Mekong Delta, NH4 (now National Highway 1A) stretches distance of Long An province to Ba Xuyen (Ca Mau) province.

Future

The central section of the highway, from Hanoi to

, is planned to be duplicated by the North-South Expressway.

References

{{Highways in Vietnam AH1 1