Đầm Dơi �əm˨˩:jəːj˧˧is a former

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom.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

Cà Mau province Cà Mau is a Provinces of Vietnam, province of Vietnam, named after Cà Mau, its capital city. It is located in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam, and is the southernmost of Vietnam's 63 provinces. It is bordered to the north by Kiên Giang p ...

in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

region of

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 ...

History

Middle Ages

Before the XIX century, most of

was still a

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

with low

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

and there was also very little information which were recorded by officials. In the 17th year of Minh Mệnh (1836), "Đầm Dơi area" (xứ Đầm Dơi, "land of bat swamps") was first mentioned in ''

Đại Nam nhất thống chí The ''Đại Nam nhất thống chí'' (chữ Hán: 大南一統志, 1882) is the official geographical record of Vietnam's Nguyễn dynasty written in chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vi ...

''. However, this was not yet an official name but just a way to call a area of many

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

s for convenient demographic statistics. Just know that Đầm Dơi area was next to "Đầm Quạ area" (xứ Đầm Quạ, "land of crow swamps"), and both of them belong to Long Xuyên rural district of Hà Tiên province. It was not until

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

became a whole

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1867, an official

administrative unit Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

called Đầm Dơi rural district (huyện Đầm Dơi) that appeared. The rural district was based on the merger of two areas Đầm Dơi and Đầm Quạ. However, from the mid-

19th century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, this land has been divided with the rest of

by its system of

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s with many

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s and

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

XX century

Under the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam (; chữ Hán: 國家越南; ) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as an associated state of the French Union and later as an independent state (from 20 July 1954 to 26 October 1955). The s ...

regime, Đầm Dơi district (quận Đầm Dơi) was part of

Bạc Liêu province Bạc Liêu was a former province of Vietnam. It is a coastal province, and is situated in the Mekong Delta region of the southern part of the country. On June 12th, 2025, Bạc Liêu was incorporated into Cà Mau province. Administrative divi ...

. In 1956, the National Assembly of the First Republic of Vietnam issued a decree to establish An Xuyên province in the area of Cà Mâu peninsula. Since then, Đầm Dơi district has become a part of An Xuyên province. When the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

exploded,

Việt Cộng The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

partisans took advantage of the complex

terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

of the district to fight the local government. Therefore, according to the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

documents, Đầm Dơi was soon classified in the "red zone" (vùng đỏ) by the

Republic of Vietnam Military Forces The Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (RVNMF; – QLVNCH), were the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam and were responsible for the defence of the country from 8 December 1950

, which is a place where the fighting takes place so it was very dangerous for civilians. On May 1, 1975, An Xuyên province was dissolved by the Government of the

Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as an armed underground government opposing the government of the Republic of ...

in their reason that "an evil residue of the former regime".

was established, and Đầm Dơi district was changed as Ngọc Hiển rural district (huyện Ngọc Hiển). By 1976 when

was officially united in terms of

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

, Ngọc Hiển continued to belong to Minh Hải province. Until December 17, 1984, the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

issued Decision 168-HĐBT on : *The renaming Ngọc Hiển rural district to Đầm Dơi rural district. *The renaming Ngọc Hiển township to Đầm Dơi township. In August 1986, Chairman of the Council of Ministers

Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam, following reunification of North and South Viet ...

signed Decision 194/CT to recognize three bird sanctuaries Bạc Liêu, Chà Là and Đầm Dơi in the list of special-use

s. This event is considered to be the beginning of the formation of the Ngọc Hiển Bird Reserve (khu bảo tồn chim Ngọc Hiển), which occupies most of Đầm Dơi's area. On November 6, 1996, the Vietnam National Assembly issued a resolution on the division of Minh Hải province into two new provinces, Bạc Liêu and Cà Mau. Since then, Đầm Dơi rural district belonged to Cà Mau province.

XXI century

Since 2024, the Đầm Dơi District People's Committee under the direction of Cà Mau Province's leadership has promoted a long-term plan from 2025 to 2035 to promote the local commodity

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, thereby preparing for the upgrade of the location where has a high population density to establish at least one

high-tech High technology (high tech or high-tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Accordingly, the entire area of Tân Thuận commune (in the Southern zone of Gành Hào) is planned into a new urban area with the ambition to become a large port to bring the district's

to reduce the

system, which has gradually run out of

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

by the influences of

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

factories on the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary 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 with an estimated l ...

Geography

Topography

Currently, Đầm Dơi rural district is divided into 16 commune-level

s. In particular, most are named after the notable persons. *1

: Đầm Dơi capital-township. *15 communes : Ngọc Chánh, Nguyễn Huân, Quách Phẩm, Quách Phẩm Bắc, Tạ An Khương, Tạ An Khương Đông, Tạ An Khương Nam, Tân Dân, Tân Duyệt, Tân Đức, Tân Thuận, Tân Tiến, Tân Trung, Thanh Tùng, Trần Phán. The district covers an area of 822,88 km². With its characteristics of the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s, Đầm Dơi population is concentrated mainly in the Northwest part of the rural district, where it has been exploited very early and has a complete inter-provincial road system. Most of the remaining area of the district so far only belongs to the Cà Mau Bird Reserve but it is less likely to exploit. The location of Đầm Dơi township is inherently a meeting place for three rivers : Cửa Lớn, Đầm Dơi and Gành Hào. The East of the district has a small river called Đầm Chim (means "swamp of birds"), which goes to the sea through Hố Gùi estuary. Theoretically, the Đầm Dơi residents were only able to move to other regions through the

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

. However, since the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

regime, there were two

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s that have been built : Đầm Dơi - Cà Mau and Đầm Dơi - Thanh Tùng. But these two routes are too narrow, so they are difficult to meet the needs of people. Therefore, the project of the East-West Axis has been designed in 2024 with a system of roads and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s to turn Đầm Dơi township into a transition point between two cities

Bạc Liêu Bạc Liêu () is a provincial city and capital of the Bạc Liêu Province in the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. It is a medium-sized town with a population of 156,110 in 2019. The former name of the city is Vĩnh Lợi. History The ...

and Cà Mau. Such as : Ông Đốc - Gành Hào provincial route ; bridges Hòa Trung I, Hòa Trung II, Chà Là and Gành Hào.

Population

As of 2022, Đầm Dơi rural district had a population of 219,262. The population component consists of three ethnic groups registered officially, including as :

Kinh 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 southern China who speak Vietnamese, the most widely spoken Austroa ...

, Hoa and Khmer. In particular, the rate of the Khmer group is decreasing in recent years due to the plunge of the

. The

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of the district has only one parish area called Bàu Sen, which located at Nam Chánh hamlet of Thanh Tùng commune, with about 50

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

ioners. Bàu Sen belonged to the Cà Mau Deanery. The current priest is Bishop Peter Trịnh Quốc Việt.

Culture

Customs

Contrary to the poorness of the land fund for settlement, Đầm Dơi rural district was known early as one of the localities with the most prosperous customs in the

. According to the traditional concept of the

Southern Vietnam Southern Vietnam () is one of the three geographical regions of Vietnam, the other two being Northern and Central Vietnam. It includes 2 administrative subregions, which in turn are divided into 19 ''First Tier units'', of which 17 are provi ...

ese, the Hoa ( Tanka group) are said to be the first residents to reclaim the area of Đầm Dơi, then to the

and Khmer. Although the Khmer Kraom is often thought to be the oldest owner of

, they almost abandoned the lands at the esturies, where the terrain is very dense and difficult to move. That leads to a typical, the custom of the rural district as a combination of two groups Tanka and Kinh. From 24 to 26 of March (15 to 17 of February by

Lunar Calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

), every year, when the Southern weather is about to enter the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

, the people of the whole district flock to Thanh Tùng hamlet of Thanh Tùng commune to attend Festival of Water-Dragon Goddess (lễ vía đức bà Thủy Long). According to local legends, there were two men, Tô Minh Chánh (Tanka) and Nguyễn Văn Lành (Kinh), from the Centre region to Đầm Dơi to reclaim and establish a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in 1820. Their small

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

came to a junction of the

when they met a snakehead jumping into the boat, which was thought to be a good

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

. They decided to stay here to make a career, and at the same time, set up a temple to worship the goddess protecting the land (bà chúa xứ). The temple yard has a smaller temple, where worships Tiger Spirit the lord of

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s. On March 25, 2024, the

Government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (; less formally the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam, ) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet and the central Executive (government), executive arm of the Politics of Vietn ...

passed the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to recognize the Festival as a national intangible cultural heritage (di sản văn hóa phi vật thể cấp quốc gia).

Arts

In the past, most of Đầm Dơi's practices were closer to

than Cà Mau. This is confirmed by the researchers based on the fact that :

Floating market A floating market is a market (place), market where goods are sold from boats. Originating in times and places where water transport played an important role in daily life, most floating markets operating today mainly serve as tourist attractio ...

is very popular in other Cà Mau districts, but hardly appears in Đầm Dơi, but at the same time, the art forms originating from Teochew community are extremely popular in this rural district. Gành Hào (means "canal of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s") is a big seaport where was shared between the two districts Đầm Dơi and Đông Hải. It is an address that soon became a legend in

ese

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

, because it is often considered to be the birthplace of vọng cổ (classic-style singing). In modern Vietnamese culture, Đầm Dơi is considered a fertile land for the development of literary talents. This stems from the 2005 literary phenomenon Nguyễn Ngọc Tư to the appearance of young researcher and author Phạm Quốc Rin in 2006. Immediately after that generation was the appearance of many other authors, whom brought the district's young

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

to the public nationwide. Since the last years of 2010, many

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

s from Đầm Dơi have achieved success in the Vietnamese music market, especially in gold music and tuồng cải lương.

Tourism

Đầm Dơi is known for the Cà Mau Bird Sanctuary (tràm chim Cà Mau), which is 45 km Southeast of Cà Mau City. The sanctuary is home to many types of

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

s. The birds in the preserve tend to make nests in the top of very high trees and search for food in the early mornings.

Economy

Đầm Dơi rural district has a 22km long

coastline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, which overlooks the East Sea, so it is very convenient for the development of the professions related to the

maritime industry Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pr ...

. In fact, the district had a powerful fishing vessel very early, and it was one of the districts what has the total income related to fisheries at the highest level of

. Three esturies Gành Hào, Hố Gùi and Giá Lồng Đèn have an appropriate environment for

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

farming. Besides, Đầm Dơi rural district is almost an important supplier of snakehead for

Saigon 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 ...

ese consumers. According to the plan of the Cà Mau Provincial People's Committee based on the promotion and brokerage of the Cà Mau Department of Planning and Investment, the project of the Đầm Dơi Township-MarketCà Mau gọi đầu tư vào Dự án Chợ thị trấn Đầm Dơi
/ref> began to be promoted since December 31, 2024, to attract

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

with the intended

amount Quantity or amount is a property that can exist as a multitude or magnitude, which illustrate discontinuity and continuity. Quantities can be compared in terms of "more", "less", or "equal", or by assigning a numerical value multiple of a un ...

of 37,45 billion Vietnam dongs. The future

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

is given priority located in the 2,533

square meter The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter (American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square w ...

s at the junction of the river, where is the center of Đầm Dơi township. The purpose of this project is to raise the township, thereby awakening the

economic potential Economic potential is the potential of a region, nation, or corporation for economic development and economic growth, growth. Typically, discussions of economic potential occur when available resources have not yet been tapped and fully developed or ...

of the whole district.

History

Middle Ages

XX century

XXI century

Geography

Topography

Population

Culture

Customs

Arts

Tourism

Economy

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

Bibliography

External links