Cửa Lò (kɨ̰ə˧˩˧:lɔ̤˨˩) is a former

district-level town A district-level town () is a type of second tier subdivision of Vietnam. District-level towns along with urban districts, districts, municipal cities, and provincial cites have equal status. Also by virtue of Decree No. 42/2009/ND-CP, towns a ...

of Nghệ An province and also the most important

seaport 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, Manc ...

Vinh Vinh () is the capital of Nghệ An province and an economic and cultural center of North-Central Vietnam. A key point in the East–West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, the city is situated in the Southeast of ...

, in the North Central Coast 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

By texts from Thiều Chửu, Dr. Lê Chí Quế and Trần Chí Dõi, its name Cửa-lùa (before) or Cửa-lò (in present) was a classical Annamese pronunciation of

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

word ''keluar'', or ''kuala'', or simply ''k'la'' (kẻ-la, what is similar '' cổ-loa'') which means the point where two rivers join or an estuary. It is often signed as Cualo in international phonetic documents. As of 2018 the Cửa Lò Town (thị xã Cửa Lò) had a population of 75,260. The Cửa Lò urban district (quận Cửa Lò) covers an area of 28 km² and it is located 290 km south of

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, 1400 km north of

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 ...

. In 4th of June 2024, Cửa Lò with four communes of Nghi Lộc district has merged into

On October 24, 2024, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1243/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels of Nghệ An province in the period of 2023–2025 and in effect from December 1, 2024 to present, merging all 29,09 km2 of natural area and population size of 11,884 people of Cửa Lò Town into

city as Cửa Lò Autonomous Port of Vinh City (Cảng tự trị Cửa Lò trực thuộc Thành phố Vinh).

Culture

Under the aid of the SEV block in the 1980s, Cửa Lò went from a poor

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

to become the leading eco-tourism and

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 ...

area in

. There are many beautiful scenes

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s this district. Since the beginning of the 2020s, the Cửa Lò government has directed and developed the "night economic" model (hình-mẫu kinh-tế đêm) according to experience drawn from the success of

Tourism

;Vạn Lộc Village The festival of Vạn Lộc Village takes place every year very well to honour the fishing profession and celebrate the harvest of bumper

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. ;Song Ngư Island Song Ngư Island ("two fish") is located in the sea, more than 4 km from the shore. The island consists of two small islands. The higher island is 133 m above sea level at its highest, with the lower island being 88 m above sea level at its highest. It has an area of 2.5 km², convenient for sightseeing. On the island there is the so-called Bai Pagoda, built in the 13th century with pagodas and temples; the temple has an upper pagoda and a lower pagoda, and each pagoda has 3 roofs with

yin and yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

; the beams are carved with sacred objects (dragons, unicorns, turtles and phoenixes), while the garden has many natural green trees such as porcelain trees, fish poison trees, duoi trees and a fresh water well called Jade Gem. The temple has two fish poison trees, both about 700 years old. Currently, there is a project to build a cable car that will connect the island to the mainland. ;Cửa Hội Located 5 km from Cửa Lò along the beach, Cửa Hội is the place where the Lam River flows into the sea. From here, Hòn Ngư Island can be seen directly. This area is full of casuarina, and the sea here is still uncontaminated and quiet different from the busier atmosphere in Cửa Lò from Cửa Hội. It is possible to follow the Lam river bank through the Cham forest (where there is rich vegetation and animal species such as birds and reptiles). ;Bãi Lữ Bãi Lữ is a resort that contains sea, mountains and a forest. Besides : Cửa Lò Beach, Lan Châu Isle (or Toad Mountain), Cấm River, Temple of Duke Nguyễn Xí...The most attracted addresses of Cửa-lò
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Traffic

There are five roads connecting Cửa Lò and the center of

, the capital of Nghệ An. Tourists can take the bus (Number 1) to the center square of the city. Besides, Vinh International Airport is located 14 km from Cửa Lò, and is the fifth busiest airport in

. From this airport there are flights to and from

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 had ...

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and a few international flights connecting

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

History

Culture

Tourism

Traffic

See also

Notes and references

Further reading