Nam Định () is the capital city of
Nam Định province in the
Red River Delta of the
Northern Vietnam.
History
From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the
Cố Trạch. This celebration honors General
Trần Hưng Đạo, a 13th-century national hero who led Annamese forces to victory over the invading
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
.
Middle Ages
Before the
Trần dynasty, the land of modern Namdinh City of a northern area of an area was called as ''Hiển-khánh district'', which corresponds to half of the modern area of
Nam Định province. This was the intersection of three large rivers, so it was very convenient for trade.
The name of the city, under
Trần dynasty, was Thiên Trường (天長) meant "where the Sky remains for Eternity". It is first mentioned to mark the birth of the city in 1262 by Emperor
Trần Thái Tông
Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being R ...
. The name Thiên Trường was probably the name for a whole ''
phủ'', which at the time would be equivalent to a special prefecture or province nowadays. Under the Trần dynasty the city was considered to be the second capital, besides
Thăng Long.
Under
Lê dynasty, the city belonged to the Prefecture of Sơn Nam (山南), meant "Southern Mountains" or "to the South of the Mountains" in 1466 by Emperor
Lê Thánh Tông, and Sơn Nam Hạ (山南下), meant "The South Prefecture of the Southern Mountains" in compared to Sơn Nam Thượng (山南上), meant "The North Prefecture of the Southern Mountains".
20th century
The modern name of the city, Nam Định (南定), literally means "The pacified South", was first mentioned in 1831 under the reign of Emperor
Minh Mệnh of the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
as the capital of Nam Định Province. In international context, the name of this urban area is often signed as Namdinh City (in English) or la ville de Namdinh (in French).
21st century
According to a resolution announced by 2021 and officially applied by 2023, the entire
Mỹ Lộc rural district area was merged into Nam Định City.
Culture
Namdinh City's long-standing customs come from the intersection of three groups of people :
Kinh,
Hoa and French.
Landscapes
Namdinh City's oldest space is often divided by tourism researchers into two parts : The North is the settlement surrounding Vị Xuyên Lake and Dragon Market, which is called ''Namdinh Old Town'' (Nam-định lão-nhai); the South is a textile industry planned by the French from the 1880s, which is now called ''Hòa-vượng New Urban Complex'' (khu đô-thị Hòa-vượng).
*
Trần Temple, a historical temple worshipping Emperors, Generals of
Trần dynasty. It traces the 13th history of
Annam with
three Mongol invasions.
*
Phổ Minh Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda built under
Ly Dynasty in 11th century. This temple still well preserved its original architecture from 11th and 12th century AD.
*
Grand Church of Nam Định, a Christian church built in 19th century under
French Indochina colonial period.
* Church of Khoái Đồng, a
Romanesque Christian Church built in 1941 by the Spanish
Santo Domingo Order.
Besides : 3–2 Square, Canton Temple, Doraemon Lane (previously River Resettlement hamlet), Đò-Quan Bridge, Đầu-mom Hamlet, Gốc-Mít Lane, Hakka Temple, Hoàng-văn-Thụ Street (previously Hải-phòng Road), Lê-hồng-Phong High School, Mả-lạng Area, Mỹ-tho Market, Namdinh Cheo Theatre, Ngõ-Ngang Market, Phù-long Market, Teochew Temple, Statue of Hưng-đạo Prince, Truyền-thống Lake, Trường-chinh Avenue (previously Giải-phóng Road and Lò-trâu Slope), Poet Tú-Xương's House and Tomb, Vọng-cung Temple...
Cuisine
Namdinh City is often considered as the birthplace of
pho by the majority. However, this dish is considered the best what only exists in Nguyễn Du, Hàng Sắt and Hàng Thao Streets. All of them are close to the 3–2 Square.
Pho has some esoteric formulas stored by the descendants of the
Teochew families, who have become
Kinh people since the 1970s. The
noodles of Namdinh's
pho are thought to always be as thin as clouds and they even can dissolve at the tip of the tongue, while the broth must smell the cow's bone and onion.
Namdinh is also known as the only place in Vietnam that can produce Polka Bread (bánh-mì Ba-lan) since 1969 until present. This is a type of boat-shaped bread but has a very thick
intestine. It is maken by a special type of oven, which has been provided with an exclusive patent globally and is Poland's technology
secret.
Fish sauce
Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, L ...
in Namdinh City is also different from many localities in Vietnam. It is usually mixed with boiled water from the cow's bone. This method will make the fish sauce lose the smell and become fragrant like peppermint. Besides, there are
shrimp sauce (mắm tôm & mắm tép), which is used to wake the taste of boiled vegetables.
Some other specialties of Namdinh City :
Bánh cuốn,
bánh mì pa-tê,
bánh gối, toast with honey, fish
bún (fried
rohu,
snake-head or
catfish is served with tomato broth and sliced lettuce & spinach),
bún đũa,
xôi (xôi vò, xôi khúc, xôi đỗ đen),
bánh bèo (
rice flour is wrapped by
seaweed leaves, with water fat and roasted onion), Seochew sweet (kẹo Sìu-châu)...
Sports
Nam Định has two sports facilities,
Thiên Trường Stadium (formerly Cuối Stadium) and Trần Quốc Toản Indoor Stadium, which are host to
football and volleyball matches. Both sports centers are located on Hùng Vương Street.
In 2024 the
Nam Dinh F C won the
V.League 1 championship for the first time in 39 years.
Notable people
;Middle Ages
*
Trần Quốc Tuấn (陳興道, 1228 – 1300),
Trần dynasty royal prince, statesman and military commander.
*
Trần Thái Tông
Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being R ...
(陳太宗, 1218 – 1277), first Emperor of
Trần dynasty, the second Grand Emperor of
Trần dynasty.
*
Nguyễn Hiền (阮賢, 1234 – 1256), Vietnamese youngest
trạng nguyên, achieved the highest score on highest level of the
Imperial examination when he was only 13 years old, scholar, writer, politician.
*
Lương Thế Vinh (梁世榮, 1441 – 1496), prominent Vietnamese mathematician, scholar, politician.
*
Đào Sư Tích (陶師錫, 1350 – 1396), Vietnamese scholar, writer, politician.
*
Khiếu Năng Tĩnh (叫能靜, 1835 – 1915), Vietnamese scholar, writer, educator.
*
Trần Bích San (陳碧珊, 1840 – 1877), Vietnamese scholar, politician.
*
Trần Tế Xương (1870–1907), or under pen name of Tú Xương, a Vietnamese famous writer, poet.
;Modern era
*
Trường Chinh (1907–1988), Vietnamese
communist political leader, revolutionary and theoretician.
*
Lê Đức Thọ (1911–1990), Vietnamese
revolutionary general, diplomat, and politician. The first Asian to be awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
, jointly with
United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
in
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
, but refused the award.
*
Nguyễn Cơ Thạch (1921–1998), Vietnamese
revolutionary, diplomat, and politician, one of the peace-maker of
Paris Peace Accords.
*
Phạm Văn Thuần (born 1992), Vietnamese footballer.
*
Nguyễn Văn Dũng (born 1963), Vietnamese footballer and coach.
*
Nguyễn Văn Sỹ (born 1971), Vietnamese footballer and coach.
*
Chu Ngọc Anh (born 1989), Vietnamese footballer.
*
Rafaelson or Nguyễn Xuân Son (born 1997), Vietnamese-Brasilian footballer.
Besides :
Giác Hải,,
Đặng Phương Nam,
Lương Kim Định,
Hoàng Minh Chính,,
Đinh Thế Huynh,
Đinh La Thăng,
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên...
International relations
Sister towns and sister cities
*
Hải Phòng
*
Bắc Ninh
*
Mỹ Tho
*
Hà Nội
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 ...
*
Prato
Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...
Geography
Topography
Starting from 00:00 on January 1, 2025, the area of Nam Định city was automatically divided into 21
commune-level administrative units by the Resolution of the City People's Committee.
*14
wards : Cửa Bắc, Cửa Nam, Hưng Lộc, Lộc Hạ, Lộc Hòa, Lộc Vượng, Mỹ Xá, Nam Phong, Nam Vân, Năng Tĩnh, Quang Trung, Trần Hưng Đạo, Trường Thi, Vị Xuyên.
*7
communes : Mỹ Hà, Mỹ Lộc, Mỹ Phúc, Mỹ Tân, Mỹ Thắng, Mỹ Thuận, Mỹ Trung.
The whole terrain of Nam Định city is almost flat, many locations are still lower than the sea level, thus they face many disadvantages when the
rainy season comes. However, Nam Định is also known as the conformity of the three rivers, which is extremely convenient for waterway traffic, such as :
Đào,
Đáy,
Hồng. In particular, Đào river was originally an artificial canal from the
Trần Dynasty, then gradually expanded with the width equivalent to the other two rivers. Its name means "digging" in
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese () is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language Speech, spoken primarily in Vietnam where it is the official language. It belongs to the Vietic languages, Vietic subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese is s ...
. However, before the 20th century, it was still called Vị Hoàng river (洧黃川), which had been in a folk subconscious as the nickname of Nam Định city. Besides, it is also called customarily as "Accretion river" (sông Lấp).
Nam Định is 90 km Southeast of Vietnam's capital,
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 ...
. It is also known as the center of the Southern of the
Red River Delta. Not only by its importance of politics and economy, but for the traffic.
*Provincial Internal Bus Route.
*Provincial Route 490 (or National Route 55).
*National Route 10.
*National Route 21A.
*National Route 21B.
*National Route 37.
*National Route 38B and
Hồ Chí Minh Highway.
*
North–South Railway.
Besides, Tân Đệ Riverport (bến phà Tân Đệ) has long been an important transport center of the
Red River Delta, which can lead to the
Tonkin Gulf.
Demography
According to the census in January 2023, the population of Nam Định city was about 364,181.
Due to the history of its formation very early, the area of Nam Định city has many
ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
s settling together.
Kinh people account for the majority, but besides that, there is
Hoa communities settled in the Old Quarters for many
generations. Although they have been registered as Hoa or Kinh since 1978, in the composition of many groups such as : Tanka, Hakka, Seochew, Teochew, Canton, Hokkien...
There is also a small community of
Tày and
Nùng who has been refugees due to the influence of the
border conflict. Also since the 2000s, there were a number of other groups from the international community, who were naturalized after only a short time living here.
By preliminary statistics, at least 10% of Nam Định citizens are
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Nam Định city was also one of the earliest Annamese
location to receive the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
, which was about the beginning of the
XIX century, by the
Paris Missionary Association. The
territory of old Nam Định city and former Mỹ Lộc rural district has previously belonged to two different dioceses, which were Hà Nội and Nam Định. However, since Christmas in 2024, expanded Nam Định city has become part of the Hanoi Diocese, belonging to the
Hanoi Archdiocese. Their
patron saint is
Our Lady of Immacilization.
Climate
In September 2024, Nam Định experienced heavy flooding from sever rainfall that forced many residents to evacuate their homes.
See also
*
Hà Nam
*
Hưng Yên
*
Ninh Bình
*
Thái Bình
Notes and references
Notes
References
Further reading
Bibliography
*
Khiếu Năng Tĩnh,
Tân biên Nam Định tỉnh địa dư chí lược', 1880.
*Nguyễn On Ngọc,
Nam Định tỉnh địa dư chí', 1893.
*
George Coedes. ''The Making of South East Asia'', 2nd ed.
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
Press, 1983.
*
Trần Ngọc Thêm. ''Cơ sở văn hóa Việt Nam'' (The Foundation of Vietnamese Culture), 504 pages. Publishing by Nhà xuất bản Đại học Tổng hợp TPHCM.
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 ...
, Vietnam, 1995.
*
Li Tana (2011). ''Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ) in the Han period Tongking Gulf''. In Cooke, Nola; Li Tana; Anderson, James A. (eds.). The Tongking Gulf Through History. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 39–44. ISBN 9780812205022.
*
Li Tana,
Towards an environmental history of the eastern Red River Delta, Vietnam, c.900–1400',
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 2014.
*Samuel Baron,
Christoforo Borri,
Olga Dror,
Keith W. Taylor (2018). ''Views of Seventeenth-Century Vietnam : Christoforo Borri on Cochinchina and Samuel Baron on Tonkin''. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-501-72090-1.
External links
Cầm 200 nghìn đồng đi khắp Nam Định, ăn 'thả ga' nhiều món ngon, lạ miệng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nam Dinh
Provincial capitals in Vietnam
Populated places in Nam Định province
Districts of Nam Định province
Cities in Vietnam