Natural conditions and population
1. History of formation
Vinh Phuc is the cradle of ancient Vietnamese, with famous Dong Dau archaeological site. Vinh Phuc Province was established in 1950, the combination of Vinh Yen and Phuc Yen provinces. After many changes in administrative boundaries, Vinh Phuc province was officially re-established in 1997.
Vinh Phuc has an area of 1,235.87 km2; The average population in 2019 is 1,154,836 people, the population density is about 934 people / km2.
2. Natural conditions
2.1. Geographical location
Vinh Phuc is located in the Red River Delta region, the Northern key economic region and Hanoi Capital Region, Sharing borders with Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces in the Nord, Phu Tho province in the West, Ha Noi Capital in the Southeast.
Vinh Phuc is located in Highway No 2, the Hanoi – Lao Cai railway and the Noi Bai – Lao Cai – Yunnan highway (China), which is the bridge between the Northern midland and mountainous region and Hanoi capital; Adjacent to Noi Bai international airport, via National Road No. 5 connecting with Hai Phong port and Road 18 connecting to Cai Lan deep-water port.
The advantages of economic geography have made Vinh Phuc province become an integral part of the industrial development belt of Northern provinces of Vietnam.
2.2. Topographic
Vinh Phuc is located in the transition zone between the midland hills and the Red River Delta. Therefore, the terrain is lower from the Northwest to the Southeast and divided into 3 ecological regions: delta, midland and mountainous.
The mountainous area has a natural area of 63,500 ha, equaling 51.5% of the province’s natural area, accounting for the majority of the area of Lap Thach, Song Lo and Tam Dao districts, 4 communes of Binh Xuyen district and one commune of the Phuc Yen city.
The midland area has a natural area of 24,900 ha, accounting for the majority of area of Tam Duong and Binh Xuyen districts, Vinh Yen city, part of Lap Thach and Song Lo districts, Phuc Yen city. The hilly land of this region has advantages to build industrial and urban zones, develop fruit tree industry and raise cattle.
The delta area has a natural area of 32,800 ha, including Vinh Tuong and Yen Lac districts and part of Phuc Yen city. This is a flat terrain, suitable for agricultural production and favorable for infrastructure construction.
2.3. Climate and hydrological
Climate: Vinh Phuc is located in the tropical monsoon climate, hot and humid. The annual average temperature is 23.20C – 250C, the rainfall is 1,500 – 1,700 mm; The average humidity is 84 – 85%, the number of sunshine hours is 1,400 – 1,800 hours. The prevailing wind direction is East – South blowing from April to September, East – North wind blowing from October to March next year, accompanied by hoarfrost. Particularly, Tam Dao has a cool year-round climate (average temperature of 18 ° C) with lush mountains and forests, suitable for the development of tourism, leisure and entertainment activities.
Hydrology: Vinh Phuc has many rivers flowing through it, but the hydrological regime depends on two main rivers, namely Red River and Lo River. The Red River flows through Vinh Phuc with a length of 50km, bringing fertile alluvial soil. Lo River runs through Vinh Phuc with 35km long, with a bendy terrain, narrow river beds, and many rapids.
2.4. Natural resources
Vinh Phuc’s natural resources include: water resources, land resources, forest resources, mineral resources, tourism resources.
Water resources: Including surface water and groundwater. The surface water of the province is quite rich thanks to the Red River and Lo River and the system of small rivers such as Pho Day River, Phan River, Ca Lo River and a series of reservoirs (Dai Lai, Xa Huong, Van Huong, Dam Vac ..) storing huge amount of water, enough to serve the production and daily life of the people. Groundwater reserves are not large, reaching about 1 million m3 / day-night.
Land resources: There are 2 main groups of soil in the province: Alluvial soil and hilly soil. Current land use status in 2018: Total area 123,587 ha; Agricultural land is 92,993 hectares, accounting for 75.24%; Non-agricultural land is 30,254 ha, accounting for 24.48%; Unused land is 340 ha, accounting for 0.28%.
Forest resources: As of 2018, Vinh Phuc province has about 32,022 thousand hectares of forestry land, of which production forest is 13,173 thousand hectares, protection forest is 3,554 thousand hectares and special use forest is 15,294 thousand hectares. The most significant forest resource of the province is Tam Dao National Park with over 15,000 hectares, which is a source of conservation of plant and animal genetic resources (including over 620 species of herb plants, 165 species of birds ), including many precious species. Rare recorded in the red book as civets, flying squirrels and gibbons. In addition to conserving plant and animal genetic resources, Vinh Phuc forest also plays a role in regulating water and climate and can serve the development of sightseeing and tourism services.
Mineral resources: In general, Vinh Phuc is a province in the transitional position between the mountains and the plains so it is very poor in mineral resources. Minerals of commercial value in the area include only a number of types such as construction stone, kaolin, peat, but the reserves are not large and the exploitation conditions are limited.
Tourism resources: Vinh Phuc has many potentials to develop natural tourism and humanistic tourism. There is Tam Dao with a bow-shaped mountain range, the height of over 1500m, 50 km long and 10 km wide with beautiful natural scenery, fresh and cool climate. Especially, there is Tam Dao National Park and surrounding areas belonging to the primeval forest type with many species of plants and animals preserved relatively intact. Besides, Vinh Phuc also has a relatively rich system of rivers and lakes, beautiful terrain that can serve both production and value for tourism development such as Dai Lai, Di Nau, Van Truc and Dam Vac, Dam Dung, Thanh Lanh … The natural potential for tourism development combined with rich traditional cultural values (resources) will be an important resource for socio-economic development of Vinh Phuc.
3. Administrative units
Vinh Phuc province has 09 administrative units, including 02 cities: Vinh Yen, Phuc Yen, 07 districts: Binh Xuyen, Lap Thach, Song Lo, Tam Duong, Tam Dao, Vinh Tuong and Yen Lac.
The capital of Vinh Phuc is Vinh Yen city, 50 km from the center of Hanoi capital and 25 km from Noi Bai international airport.
4. Population and human resources
The average population of Vinh Phuc province is 1,154,836 people in 2019, of which the male population is 575,460 people, accounting for 49.83%, the female population is 579,376 people accounting for 50.17%. Natural population growth rate is 11.3%. The proportion of the population in working age (in 2019) accounts for 55.47%; The proportion of the population working in economic sectors: Agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounts for 28.49%; Construction Industry accounts for 44%; Commercial services accounted for 27.51%.