THUA THIEN HUE

Area: 5,065.3 km²

Population (2007): 1,150.900

City: Hue City

District: Phong Dien,Quang Dien,Huong Tra, Phu Vang, Huong Thuy, Phu Loc, ALuoi, Nam Dong.

Ethnicities: Viet (Kinh), Ta Oi, Co-Tu, Bru-Van Kieu, Hoa…

- Thua Thien Hue Province is located in Central Vietnam. It is next to Quang Tri Province to the north, Da Nang to the south, Quang Nam Province to the south-westand the East Sea to the east. This province leans up against the Truong Son mountain rangewhich is the Viet Laos border.Hue is 660 km from Hanoi and 1,080 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

- Thua Thien Hue topography has the form of level. Mountainous terrain accounts for about one quarter of the area, borders Laos and extends to Da Nang city. Midland terrain accounts for about half of the area, is about 500m high, with large peaks. Hue plain is the part of coastal plain of the central of Vietnam, is a narrowwidth and extends in the direction of northwest-southeast, parallels to the coast. Thua Thien Hue plain is the typical plain of corrosion plain, buildup plain and plain with sand dunes, lagoons. The area of plain is about 1,400 km2. In the coastal plain has many lagoons flowing to the sea at Thuan An and Tu Hien beach. In addition, in the mountainous plain has some small lakes, fresh water. A common terrain in the plain is the sand dunes paralleling to the coast in length from 5-30m.

- Most of the major rivers of Thua Thien Hue are derived from the Truong Son Mountains, flow through the plains, the lagoon and then flow to the sea such as O LauRiver, Bo River, Perfume River, Truoi River...Among these rivers, Perfume River is the largest one with the surface of valley of about 300km2.

- The coastline of Thua Thien Hue province is 120km long, with Thuan An port and Chan May port which is 18-20m depth. Phu Bai Airport is located next to National Highway 1A and the railway runs through the province. Transport by road, rail, air, waterways are favorable for Thua Thien Hue.

- The weather is submitted to tropical monsoon climate divided into four distinct seasons: fresh spring, very hot summer, mild autumn and windy, cold winter. The annually average temperature is about 25C.

- Thua Thien Hue receives an average of 2000 hours of sunlight annually. The most convenient time to visit the area is from November to April.

- Thua Thien Hue offers very diversified and beautiful landscapes. Nature and human beings create a harmoniously beauty with Bach Ma National Park and other attractive beaches such as ThuanAn, Lang Co and Canh Duong.

- Hue is an ancient land. In the 13th century, this area integrated into the Vietnam country as a gift from the King of Champa when he got married with Princess Huyen Tran of Tran Dynasty. With the beautiful scenery and challenging terrain, Hue plays a specialrole in the history of Vietnam. The Emperor Quang Trung chose this land as the capital of the Tay Son Dynasty (1788-1802), and the Emperor Gia Long also chose this land as the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 to 1945). For over 400 years, Thua Thien Hue province in general and Hue city in particular is the political and cultural center of Vietnamese feudal state.

- Therefore, this place is keeping hundreds of historical, cultural monuments including many constructions of Nguyen Emperors in the past with palaces, mausoleums. With these monuments, Hue Citadel has been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO since December 11^th, 1993. Thua Thien Hue province has a glorious revolutionary tradition, now preserve many relics related to the life and revolutionary activities of President Ho Chi Minh and other revolutionary predecessors, as well as many relics associated withFrench-Vietnamesewar and American-Vietnamese war.

- Outstanding tourism product in Thua Thien Hue is complex of Hue cultural heritage recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO with more than 300 works consisting of walls, palaces, royal tombs,pagodas, etc. Hue's royal court music (Nha nhac) has been declared as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage since November 2003.

- All these factors are favorable conditions for the organization of various types of tourism, catering for many different visitors. So,Hue tourism plays an important role in tourism development strategy of the country and socio-economic development strategy of Thua Thien Hue province.