Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province

BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u (abbreviated BRVT) was a province of Vietnam. It was located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It bordered ÃÂÃ¡Â»Âng Nai to the north, BÃÂ¬nh ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn to the northeast and Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area to the southwest. It also included the CÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1976, under South Vietnam, the province was called PhÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Âc Tuy.

On June 12, 2025, BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa - VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u was incorporated into Ho Chi Minh City.

History

With the exception of the CÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o islands, all of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u province was the PhÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Âc Tuy province after merging BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa Province and VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u Town in the South Vietnam before 1975, including the Spratly Islands was a part of PhÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Âc HÃ¡ÂºÂ£i commune, ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t ÃÂÃ¡Â»Â district then (now is a townville of Long ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t district). Then once it was a part of ÃÂÃ¡Â»Âng Nai province to the north after the Fall of Saigon.

In 1979, VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u was separated from ÃÂÃ¡Â»Âng Nai and merged with the CÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o islands (formerly part of HÃ¡ÂºÂu Giang province), forming the new VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ uÃ¢ÂÂCÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o "special zone". Later, in 1992, the rest former part of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa broke away from ÃÂÃ¡Â»Âng Nai Province, merging with VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ uÃ¢ÂÂCÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o to form the province of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u. On March 1, 2025, PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ was officially upgraded from town to city-status. The city consisted of 10 commune-level administrative units, including 7 wards and 3 communes.

On 12 June 2025, as part of major nationwide reforms, BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u province was dissolved and along with BÃÂ¬nh DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng province to be merged into Ho Chi Minh City.

Climate

The province had a tropical monsoon climate with two distinct seasons: a rainy season from May to October, and a dry season from November to April. The average annual temperature is , ranging from an average monthly temperature of to an average monthly temperature of . The province received 2,400 hours of sunshine per year while it receives an annual precipitation of .

Administrative divisions

At the time of dissolution, BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u was subdivided into seven district-level sub-divisions:

Four districts:
ChÃÂ¢u ÃÂÃ¡Â»Â©c
CÃÂ´n ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ£o (island district)
Long ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t (established from merging Long ÃÂiÃ¡Â»Ân and ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t ÃÂÃ¡Â»Â districts shortly before the dissolutuon)
XuyÃÂªn MÃ¡Â»Âc
Three provincial cities:
BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa (capital)
PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ (largest city by area)
VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u (largest city)

They were further subdivided into seven commune-level towns (or townlets), 40 communes, and 30 wards.

Demographics

According to 2015 statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the province had a population of 1,072,600. Urbanization in the province is above the country's average (50.52%).

Economy

BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u provincial economic activities included: petroleum (the most important), electricity at the PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ Power Plants and BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa Power Plant (accounting for approx. 40% of the country's total power capacity), petrochemicals: PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ Urea Plant (800,000 metric tonnes per year), polyethylene (100,000 metric tonnes per year), steel production, and cement production. Tourism, commerce and fishing were also important economic activities of the province. BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u contributed greatly to the country's budget. In 2005, it accounted for around 24 percent of Vietnam's budget (42,000 billion dong) of a total of 180,000 billion dong (exchange rate is 16,000 dong/dollar), ranking second, after Ho Chi Minh City before Hanoi (28,000 billion dong in 2005). The provincial GDP per capita ranked second to none in the country, over $4,000, if excluding petroleum GDP, it is over $2,000 (HÃ¡Â»Â ChÃÂ Minh City ranks second with this index $1,850). In terms of living standards, BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u ranked third, behind HÃ¡Â»Â ChÃÂ Minh City and Hanoi.

BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u was also one of the leading direct foreign investment (FDI) attractions of Vietnam, in the top five of FDI acquisition provinces of Vietnam. In tourism, there were some big projects licensed or to be licensed soon: Saigon Atlantis resort (capitalized US$300 million), VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u Aquarium and BÃÂ u TrÃÂ©ng entertainment park ($500), and XuyÃÂªn MÃ¡Â»Âc safari ($200).

On Vietnam's Provincial Competitiveness Index 2023, a key tool for evaluating the business environment in VietnamÃ¢ÂÂs provinces, Ba Ria-Vung Tau received a score of 69.57. This was a slight decrease from 2022 in which the province received a score of 70.26. In 2023, the province received its highest scores on the Ã¢ÂÂlaw and orderÃ¢ÂÂ and Ã¢ÂÂinformal chargesÃ¢ÂÂ criteria and lowest on Ã¢ÂÂbusiness support policyÃ¢ÂÂ and Ã¢ÂÂlabour policyÃ¢ÂÂ.

Tourism

VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u is an important tourist destination, being particularly well known for its beaches, for its colonial-era architecture, and the Christ of VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u, a large statue built by Vietnam's Catholic minority. It was completed in 1974, with the height of 32 metres and two outstretched arms spanning 18.4 metres. It is among the tallest statues of Christ in Asia. Among the most famous tourist destinations are the existing very popular and crowded beaches of VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u and Long HÃ¡ÂºÂ£i and the new up and coming destinations of HÃ¡Â»Â TrÃÂ m and HÃ¡Â»Â CÃ¡Â»Âc located further along the South Sea coast. The main media agency in the province is the BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u Daily Newspaper.

Determining tourism as one of the pillars of local socio-economic development, in early 2017, BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u province decided to re-establish the Tourism Department. By the end of the year, the BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u Provincial Party Committee had issued a resolution on developing high-quality tourism, which aimed to develop the tourism infrastructure and improve the quality of tourism products and services in the direction of modernity and difference, while ensuring a safe, civilized and friendly tourist environment. According to TrÃ¡Â»Ânh HÃÂ ng, Director of the Tourism Department of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u province, since its establishment, the Tourism Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee on many plans such as the census of tourist accommodation establishments throughout the province, the plan on enhancing the management of tourist destinations, the plan on regulations to select tourism establishments with the title "Meeting the standards for tourist service", the plan on regulations to manage the beaches, and completing the master plan on tourist development of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u province by 2025, with a vision to 2030. With the efforts of the provincial tourism industry and local authorities, the image of BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u tourism has created a positive impression for visitors. Many other visitors to VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u at this time have also been impressed by the changes in the destination. VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u tourism is very much regaining its prestige and class.

Infrastructure

BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u serves as a major trade gateway for Vietnam due to its proximity to industrial zones, port complex, major highways, and transshipment routes. Infrastructure investments in the province have not only increased connectivity within the province but also with neighboring economic hubs such as Ho Chi Minh City and ÃÂÃ¡Â»Âng Nai province.

Ports

BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»ÂaÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u is a major gateway for international shipments in Southeast Asia, due to the CÃÂ¡i MÃÂ©pÃ¢ÂÂThÃ¡Â»Â VÃ¡ÂºÂ£i port complex. The port system ranks among the major ports in the region and one of only 19 in the world capable of handling 190,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) vessels.

Container ships from this port complex are capable of transporting goods to Europe as well as North America. In addition, the province is also around 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City's CÃÂ¡t LÃÂ¡i port, the busiest port in the city before the expansion of thr city.

The government is also planning to increase investments in the development of terminals and road infrastructure to increase connectivity, efficiency, and port capacity.

Airports

The TÃÂ¢n SÃÂ¡n NhÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City is less than 90 km from the province and around 70 km from the CÃÂ¡i MÃÂ©pÃ¢ÂÂThÃ¡Â»Â VÃ¡ÂºÂ£i port complex.

In addition, the new Long ThÃÂ nh International Airport which is under construction is only around 30 minutes from the port complex and 50 km from the province.

Highways

The province has access to major national highways such as National Highway 51 and National Highway 1. In addition, expressways such as Ho Chi Minh City Ã¢ÂÂ Long ThÃÂ nh Ã¢ÂÂ DÃ¡ÂºÂ§u GiÃÂ¢y Expressway, BiÃÂªn HÃÂ²aÃ¢ÂÂVÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u Expressway, BÃ¡ÂºÂ¿n LÃ¡Â»Â©c Ã¢ÂÂ Long ThÃÂ nh Expressway (HCMC Ring Road 3; to open in 2026), and the upcoming HCMC Ring Road 4 further increase connectivity with the surrounding provinces.

Within the province, the connectivity between ports or industrial zones with the national roadway systems is supported by numerous regional highways, port roads, and industrial zone roads.

Railway

A rapid transit connects with the province's cities are BÃÂ RÃ¡Â»Âa, VÃÂ©ng TÃÂ u and PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ with Long ThÃÂ nh International Airport was planned.

Industrial zones

As of August 2018, there are 15 industrial parks in BRVT, including nine which are operational with an average occupancy rate of 47 percent. There are currently 339 projects in local industrial parks, including 162 foreign and 177 domestic projects.

The locality is also home to two industrial parks that specialize in supporting industries, PhÃÂº MÃ¡Â»Â¹ 3 and ÃÂÃÂ¡ BÃ¡ÂºÂ¡c.

International relations

Sister cities

Festivals

Nghinh Co Festival at Dinh CÃ¡Â»Â Shrine (12th day of the second lunar month)
Sea Festival

The fair in this festival will also showcase products and promote cooperation between businesses in industry, agriculture, trade and services in the province and neighboring provinces. Several seminars and workshops on trade and tourism promotion, as well as environmental protection, will be organised