CÃÂ Mau () is a province of Vietnam in the Mekong Delta, and is the southernmost of the 34 provinces of Vietnam.
The name "CàMau" (previously spelled Cà-mau) come from Khmer name of "Tðk Kha-mau" (Khmer: áÂÂá¹áÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂá ) when they discovered the area, which literally means "dark water".
Ca Mau is on a delta region, with rivers and canals. The average height is 0.5 meters to 1.5 meters above sea level. The direction of the terrain is gradually inclined from North to South, from Northeast to Southwest. The area of CÃÂ Mau is in the lowlands with flooding especially in the southern edge. It has five main soil groups: acid sulfate soil, peat soil, alluvial soil, saline soil, and canal soil.
The local low-lying areas in the central low-lying area of the CàMau Peninsula have a topographic relationship with the ancient riverbed. The lowlands of U Minh and Trần VÃÂn Thá»Âi are inland "hanging depressions" limited by the natural dikes of the system of ÃÂng ÃÂá»Âc, Cái Tàu, Trẹm rivers and high ledges along the West Sea (Gulf of Thailand). This hanging low-lying area stagnates water all year round and becomes a swamp. Most of the land in CàMau is a younger land formed by sedimentation, accumulated over the years, somewhat fertile and suitable for aquaculture, rice cultivation, mangrove planting, brackish flooding, etc.
CÃÂ Mau has ecosystem of forests in coastline (which streches up to 310 kilometers) and inland where it covered 35.000 hectares of land. 77% of mangrove forests in Mekong region is located in CÃÂ Mau.
CàMau is featured for its near-equatorial Tropical monsoon climate (KhàháºÂu nhiá»Ât ÃÂá»Âi gió mùa cáºÂn xÃÂch ÃÂạo). It has 165 days in a year containing rain with 2.360 mm annually. The average annual humidity is 85.6% and the average annual temperature is 26.5ðC. The highest average temperature of the year occurs in April, around 27.6ðC. The lowest average temperature is in January, which is about 25ðC. The average annual temperature range is 2.7ðC.
CÃÂ Mau features a dense and interwoven network of rivers and canals, resembling a spiderweb, with a total length of approximately 14,000 kilometers of waterways. This extensive system provides favorable conditions for inland waterway transportation and logistics.
The river and canal system in CàMau is extensive and highly interconnected, featuring numerous large rivers with considerable depth that facilitate the transport of alluvium, contributing to the enrichment of the mainland. Major rivers in CàMau include the Tam Giang, Gành Hào, Bảy Háp, Sông ÃÂá»Âc, ÃÂầm Dái, Cái Tàu, Trầm Trẹm, Quản Lá»Â-Phụng Hiá»Âp, and Bạc Liêu - CàMau rivers.
The tidal regime in Ca Mau is directly influenced by both diurnal and irregular semi-diurnal tides. The tidal range along the East Sea coast is relatively large, varying from 300 to 350 cm during spring tides and from 180 to 220 cm during neap tides.
In 2025, CÃÂ Mau has a population of 2.606.672, ranked 20 out of 34 provinces and municipalities, accounting for 2,3% total population of Vietnam with a density of 328 per square kilometers.
There are 749.896 people who followed a religion in the province, accounting for 28,77% of the province's population. About 76,79% of the religious followers are Buddhists (or 22.09% of the provincial population). Second to which are the followers which takes up 8,24% of the religious followers (or 2,37% of the provincial population). Third is the Catholics which represents 7,2% of the religious followers (or 2,07% of the provincial population). Fourth is the Cao ÃÂÃÂ i faith followers which is about 5,9% of the religious followers (or 1,7% of the provincial population). The rest of the religions account for a smaller proportion.
There are 2.464.074 Kinh people living in CàMau, accounting up to 94,53% of the total population. The remaining 27 ethnicities took up 5,47% of the total figure or about 142.598 people (32.152 households) which 115.180 (25.590 households) is Khmer, 24.625 is Hoa (6.200 households) and the others are Mðá»Âng, Thái, Tày, Nùng, Giao, Jarai, àÃÂê, ChÃÂm, Chu ru, Si la and foreign settlers.
During the feudal era, the land of CàMau was mostly wild and uninhabited. According to Gia ÃÂá»Ânh Thành Thông Chàby , under the reign of Emperor Gia Long, settlers had only begun to sparsely cultivate areas along rivers such as ÃÂng ÃÂá»Âc, Gành Hào, and Bảy Háp. By the time of Emperor Tá»± ÃÂức, the region was still primarily covered with mangrove forests, with fewer inhabitants due to the scarcity of fresh water and the acidic nature of the soil. In the 17th century, General Mạc Cá»Âu, along with a group of Chinese immigrants, settled in HàTiên and later submitted the territory to the Nguyá» n Lords. His son, Mạc Thiên Tứ, established the Long Xuyên administrative unit. In 1808 (the 7th year of Gia Long's reign), this unit was renamed Long Xuyên District, under HàTiên Prefecture. By 1825 (the 6th year of Minh MạngâÂÂs reign), the imperial court appointed a district governor to administer the area.
Along with the development of history, Southern Vietnam was divided into six provinces (Lục tá»Ânh Nam Kỳ): Gia ÃÂá»Ânh, Biên Hòa, ÃÂá»Ânh Tðá»Âng, Vénh Long, An Giang, HàTiên.
During the French colonial period, on June 15, 1867, the French established the CàMau administrative division (hạt) based on the former Long Xuyên District. On August 1, 1877, this division was dissolved and merged into the Rạch Giá division. On February 18, 1882, the French created Bạc Liêu Province by combining the CàMau area (previously part of Rạch Giá) with the Bạc Liêu area (formerly part of Sóc TrÃÂng). In 1903, the CàMau administrative agency was established, consisting of three cantons: Quảng Long, Quảng Xuyên, and Long Thủy.
On May 16, 1911, CàMau was elevated to the status of a district under Bạc Liêu Province. By October 5, 1917, the district included two cantons: Quảng Xuyên and Quảng Long, along with villages from the Long Thủy canton. On April 6, 1923, part of Long Thủy canton was separated to establish a new canton called Long Thá»Âi, which took effect on January 1, 1924. On September 24, 1938, Quảng Xuyên canton was split off to form a new district. On September 14, 1942, the Tân An administrative base was established. On April 5, 1944, Thá»Âi Bình District was created, and subsequently on October 6, 1944, it was renamed North CàMau District, while Quảng Xuyên District was renamed South CàMau District. Later, these two districts were merged back into a single CàMau District under Bạc Liêu Province.
Under the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), on March 9, 1956, the government established CàMau Province based on CàMau District and four communes from Giá Rai District. On October 22, 1956, according to Decree No. 143/VN, CàMau Province was renamed An Xuyên Province, with its capital at . At the same time, An Xuyên Commune was renamed Tân Xuyên, which became the location of the provincial capital, Quản Long. At that point, An Xuyên Province consisted of six districts: Quản Long, Thá»Âi Bình, Sông ÃÂng ÃÂá»Âc, Cái Nðá»Âc, ÃÂầm Dái, and NÃÂm CÃÂn. The National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, and later the Provisional Revolutionary Government, continued to use the name CàMau.
After April 30, 1975, CàMau Province was maintained with six districts: Thá»Âi Bình, Trần VÃÂn Thá»Âi, Cái Nðá»Âc, Ngá»Âc Hiá»Ân, Châu Thành, Duyên Hải, and CàMau town. On September 20, 1975, the Politburo issued Resolution 245-NQ/TW regarding the merger of provinces. According to this resolution, CàMau, Bạc Liêu, and two districtsâÂÂVénh ThuáºÂn and An Biên (excluding two communes)âÂÂfrom Rạch Giá were to be merged. On December 20, 1975, Resolution 19/NQ revised the merger plan, and on January 1, 1976, CàMau Province and Bạc Liêu Province were officially merged under the initial name of CàMau - Bạc Liêu Province.
On March 10, 1976, the province of CàMau - Bạc Liêu was renamed Minh Hải Province, initially taking the provincial capital in Ca Mau. Historian Hữu Thành said that ÃÂá» Mðá»Âi once visited Minh Hải in the high tide season. The headquarters of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee were flooded. ÃÂá» Mðá»Âi said that CàMau is a low-lying area compared to sea level, if the provincial capital is made here, there will be inconveniences. From that opinion, the provincial capital of Minh Hải was moved to Bạc Liêu town, renamed Minh Hải town. In 1984, the provincial capital was moved to CàMau town, and the name Minh Hải town was reverted to Bạc Liêu town.
On November 6, 1996, the National Assembly passed a resolution to divide Minh Hải Province into two separate provinces: CàMau and Bạc Liêu, effective from January 1, 1997. On April 14, 1999, CàMau town was upgraded to CàMau City. On November 17, 2003, NÃÂm CÃÂn District was re-established from Ngá»Âc Hiá»Ân District, and Phú Tân District was re-established from Cái Nðá»Âc District. CàMau Province consisted of one city and eight districts. On August 6, 2010, CàMau City was officially recognized as a grade-II urban center under the province.
In November 1997, the CÃÂ Mau Peninsula was struck by Typhoon Linda (Openg). Thousands of people were killed, and an estimated 200,000 homes were destroyed, along with most of the CÃÂ Mau fishing fleet.
CàMau Gas-Power-Fertilizer Complex is one of the three economic projects carried out in the Vietnam 2000-2005 period and along with the Cần Thá Bridge it is "one of the two largest projects in the Mekong Delta".
On June 12, 2025, the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15, which took effect the same day, merging Bạc Liêu Province into CàMau Province and abolishing all district-level of CàMau Province.
Before the abolition all district-level (huyá»Ân) in Vietnam which took place on June 12 2025, CàMau was subdivided into nine district-level sub-divisions:
8 districts:
1 provincial city:
They are further subdivided into nine commune-level towns (or townlets), 82 communes, and 10 wards.
CÃÂ Mau is subdivided into nine ward-level subdivisions and fifty-five communes: