HÃÂ Giang (, ) was a province in the Northeast region of Vietnam. It was located in the far north of the country, and contains Vietnam's northernmost point. It shared a 270 km long border with Yunnan province of southern China, and thus was known as Vietnam's final frontier. It covered an area of , comprising 1 city and 10 rural districts, with a population of 899,900 in 2023.
The provincial capital, also called HàGiang, was connected by Highway 2 and is 320 km away from Hanoi. The border crossing was at Thanh Thủy, 25 km from the provincial capital. It was one of the poorest provinces of Vietnam as it had mountainous topography with the least potential for agricultural development.
In addition to Thanh Thủy, there were three smaller gates, namely the Phó Bảng, XÃÂn Mần and SÃÂm Pun.
On 12 June 2025, HàGiang province was incorporated into Tuyên Quang province.
HàGiang is bordered by Cao Bằng, Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai, and Yên Bái provinces and has a common international border with China in the north. HàGiang has many high rocky mountains, limestone formations and springs; the important mountains are the Cam and Má» Neo. The major rivers of the region are the Lô River (HàGiang city is located on its left bank) and Miá»Ân River.
The topography of the province of HàGiang is fairly complex: "temperate, but highly localized montane weather patterns create variable conditions among different regions". It has impressive limestone and granite peaks and outcrops. It has three regions. Climatically, it has two seasons, dry and monsoon, dependent on the altitude of the region. The two northern Indochinese climatic zones on the border influence the climate in the northern part of the province. The lower areas in the province comprise low hills, the Lô River Valley and HàGiang city. In Cao BỠdistrict, the dry season lasts from mid-September until the end of May, and the monsoon season lasts from the beginning of June until mid-September. However, in Du Giàdistrict the wet season sets in one month earlier. The average annual temperature in the provincial capital of HàGiang is ; the monthly averages range from a low of in January to a high of in July. The annual rainfall in HàGiang city is ; the monthly average varies from a low of in December to a high of in July. The average annual humidity level is 84%.
HàGiang has many mountains, including the two highest peaks, namely the Tây Côn Lénh () and the Kiá»Âu Liêu Ti (), and also has forests that provide lumber. It has about 1,000 species of herbal plants. The fauna includes tigers, peafowl, pheasants, and pangolin. HàGiang city was heavily damaged during the 1979 war with China but has since been rebuilt.
Cultivated fields and livestock are generally found in elevations below . Between and , grasses and wood shrubs (with a maximum height of ) are recorded. Patches of forest with trees ( high and in diameter) are found above with the canopy covering around 80% of the sky. The forest has dense undergrowth with large vines, tree ferns and rhododendrons. Banana, bamboo and secondary scrub grow on both sides of foot tracks in the forests. The forest also has an abundance of cascading streams, seepage streams from limestone formations, waterfalls, glides, and pools. The stiff limestone vertical rock face is seen above on the northeast face of Mount Muong Cha, while its southwest slope exhibits a much gentler gradient, and is converted into agricultural fields. Above , there is a montane mixed semideciduous and evergreen cloud forest. This forest has an understory of Ericaceae with shrubs and epiphytic species of rhododendron and vaccinium. Species of Lauraceae, with Ericaceae and Oleaceae (at higher elevations with taxa in the Fagaceae, Primulaceae (formerly Myrsinaceae) and Araliaceae) are also recorded. Most of the tree trunks are covered with bryophyte mosses in this zone.
16 reptile species (14 genera, five families) and 36 amphibian species (20 genera, seven families) have been recorded in the province.
Small mammals found on II include Cynopterus sphinx, Rousettus leschenaulti, Sphaerias blanfordi, Scaptonyx fusicaudus, Chodsigoa parca, Chodsigoa caovansunga, Blarinella griselda, Crocidura attenuata, Crocidura fuliginosa, Crocidura wuchihensis, Belomys pearsonii, Callosciurus inornatus, Leopoldamys edwardsi, Niviventer fulvescens, Niviventer langbianis, Niviventer tenaster, Chiropodomys gliroides, Ratufa bicolor, and Tamiops sp.
Archaeological excavations carried out near HàGiang city at ÃÂá»Âi Thông (Pine Hill) have established the region's antiquity to about 30,000 years ago. During the Bronze Age Tày Yu tribes with culturally rich traditions ruled over the region; archaeological findings in the form of bronze drums of that age used for ceremonial purposes are used even to the present day by the Lô Lô and Pu Péo tribes of the region (Mèo Vạc, HàGiang province).
What was later called HàGiang province by the French was part of bá» Tân Hðng in ancient times, one of 15 bá» in the nation of VÃÂn Lang. During the Ming dynasty occupation of Vietnam, at the start of the 15th century, it was known as the district of Bình Nguyên, before being later renamed to châu Vá» Xuyên.
The French occupied this region in 1886, establishing their military garrison on the east bank of the Lô River and which later became one of the four major military establishments in French Indochina in North Vietnam in 1905. The Vietnamese Dao tribes rebelled against French colonial rule, first in 1901 led by Triá»Âu Tiến Kiến and Triá»Âu Tài Lá»Âc, which was quelled, with the former being killed in the war. However, in 1913, Triá»Âu Tài Lá»Âc organized another rebellion with the help of Triá»Âu Tiến Tiến, another member of his clan, which lasted for two years until 1915. Their slogan was "No Corvees, no taxes for the French; drive out the French to recover our country; liberty for the Dao." This revolt was known as the White Hat Revolt since the Vietnamese carried a white flag engraved with "four ideograms to Quá»Âc Bách Kỹ" (meaning "White Flag of the Fatherland"). The rebellion spread to Tuấn Quang, Lào Cai and Yên Bái. In 1915 the French ruthlessly suppressed the rebellion, deporting many Vietnamese and hanging at least 67 "rebels".
Before 1975, HàGiang comprised the districts of ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn, Vá» Xuyên, XÃÂn Mần, Yên Minh, Hoàng Su Phì, Bắc Quang, Thanh Thủy, and Quản Bạ.
On November 18, 1983, Bắc Mê District was split from Vá» Xuyên District; one commune from XÃÂn Mần District was placed under Hoàng Su Phì District, two communes from Hoàng Su Phì District were placed under XÃÂn Mần District, three communes from Bắc Quang District were placed under XÃÂn Mần District, three communes from Bắc Quang District were placed under Hoàng Su Phì District, and one town and five communes from Bắc Quang District were placed under Vá» Xuyên District.
On August 12, 1991, HàTuyên Province was re-divided into Tuyên Quang Province and HàGiang Province. HàGiang Province comprised HàGiang city, Bắc Mê District, Bắc Quang District, ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn District, Hoàng Su Phì District, Mèo Vạc District, Quản Bạ District, Vá» Xuyên District, XÃÂn Mần District, and Yên Minh DistrictâÂÂa total of one town and nine districts. The provincial capital was HàGiang Town.
On December 1, 2003, Quang Bình District was split from Bắc Quang District, Hoàng Su Phì District, and XÃÂn Mần District.
On June 23, 2006, the communes of Phú Linh, Kim Sán, and Kim Linh in HàGiang Town were placed under the administration of Vá» Xuyên District; part of Quang Trung Ward in HàGiang Town was placed under the Phong Quang Commune of Vá» Xuyên District. The communes of Phðáng ÃÂá» and Phðáng Thiá»Ân in Vá» Xuyên District were placed under the administration of HàGiang Town.
On September 27, 2010, HÃÂ Giang Town was upgraded to HÃÂ Giang city.
On June 12, 2025, HàGiang Province and Tuyên Quang Province were merged to form a new Tuyên Quang Province. The former province was restructured into 2 wards.
The province's name derived from the Sino-Vietnamese .
The history of the Hmong lords of the northern region of the province, bordering China (ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn and Mèo Vạc), is integral to the province, as the Hmong people have dominated the region from the late 18th century. The Vðáng family of the Huang clan established their rule at ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn and Mèo Vạc, which was endorsed by the Nguyá» n kings.
During French colonial rule, the French further supported the lords in their hold on the border territory. Vðáng ChÃÂnh ÃÂức was recognized as the king of the Hmong in 1900. A palace was built between 1902 and 1903 at SàPhìn (16 km west of ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn town). The lord's loyalty to the French was evident in the support that they got from him during their campaign to put down a rebellion launched by the local tribes. In recognition, the lord was given the rank of a general in the French Army (a fully uniformed picture of the lord is seen in the interior rooms of the palace).
Increasing opposition by the Vietnamese to French rule saw the lord adopting a neutral stance. Vðáng Chú Sá»Ân, who succeeded his father after the latter's death in 1944, however, pledged support to Ho Chi Minh. The historical palace of the Vðáng lord was built in the traditional style of northeast Asian royal palaces. It has four double-storied wings, which are linked by three open courtyards. A moat surrounds the palace. Tombs of the royal family members, which are intricately carved in wood, are located outside the palace walls. Only the walls of the buildings are made of bricks, while the rest is made of wood.
HÃÂ Giang was subdivided into 11 district-level sub-divisions:
They were further subdivided into 9 commune-level towns (or townlets), 181 communes, and 5 wards.
According to the General Statistics Office of the Government of Vietnam, the population of HÃÂ Giang province as of 2019 was 854,679 with a density of 110 people per km<sup>2</sup> over a total land area of . It is one of the least populated provinces in the northern midlands and mountain areas of Vietnam. The male population during this period was 431,771 while the female population was 422,908. The rural population was 719,108 against an urban population of 135,571 (about 19% of the rural population).
There are 43 ethnic groups in HàGiang recognized by the Vietnamese government. Each ethnicity has their own language, traditions, and subculture. The largest ethnic groups are: Mông (34.25%), Tày (22.55%), Dao (14.88%), Vietnamese (12.32%), Nùng (9.53%), Giáy (2.03%), La Chà(1.62%). Others accounted for the remaining 2.82%.
Languages spoken in HÃÂ Giang province include the following.
HÃÂ Giang is a highly mountainous region, and travel around the province can be difficult. Much of the province is too mountainous for agriculture, leaving much of the land covered by forests. HÃÂ Giang's central plateau is good for growing plums, peaches, and persimmons, which the province exports. Tea is also grown there. The farming economy is also getting a boost with growing orange and mandarin trees as it sustains many households with an income in the range of VND 150 to 200 million a year. The cultivated area of soybean cultivation (which has a high yield with a yield of 750 kg per ha) has increased to .
HÃÂ Giang is one of the poorest provinces of Vietnam. Traditionally, the vast majority of its economic activity revolved around agriculture and forestry. However, in recent years, there have been attempts to establish a manufacturing industry. Infrastructure in HÃÂ Giang has seen improvement, but remains poor and roads, schools, and health services are underdeveloped compared to many other parts of Vietnam.
HàGiang province has particularly assisted locals in developing their tea industry with financial (soft loans) and technical support in operations (sowing, tending, gathering and processing). This resulted in an increase in the yield from 9,625 tonnes (1995) to 20,394 tonnes (2002). Particular tea plantations of quality tea are the Shan Tuyết strain in Cao Bá» (Vá» Xuyên District), Là ©ng Phìn (ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn District) and in Ngam La (Yên Minh District). HàGiang tea is also popular in foreign markets. The province is rich in minerals; 149 mines with 28 categories of minerals are spread in all districts of the province. Mineral deposits mined in the province are: antimony, iron ore, manganese, ferrite, zinc, tin, copper, bauxite, gold, gemstones, kaolin and mineral water. These are contributing to industrial development in the province. Plans have been put in place, with appropriate policies, to attract direct foreign investments in the province; China, South Korea, Thailand and other countries have already chipped in with investments in the mining and processing industries. The Asian Development Bank provided loans of US$3,000,000 to promote the tea industry in the province. As HàGiang is a mountainous region, the population is not large, and the majority of inhabitants are ethnic Vietnamese. The remainder are H'Mông, Tày, Dao, Mán, Nùng, Giấy, Lô Lô and Thá»Â; the majority engage in ancestor and spirit worship. Of the national figure of 7,592 agriculture, forestry and fishery cooperatives, there are only 32 cooperatives in the province, of which 22 are agricultural and eight are fisheries. There are only 169 known farms in the province against the national number of 120,699. The output value of agriculture produce at constant 1994 prices in the province was 838.4 billion dongs against the national value of 156,681.9 billion dongs. The province produced 280,300 tonnes of cereals against the national production of 43.58 million tonnes.
The per capita production of cereals in the district was 397.5 kg against the national figure of 501.8 kg in 2007. In 2007, the industrial output of the province was 526.1 billion dongs against the national output of 1,469,272.3 billion dongs. There is a recently established cement plant with a 300,000 tonne annual capacity.
Quản Bạ Valley, located from HàGiang city, at , is called the "Heaven's Gate" and has a TV transmitter on a peak. Uniformly shaped hills of the valley are viewed from this summit. Quản Bạ Pass provides views of Thach Nui Doi (literal meaning: double stalagmite, but also known as "Two Stone Breasts" in the valley below). The valley has forested hills and meadows, with temperatures ranging between in winter and in summer. It is known for its secret grottoes and caves, colourful orchids, plum and peach trees, persimmon orchards, medicinal plants and many more. The town of ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn is famous for its Phó Bảng Street which features multistoried buildings built with clay bricks and tiled roofs. The weekly market is where the Tày and H'Mông ethnic groups of the province visit in large numbers to trade in various types of goods and colourful hand woven cloth.
Phðáng Thiá»Ân Cave is to the south of HàGiang city. It is the location of many sights, especially natural caves and grottos of Doi, Lang Lô and Phðáng Thiá»Ân. The surrounding area is also known for its plums, pears, oranges, apples and Tuyết Sán tea above . Chui Cave lies to the south of HàGiang. It is set about into the face of the hill. Tiên Cave is from HàGiang city. According to folklore, heavenly female beings came there to bathe in the lunar new year, thus its name. The local populace uses it as a water source and to pray for good luck in the new year.
ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn is a market town from SàPhìn and from the Chinese border and is inhabited by the Tày and H'Mông people. It is located at an altitude of and experiences temperatures of in winter and in the summer months. The highland region is famous for fruits such as Hau plums, peaches and persimmons without seeds. It has plants such as ginseng, cinnamon and anise.
Mã PàLèng is a mountain pass at about which forms the basin boundary of the Nho Quế River on the border with China and is restricted zone. The market, held at Khâu Vai, which is about from Mèo Vạc, is where once a year on the 27th day of the third month of the Lunar calendar an event known famously as the Khâu Vai "Love Market" takes place. The ethnic clans of White H'Mông, Tày, and Lô Lô congregate here, particularly the young, in search of life partners or to exchange partners. The Lô Lô people who dominate the local village by the same name in particular come here in their colourful regale.
The Chợ tình Khâu Vai market only meets once a year, on the 27th day of the third lunar month at Khâu Vai commune in Mèo Vạc district, based on an old folk tale. A long time ago, there was a young beautiful couple who were in love but they were in different districts, which would have meant that she would have moved to her husband's area. Her home district opposed this, while the boy's district wanted this, causing political tension. When the couple was meeting, the two groups descended into warfare. To avoid bloodshed for their societies, the couple decided to break up and only secretly meet once a year on the anniversary, at Khâu Vai. Since then the area has become a dating spot for couples. In the last 10 years, economic pressures have led to a market being set up to capitalise on the anniversary celebrations.
ÃÂá»Âi Thông (Pine Hill) settlement is an ancient settlement dating back 30,000 years, belonging to the Sán Vi period as established by archaeological excavations. The excavations had unearthed antiquity axe heads and primitive tools which are displayed in the local museum at HàGiang and the History Museum in Hanoi.
HÃÂ Giang museum, located in the centre of HÃÂ Giang city, not only has an array of findings from archaeological excavations but also houses historical artefacts, a bronze drum collection and also costumes of the local ethnic clans. The museum building is in the form of a big lotus opening up its petals, in a red and white colour mansion.
HàGiang market is an important market centre in HàGiang city on the east bank of the Lô River. Tày, Nùng, Red Dao and White H'Mông ethnic groups congregate every Sunday at the market.
Lang Si is a village at the Lang Si pass where the White H'Mông tribes assemble at the market held once every six days. The village is from HàGiang and parts of the border wall built by the French army are seen here delimiting the border of the White H'Mông Kingdom. It is a honey-producing area and has many apiaries.
SàPhìn is a small town in the remote SàPhìn valley ( from the Chinese border) where H'Mông Lords ruled. The unique feature is of the large double-storied houses which are built in Chinese style made out of yellow bricks with Chinese style roofs. The twin white towered palace building is distinct among the 20 odd buildings.
The Vðáng family mansion is an architectural heritage landmark in SàPhìn commune, ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn district that was listed by the government in 1993. At the start of the 20th century, Vðáng ChÃÂnh ÃÂức, a member of the H'Mông people, was appointed the Bang Tá and he had the family residence expanded into a mansion from where he worked. It is of a style that is rare in this mountainous region of northern Vietnam. The building was designed in the style of the later period of the Qing dynasty of China, and is grouped into three sections, the front, middle and rear. It comprises six lengthwise and four sideways buildings, two levels, 64 rooms and of land space. The building is surrounded by a stone wall, with a width of and a height of . The mansion is to the northwest of HàGiang city and to the southwest of the district of ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn.
The Nho Quế River originates in Yunnan Province, China, and flows through ÃÂá»Âng VÃÂn and Mèo Vạc districts before joining the Gâm River. The river is known for the deep canyon it forms beneath the Mã PàLèng Pass, often described as one of the deepest river gorges in Southeast Asia. Boat tours along the river provide views of steep limestone cliffs and emerald-coloured waters, making it one of HàGiangâÂÂs most photographed natural attractions.
HàGiang has many cultural festivals due to the presence of more than 20 ethnic minority groups. Many of these groups are noted for their artistic abilities, especially their weaving and hand-made textile products. The Spring Festival is celebrated by the H'Mông and Dao people, usually shortly after the Lunar New Year and lasts between three and seven days. The people celebrate with singing and feasting and drinking alcohol. The Buckwheat Flower Festival, organized to celebrate the blooming season of buckwheat flowers across the Dong Van Karst Plateau; and the Long Tong Festival, a traditional agricultural festival of the Tay people marking the beginning of a new farming season.