Saigon (Vietnamese: ) is a ward of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is one of the 168 new wards, communes and special zones of the city following the reorganization in 2025.
Saigon ward is the city's de facto downtown, central business district and administrative center. Prior to the ward's establishment, Saigon was the historic and colloquial name for Ho Chi Minh City's central area, roughly corresponding to the former District 1. It was also the official name for the capital city of the State of Vietnam (as ÃÂô thành Sài Gòn-Chợ Lá»Ân), the Republic of Vietnam (as ÃÂô thành Sài Gòn), and the Republic of South Vietnam (as Thành phá» Sài Gòn-Gia ÃÂá»Ânh).
The ward of Saigon is located in the central core of Ho Chi Minh City, bordering:
According to Official Dispatch No. 2896/BNV-CQÃÂP dated May 27, 2025 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, following the merger, Sài Gòn has a land area of 3.04 kmò, the population as of December 31, 2024 is 47,022 people, the population density is 15,468 people/kmò.
The first known human habitation in the area was either a Cham settlement called Baigaur, or a Cambodian city named Prey Nokor, which was a small fishing village. Over time, under the control of the Vietnamese, it was officially renamed Gia ÃÂá»Ânh () in 1698, a name that was retained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when it adopted the name , francized as , although the city was still indicated as on Vietnamese maps written in chữ Hán until at least 1891.
Ho Chi Minh City has a history of administrative management of more than 300 years, since 1698 when Lord Nguyá» n Hữu Cảnh established Gia ÃÂá»Ânh Province. Over that time, the place has had many different names used to refer to the entire land or a part of the area, such as Saigon, Chợ Lá»Ân, Gia ÃÂá»Ânh, Bến Nghé, Phiên An, Phan Yên. Of which, Saigon is the most popular name in administrative management as well as community and cultural life.
In 1976, the National Assembly officially renamed SaigonâÂÂGia ÃÂá»Ânh (established from the merge of City of Saigon and Province of Gia ÃÂá»Ânh) as Ho Chi Minh City. For almost 50 years since then, Saigon was no longer used in formal contexts, but was still widely recognized as the common name of the city. The area of Saigon ward then was Bến Nghé ward of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City (except the now-extension part in ÃÂa Kao) and matched with the major of the historic town of Bến Nghé.
During Vietnam's 2025 administrative reorganization at the commune level, the government of Ho Chi Minh City has advocated naming new wards and communes with letters instead of numbers, with considerations from the history of the neighborhood, familiarity, and cultural values. This policy is widely supported by the people.
To implement the above policy, District 1 proposed to name its central ward Saigon for the following reasons:
On June 16, 2025, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City in 2025 (effective from June 16, 2025). Accordingly, the entire land area and population of Bến Nghé ward and parts of ÃÂa Kao ward (quarter 4, 5, 6, 8, 10) and Nguyá» n Thái Bình ward (quarter 1) of the former District 1 will be integrated into a new ward named Sài Gòn (Clause 1, Article 1).
Saigon ward is divided into 14 quarters, including Ba Son Quarter and numbered quarters from 1 to 13, with 1 to 8 is part of former Bến Nghé ward, 9 is part of former Nguyá» n Thái Bình ward and 10 to 13 is part of former ÃÂa Kao.
Some notable libraries located in the ward: