Bến Tre - Wikipedia

For the American glass sculptor, see Howard Ben Tré. Provincial city in Vietnam

Bến Tre
Provincial city (Class-2)
Bến Tre CityThành phố Bến Tre
Skyline of Bến Tre
Seal
Interactive map of Bến Tre
Bến TreLocation of Bến Tre
Coordinates: 10°14′N 106°23′E / 10.233°N 106.383°E / 10.233; 106.383
Country	Vietnam
Province	Bến Tre
Area
• Total	65.75 km2 (25.39 sq mi)
Population (2019)
• Total	124,449
• Density	1,893.52/km2 (4,904.2/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Climate	Aw
Website	https://bentre.gov.vn/

Bến Tre (Vietnamese pronunciation: [ˀɓən˦ˀ˥ʈɛ˧˧] ⓘ) is a city in the Vĩnh Long province in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. In 2025, the Vietnamese government issued a resolution to merge the former Bến Tre Province with the rest of Vĩnh Long.[1] Located 85 kilometers (53 mi) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, the city covers an area of 65.75 km2 (25.39 sq mi) and has a population of 124,499 at the 2019 census.[2] Bến Tre is connected to the surrounding provinces by the Rạch Miễu Bridge and is also traversed by National Highway 60.

Etymology

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The name "Bến Tre" was formed by associating the natural terrain with the name of a tree species (meaning wharf with many bamboos growing). This name has been in use since the Nguyễn Dynasty.

History

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Early history

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At the end of the 17th century, the current city of Bến Tre was still sparsely populated. By the following century, many groups of people from the Central Vietnam and neighboring provinces began to migrate to this area to settle. In the early days of settling, the inhabitants concentrated on high mounds, along rivers and canals to establish villages easily.

French rule

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French colonialists occupied the province and established the first Thăm Biến (Inspection) office on the banks of the Bến Tre canal in June 1867. On January 1, 1900, Governor-General Paul Doumer issued a decree to change the Thăm Biến office to a province and established the provincial capital at its current location. Bến Tre has officially been a province since then.

1945 to 1975

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After the August Revolution, the new revolutionary government changed the name of Bến Tre to Đồ Chiểu province with the provincial capital located at An Hội commune. In 1946, it was renamed Bến Tre province again. In early 1948, under the direction of the Southern Resistance Administrative Committee, An Hội commune was to be separated from Châu Thành district and thus the town of Bến Tre was established.

The Viet Minh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and gained independence under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam.[3] However, Bến Tre was put under the governance of the Republic of Vietnam and in 1956, that government once again changed the name from Bến Tre to Kiến Hoà province and the provincial capital was renamed Trúc Giang district. The Vietcong on the other hand still uses the name Bến Tre for both the province and the provincial capital. During the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive in 1968, the town was nearly destroyed by bombings in the Battle of Ben Tre.

Post war

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After the unification of the country, the town of Bến Tre, together with the whole province, carried out the work of reconstruction and development of the social, economic and urban spheres. The urban area had backward agricultural economy, small-scale industry and trade; poor economic and social infrastructure, very low per capita income.

After the Đổi Mới reforms of 1986, Bến Tre began to see changes to living standards. Especially since the Resolution 07-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee dated January 30, 2002 on "Promoting urban development of the town Bến Tre from 2002-2005 and orientation towards 2010", the town Party Committee made efforts to overcome difficulties, took advantage of opportunities, focused on socio-economic development, and renovated and built urban technical infrastructure, changing the appearance of the town significantly. In 2009, Bến Tre town had officially became a city.

• Map of Bến Tre in 1882.
• Bến Tre Market after the Tet Offensive in 1968.

Climate

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Located in an area affected by the tropical monsoon climate, hot and humid all year round, with a relatively high temperature, the average annual air temperature is 27 °C (81 °F). The average air humidity is from 83 to 90%. During the year, the climate is divided into two distinct seasons: the rainy season from May to November, the dry season from December to April of the following year. The average annual rainfall is 1,210-1,500 mm/year; rainfall is unevenly distributed between the months of the year, in the rainy season rainfall accounts for 94-98% of the total annual rainfall.

Geography

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Bến Tre is located on Bảo Island in the Mekong delta and borders with the districts of Châu Thành, Giồng Trôm and Ba Tri. The city is arranged in a triangular layout and is bordered by the following:

• North and East by Châu Thành district.
• South by Giồng Trôm district.
• West by Hàm Luông River, separating the city from Mỏ Cày Bắc district.

The city has a relatively flat terrain with a dense system of canals, an average elevation of 1-1.5m above sea level; it is an alluvial land on low ground surrounded by the Hàm Luông River to the West, Bến Tre River to the South, and Chẹt Sậy Canal to the East. In the inner city area, there are Cái Cá Canal, Cá Lốc Canal, Kiến Vàng Canal and Gò Đàng Canal.

Administration

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The city of Bến Tre has eight wards — 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, An Hội, Phú Khương and Phú Tân — and six communes — Bình Phú, Mỹ Thạnh An, Nhơn Thạnh, Phú Hưng, Phú Nhuận and Sơn Đông.

The Party Committee's Congress of Bến Tre city elected Nguyễn Văn Tuấn as Secretary and an Executive Committee of 40 members for 2020-2025.

Economic Structure

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Ben Tre's economy is shifting towards a reduced proportion of agriculture and an increase in industry and services, aligning with modernization goals. Specifically: the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector accounts for 33.79%; the industrial and construction sector accounts for 20.76%; the service sector accounts for 41.93%; and product taxes less product subsidies account for 3.52%.[4] (2023 structure: agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector was 34.46%; industrial and construction sector was 20.20%; services were 41.76%; and product taxes less product subsidies were 3.57%). The estimated GRDP per capita in 2024 is 56.8 million VND per person, a 9.16% increase compared to 2023.[5]

Education

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• Bến Tre High School for the Gifted
• Nguyen Dinh Chieu High School Archived 2022-02-28 at the Wayback Machine

Notable people

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• Chân Không - Buddhist nun who worked closely with Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh for more than fifty years
• Nguyễn Phương Khánh - Miss Earth 2018 winner

Gallery

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• Tourist boat on the Bến Tre River.
• Bến Tre Museum
• Bến Tre Market
• Trúc Giang Lake

References

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1. ^ Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus) (2025-06-03). "Newly merged Vinh Long province poised to be growth hub of Mekong Delta: Party chief". Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus) (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2025-07-02.
2. ^ "Completed results of the 2019 Vietnam population and housing census" (PDF). General Statistics Office. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
3. ^ Thạch Phương, Tứ Đoàn, Phương Thảo Nguyễn Địa chí Bến Tre 1991 "Only in Bao and Minh islets, there had been 70 schools of Chinese characters in 152 villages until the French occupied Ben Tre (1867). That was a very rare proportion at that time. The list of the Ben Tre successful candidates written in the...."
4. ^ "Báo cáo tình hình kinh tế xã hội tỉnh Bến Tre quý IV và năm 2024". www.thongkebentre.gov.vn. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
5. ^ "Tổng quan và tiềm năng phát triển của Bến Tre". Đời sống và Phát triển Online. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben Tre City.

External links

[edit] Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ben Tre.

• Ben Tre - The third Coconut Festival 2012[permanent dead link]
• Official website of Ben Tre province (English ver.)
• Michael D. Miller. Saving Ben Tre: American veteran's account of Bến Tre during the Tet Offensive

10°14′N 106°23′E / 10.233°N 106.383°E / 10.233; 106.383

v t e Cities in Vietnam
Municipalities	Special Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Class-1 Cần Thơ Da Nang Haiphong Huế
Municipal cities	Class-1 Thủ Đức Class-3 Thủy Nguyên
Provincial cities	Class-1 Bắc Ninh Biên Hòa Buôn Ma Thuột Da Lat Hạ Long Hải Dương Hoa Lư Long Xuyên Mỹ Tho Nha Trang Phú Quốc Pleiku Quy Nhon Rạch Giá Thái Nguyên Thanh Hóa Thủ Dầu Một Việt Trì Vinh Vũng Tàu Class-2 Bà Rịa Bạc Liêu Bắc Giang Bến Tre Cà Mau Cao Lãnh Cẩm Phả Châu Đốc Đồng Hới Hà Tĩnh Lào Cai Lạng Sơn Móng Cái Nam Định Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm Phan Thiết Phủ Lý Quảng Ngãi Sa Đéc Sơn La Tam Kỳ Tân An Thái Bình Trà Vinh Tuy Hòa Uông Bí Vị Thanh Vĩnh Long Vĩnh Yên Class-3 Bắc Kạn Bảo Lộc Bến Cát Cam Ranh Cao Bằng Chí Linh Dĩ An Điện Biên Phủ Đông Hà Đông Triều Đồng Xoài Gia Nghĩa Gò Công Hà Giang Hà Tiên Hòa Bình Hội An Hưng Yên Hồng Ngự Kon Tum Lai Châu Long Khánh Ngã Bảy Phổ Yên Phú Mỹ Phúc Yên Sầm Sơn Sóc Trăng Sông Công Tân Uyên Tam Điệp Tây Ninh Thuận An Tuyên Quang Từ Sơn Yên Bái
District-level towns	Class-3 An Nhơn Bỉm Sơn Bình Minh Cai Lậy Kỳ Anh La Gi Long Mỹ Phú Thọ Quảng Yên Sông Cầu Sơn Tây Tân Châu Class-4 An Khê Ayun Pa Ba Đồn Bình Long Buôn Hồ Chơn Thành Chũ Duy Tiên Duyên Hải Điện Bàn Đức Phổ Đông Hòa Giá Rai Hòa Thành Hoài Nhơn Hoàng Mai Hồng Lĩnh Hương Thủy Hương Trà Kiến Tường Kinh Môn Mường Lay Mỹ Hào Ngã Năm Nghi Sơn Nghĩa Lộ Ninh Hòa Phước Long Quảng Trị Quế Võ Sa Pa Thái Hòa Thuận Thành Tịnh Biên Trảng Bàng Việt Yên Vĩnh Châu

v t e Former districts of the Mekong Delta
Cần Thơ city	Urban districts Bình Thủy Cái Răng Ninh Kiều※ Ô Môn Thốt Nốt Cờ Đỏ Phong Điền Thới Lai Vĩnh Thạnh
An Giang province	Châu Đốc city Long Xuyên city※ Tân Châu town An Phú Châu Phú Châu Thành Chợ Mới Phú Tân Thoại Sơn Tịnh Biên Tri Tôn
Bạc Liêu province	Bạc Liêu city※ Giá Rai town Đông Hải Hòa Bình Hồng Dân Phước Long Vĩnh Lợi
Bến Tre province	Bến Tre city※ Ba Tri Bình Đại Châu Thành Chợ Lách Giồng Trôm Mỏ Cày Bắc Mỏ Cày Nam Thạnh Phú
Cà Mau province	Cà Mau city※ Cái Nước Đầm Dơi Năm Căn Ngọc Hiển Phú Tân Thới Bình Trần Văn Thời U Minh
Đồng Tháp province	Cao Lãnh city※ Hồng Ngự city Sa Đéc city Cao Lãnh Châu Thành Hồng Ngự Lai Vung Lấp Vò Tân Hồng Tam Nông Thanh Bình Tháp Mười
Hậu Giang province	Ngã Bảy city Vị Thanh city※ Long Mỹ town Châu Thành Châu Thành A Long Mỹ Phụng Hiệp Vị Thủy
Kiên Giang province	Hà Tiên city Rạch Giá city※ Phú Quốc city An Biên An Minh Châu Thành Giang Thành Giồng Riềng Gò Quao Hòn Đất Kiên Hải Kiên Lương Tân Hiệp Thổ Châu U Minh Thượng Vĩnh Thuận
Long An province	Tân An city※ Kiến Tường town Bến Lức Cần Đước Cần Giuộc Châu Thành Đức Hòa Đức Huệ Mộc Hóa Tân Hưng Tân Thạnh Tân Trụ Thạnh Hóa Thủ Thừa Vĩnh Hưng
Sóc Trăng province	Sóc Trăng city※ Ngã Năm town Vĩnh Châu town Châu Thành Cù Lao Dung Kế Sách Long Phú Mỹ Tú Mỹ Xuyên Thạnh Trị Trần Đề
Tiền Giang province	Mỹ Tho city※ Cai Lậy town Gò Công town Cái Bè Cai Lậy Châu Thành Chợ Gạo Gò Công Đông Gò Công Tây Tân Phú Đông Tân Phước
Trà Vinh province	Trà Vinh city※ Duyên Hải town Càng Long Cầu Kè Cầu Ngang Châu Thành Duyên Hải Tiểu Cần Trà Cú
Vĩnh Long province	Vĩnh Long city※ Bình Minh town Bình Tân Long Hồ Mang Thít Tam Bình Trà Ôn Vũng Liêm
※ denotes provincial seat.

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States France BnF data Israel
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