Rạch Giá () is a provincial city and the capital city of Kiên Giang province,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. It is located on the eastern coast of the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in ...

, southwest of

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. East of city, it borders Tân Hiệp and Châu Thành town, the

is to the west and surrounds some parts of the city, south of the city is Châu Thành and An Biên town, and to the north it borders Hòn Đất and Tân Hiệp.

Administrative units

Rạch Giá was upgraded from a town to a city by Government Decree No. 97/2005/NĐ-CP on July 26, 2005. The city has 12 administrative units: *Vĩnh Thanh Vân Ward *Vĩnh Thanh Ward *Vĩnh Lạc Ward *Vĩnh Lợi Ward *Vĩnh Quang Ward *An Hòa Ward *An Bình Ward *Rạch Sỏi Ward *Vĩnh Thông Ward *Vĩnh Hiệp Ward *Phi Thông Commune Rạch Giá is the first city where the Vietnamese government applied a "lấn biển" project to build out to the ocean to expand territory. The "lấn biển" project expanded the city to become one of the biggest new cities in southwest Vietnam. This project added 2 more new wards in Rạch Giá. Besides that, several future construction projects such as industrial center Rach Vuot and urban city Vĩnh Hiệp which will be started after finishing Lạc Hồng Bridge will expand Rạch Giá to the east.

Cultures and tourism

Ceremony of Nguyễn Trung Trực is held annually in lunar August.

Historic

National historical sites: * Nguyễn Trung Trực temple * Tam Bảo pagoda * Vĩnh Hoà temple * Huỳnh Mẫn Đạt grave * Phật Lớn pagoda * Láng Cát pagoda * Kiên Giang museum * Quan Đế pagoda Other historical sites: * Sắc Tứ Tam Bảo Temple *

Tam quan A Tam quan (Chữ Hán: 三關) or Tam môn (Chữ Hán: 三門) is a style of traditional gateway symbolic of Vietnamese Buddhism, it has three aisles (traditionally, the middle aisle is the largest and the two side aisles are smaller) not only ...

gate. This is the historical main gate and the symbol of Rạch Giá City. * Nguyễn Hiền Điều temple * Suông council * Bắc Đế temple * Thiên Hậu temple * Thiên Hậu Palace

Climate

Rạch Giá has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Aw''), not quite wet enough to be classified as a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(''Am'') though wetter than most climates of its type. There is a very pronounced

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

from December to March, but rainfall is consistently heavy for the remaining eight months of the year.

Transportation

Rạch Giá has 2 main stations: Rạch Sỏi station (main routes to neighbor towns or provinces on highway 61 and 63) and Rạch Giá station (main routes to

and Hà Tiên). Those are the main stations to transport passengers to other towns in the province, or to other provinces in Vietnam. The bus transportation system was developed pretty early. Passengers can take the bus from Rạch Giá to 4 other towns: Châu Thành (route Rạch Giá – Tắc Cậu), Giồng Riềng (route Rạch Giá – Giồng Riềng), Tân Hiệp (route Rạch Giá – Kinh B), Hòn Đất (route Rạch Giá – Tám Ngàn). Currently, Rạch Giá Airport is the biggest airport in Rạch Giá. Rạch Giá airport has flight routes to Ho Chi Minh City with

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a state-owned enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airlines ...

. Rạch Giá has 2 big ship stations: Rạch Giá ship station or Phú Quốc ship station (routes to

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City, the island has a total area of and a permanent population of approx ...

island and other big islands such as Phú Quốc, Hon Tre, Hòn Sơn and Thổ Chu) and Rạch Mẽo station (route to rural towns of

Cà Mau Peninsula Peninsula ( vi, Bán Đảo Cà Mau, lnks=no) makes up the southern tip of Vietnam. It is in Cà Mau Province, and lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the west and the South China Sea to the east. Cà Mau is a triangular stretch of land, with ...

). High speed ship is the economic choice for passengers to Phú Quốc island or Kiên Hải islands.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rach Gia Populated places in Kiên Giang province Districts of Kiên Giang province Provincial capitals in Vietnam Cities in Vietnam