Giá Rai aː˧˥:ɹaːj˧˧is a

district-level town A district-level town () is a type of second tier subdivision of Vietnam. District-level towns along with urban districts, districts, municipal cities, and provincial cites have equal status. Also by virtue of Decree No. 42/2009/ND-CP, towns a ...

Bạc Liêu province Bạc Liêu was a former province of Vietnam. It is a coastal province, and is situated in the Mekong Delta region of the southern part of the country. On June 12th, 2025, Bạc Liêu was incorporated into Cà Mau province. Administrative divi ...

in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

region of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

History

Middle Ages

Before 1862–67, most of the territory of modern

was only the Eastern part of Long Xuyên rural district, An Biên prefecture, Hà Tiên garrison. On June 15, 1867, as soon as

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

became a complete

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the regime of

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

(huyện) and

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

(phủ) was replaced by the inspection, which was equivalent to the

shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Because of that, Hà Tiên province was changed as Kiên Giang inspection (Kiên Giang thanh tra hạt). However, on August 16, Kiên Giang i. was continued to change as Rạch Giá inspection (Rạch Giá thanh tra hạt). In 1876, Rạch Giá i. was changed as Rạch Giá arrondissement (Rạch Giá tham biện hạt). However, by 1882, the Government of

French Cochinchina French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; ; , chữ Hán: ) was a colony of French Indochina from 1862 to 1949, encompassing what is now Southern Vietnam. The French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product wa ...

has separated the East to Bạc Liêu arrondissement (Bạc Liêu tham biện hạt). On December 20, 1899,

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Paul Doumer Joseph Athanase Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (; 22 March 18577 May 1932), was a French politician who served as the President of France from June 1931 until his assassination in May 1932. He is described as "the Father of French Indochin ...

issued a decree that, from January 1, 1900, all province-level

administrative unit Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

s in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

agreed to be called "tỉnh" (province), including

Bạc Liêu Bạc Liêu () is a provincial city and capital of the Bạc Liêu Province in the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. It is a medium-sized town with a population of 156,110 in 2019. The former name of the city is Vĩnh Lợi. History The ...

20th century

Initially, Bạc Liêu province only consisted of two districts, Vĩnh Lợi and Cà Mâu. However, on October 5, 1917, the Government of French Cochinchina decided to establish Giá Rai district (quận Giá Rai) based on some parts of Vĩnh Lợi and Cà Mâu. "Giá Rai" (海漆, " milky mangrove") comes from the name of Rạch Giá (海漆溪, "creek of milky mangrove") before.Looking for the origin of name "Rạch Giá"
/ref> From then until before the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area of the district was constantly expanded. Since April 5, 1944, the district government was officially located at Phong Thạnh village (làng Phong Thạnh). After the

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

in 1945, the Southern Resistance Administration Committee changed Giá Rai d. to Giá Rai rural district (huyện Giá Rai). However, the Government of the

Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; ; , chữ Hán: ) was a colony of French Indochina from 1862 to 1949, encompassing what is now Southern Vietnam. The French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product was ...

have restored the old name. That has been kept by the successive governments

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam (; chữ Hán: 國家越南; ) was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as an associated state of the French Union and later as an independent state (from 20 July 1954 to 26 October 1955). The s ...

and

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

. Since October 22, 1956, Giá Rai has belonged to Ba Xuyên province, which was based on the merger of two provinces Bạc Liêu and

Sóc Trăng Sóc Trăng (; ) is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Sóc Trăng Province. It was upgraded from a town (thị xã) to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007. History During the French colonial period, on December 20 ...

. On September 8, 1964,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nguyễn Khánh Nguyễn Khánh (}; 8 November 192711 January 2013) was a South Vietnamese military dictator and Army of the Republic of Vietnam general who served in various capacities as head of state and prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head o ...

has signed Decree 254-NV that, Bạc Liêu province was re-established since October 1. Therefore, from then to May 1, 1975, Giá Rai district was part of Bạc Liêu province. After the whole South of the

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

under the management of the Government of the

Republic of South Vietnam The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG, ), was formed on 8 June 1969, by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) as an armed underground government opposing the government of the Republic of ...

, Giá Rai d. has been changed to Giá Rai rural district. Since February 1976, when

reunited with

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

, Giá Rai belonged to

Minh Hải province {{Orphan, date=December 2021 Minh (Chữ Nôm: 明) is a popular unisex given name of Vietnamese origin, written using the Chinese character (明) meaning "bright", and is also popular among other East Asian names. The Chinese name Ming has the s ...

, which was based on the merger of two provinces Bạc Liêu and

Cà Mau Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory (mainland). The city is characterised by its system of transport cana ...

. On July 11, 1977, the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

issued Decision 181-CP on the merger of three communes and one township of dissolved Châu Thành rural district into Giá Rai. By December 29, 1978, the Council of Ministers continued to issue Decision 326-CP on splitting Giá Rai into two new rural districts Giá Rai (East) and Cà Mau (West). On April 4, 1979, Giá Rai capital-township (thị trấn Giá Rai) was established under Decision 142-CP of the Council of Ministers, where was based on the merger of two communes Phong Thạnh and Long Điền. By August 30, 1983, the Council of Ministers issued Decision 94-HĐBT on the merger of three communes of dissolved Cà Mau rural district into Giá Rai. On November 6, 1996, Chairman of the National Assembly

Nông Đức Mạnh Nông Đức Mạnh (; born 11 September 1940) is a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the most powerful position in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from 22 April 2001 to 19 January 2011 ...

signed the promulgation of the Resolution on the division of Minh Hải into two new provinces Bạc Liêu and Cà Mau. Since then, Giá Rai belongs to

21st century

On December 24, 2001, the

Government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (; less formally the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam, ) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet and the central Executive (government), executive arm of the Politics of Vietn ...

issued Decree 98/2001/NĐ-CP on separating Giá Rai into two new rural districts Giá Rai (North) and Đông Hải (South). On July 31, 2013, the Ministry of Construction issued Decision 717/QĐ-BXD on the recognition of Hộ Phòng township (thị trấn Hộ Phòng) as the municipality of class-IV. Based on that fact, on May 15, 2015, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution 930/NQ-UBTVQH13 on the merger of two townships Giá Rai–Hộ Phòng and Phong Thạnh Đông A commune to Giá Rai town (thị xã Giá Rai). This was invisible to the fact that, the entire natural area and population of the rural district has become a town. However, it still includes two specific administrative units, which are wards (urban) and communes (rural areas).

Geography

Topography

Currently, Giá Rai rural district is divided into 10 commune-level administrative units. *3 wards (with 17 resident groups): 1st, Láng Tròn and Hộ Phòng *7 commune (with 52 hamlets): Phong Tân, Phong Thạnh, Phong Thạnh A, Phong Thạnh Đông, Phong Thạnh Tây, Tân Phong, Tân Thạnh The rural district covers an area of 353,99 km², meaning equivalent to half of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

area. Its terrain is relatively low compared to

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

s and has absolutely no

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s, so it is always difficult in every

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

History

Middle Ages

20th century

21st century

Geography

Topography

Population

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

Bibliography