Бинь Туан: Провинция Вьетнама – География, История и Экономика

Province of Vietnam

Bình Thuận is a southernmost coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Lâm Đồng to the north, Ninh Thuận to the northeast, Đồng Nai to the west, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu to the southwest and the East Sea to the east. Bình Thuận province is sometimes seen as part of the Southeast region, the Southern. The province is known for its scenery and beaches. There are also a number of sites of archaeological significance.

Much of what is now Bình Thuận province was part of the Cham principality of Panduranga, which had its political centre in neighbouring Ninh Thuận province. It was the last independent principality after the fall of Vijaya in 1471. Bình Thuận was later incorporated into Vietnam, while Ninh Thuận remained independent longer, until 1832. Before 1976, Bình Thuận province was much smaller because much of the west was in the separate Bình Tuy province). Bình Tuy, Bình Thuận and Ninh Thuận were merged in 1976 to form Thuận Hải province. It was divided again into Ninh Thuận and Binh Thuận in 1991, while Bình Tuy remained part of Bình Thuận Province.

Bình Thuận has much of the borders with Lâm Đồng and Ninh Thuận are mountainous, while much of the rest of the province is relatively flat. However, there are several hills with a height of at least 200 m along the coast of the province. The highest peak in the province (1548m) is in northwestern Tánh Linh District, near Lâm Đồng. Phú Quý island is located around 120 km south east of Phan Thiết. It is a separate district. There are several much smaller islands off the coast of Bình Thuận, including Câu Island (cù lao Câu) in the east, Lao Island (hòn Lao) at Mũi Né, and Bà Island (hòn Bà) in the west. Forests are mostly located in the province's mountainous regions in the northwest and northeast. Population density ranges from around 1000/km2 in Phan Thiết to less than 100/km2 in the districts of Bắc Bình, Hàm Tân, Hàm Thuận Nam and Tánh Linh.

Bình Thuận had a GDP per capita of 11 million VND in 2007, which is the third highest in the South Central Coast after Đà Nẵng and Khánh Hòa province, and slightly higher than the regional average of 10.8 million. The economy has been the fastest growing in the South Central Coast with an average yearly growth of almost 14% from 2000 to 2007, with growth of all three sectors of the economy significantly exceeding the regional average. Agriculture, forestry and fishing had an average growth of 7.4%, industry 21.6%, and services 15.4%. The province has seen a decline in state industry from 2000 to 2007. The private sector now makes up most of industrial output and even the foreign invested sector has overtaken state owned industry. Despite its spectacular growth, industry was not able to absorb much of the growth of the labour force. It created 17,200 new jobs between 2000 and 2007, while the slower growing service sector created 44,100 and even agriculture, forestry and fishing created 57,600 jobs. The wind power project in Tuy Phong District, was set to be hooked up to the national electricity grid by 2009. The large wind energy project is expected to help boost regional socio economic development and pave the way for further exploitation of renewable energy sources in the country. Located on Highway 1, the section running through Bình Thuận Commune, the Wind Power Plant 1 is about 300 meters from the coast. This is an arid area usually short in rainfall but abundant in wind. Other wind power projects are in preparation, with 12 licenses issued as of August 2010. However, the land for many of these projects overlaps with land with rich titanium reserves.