Ho Chi Minh City


Ho Chi Minh City, also commonly referred to as Saigon, is the largest city of Vietnam. According to the 2019 census, Ho Chi Minh City has a population of over 8.9 million within city proper and over 21 million within the metropolitan area. Located in southeastern Vietnam, the city surrounds the Saigon River and covers about. Ho Chi Minh City is the economic and financial centre of Vietnam, and plays an important role in the country's culture and scientific developments.
Prior to Vietnamese settlement in the 17th century, the city was a scarcely populated area that had been part of historic kingdoms of Funan, Champa, and Khmer successively. With the arrival of the Vietnamese, the area became more prosperous and officials began establishing the city from 1623 to 1698. After ceded by the last Vietnamese dynasty to the French in 1862, the name Saigon was adopted and the city underwent urbanisation to become an important economic centre in the region. The city was the capital of South Vietnam until the end of the Vietnam War with North Vietnamese victory in 1975. In 1976, the government of a unified Vietnam renamed Saigon to its current official name in honour of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh City is a regional force in finance and business, classified as a Beta+ city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is an emerging international tourist destination, with popular landmarks related to the remnants of its colonial past showcased through colonial architecture. A major transportation hub, the city hosts the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the busiest airport in Vietnam. With rapid economic development, Ho Chi Minh City is undergoing constructions of new high-tech zones and education institutions, and serves as a major media and entertainment centre. Rapid population growth and urbanisation has led to issues including inadequate public services and vulnerability to climate change.

Etymology

Ho Chi Minh City has gone by several different names during its history, reflecting settlement by different ethnic, cultural and political groups.
Originally a trading port city of the Khmer Empire
known as , it is
still known as Prey Nokor to Cambodians today.
In time, under the control of the Vietnamese, it was officially renamed Gia Dinh, a name that was retained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when it adopted the name Sài Gòn, westernized as Saïgon,
although the city was still indicated as on Vietnamese maps written in Chữ Hán until at least 1891.
The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 to honor Ho Chi Minh.
Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech both domestically and internationally, especially among the Vietnamese diaspora.
However, there is a technical difference between the two terms: Sài Gòn is commonly used to refer to the city center in District 1 and the adjacent areas, while Ho Chi Minh City refers more to the entire modern city with all its urban and rural districts.

Saigon

An etymology of Saigon is that Sài is a Sino-Vietnamese word meaning "firewood, lops, twigs; palisade", while Gòn is another Sino-Vietnamese word meaning "stick, pole, bole", and whose meaning evolved into "cotton" in Vietnamese. This name may refer to the many kapok plants that the Khmer people had planted around Prey Nokor, and which can still be seen at Cây Mai temple and surrounding areas. It may also refer to the dense and tall forest that once existed around the city, a forest to which the Khmer name, Prey Nokor, already referred.
Other proposed etymologies draw parallels from Tai-Ngon, the Cantonese name of Cholon, which means "embankment", and Vietnamese Sai Côn, a translation of the Khmer Prey Nokor. :wikt:ព្រៃ|Prey means forest or jungle, and :wikt:នគរ|nokor is a Khmer word of Sanskrit origin meaning city or kingdom, and related to the English word 'Nation' – thus, "forest city" or "forest kingdom".
Truong Mealy, says that, according to a Khmer Chronicle, The Collection of the Council of the Kingdom, Prey Nokor's proper name was Preah Reach Nokor, "Royal City"; later locally corrupted to "Prey kor", meaning "kapok forest", from which "Saigon" was derived.

Ho Chi Minh City

The current official name, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, adopted in 1976 and abbreviated TP.HCM, is translated as Ho Chi Minh City, abbreviated HCMC, and in French as Hô-Chi-Minh-Ville, abbreviated HCMV. The name commemorates Ho Chi Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam. This name, though not his given name, was one he favored throughout his later years. It combines a common Vietnamese surname with a given name meaning "enlightened will", in essence, meaning "light bringer". Nowadays, Saigon is commonly used to refer to the city's central business districts, whereas Ho Chi Minh City is used to refer to the whole city.

History

Khmer period

The earliest settlement in the area was a Funan temple at the location of the current Phụng Sơn Buddhist temple, founded in the 4th century AD. A settlement called Baigaur was established on the site in the 11th century by the Champa. When the Cham Empire was invaded by the Khmer people, Baigaur was renamed Prey Nokor, which meant "Forest City". An alternative name was Preah Reach Nokor which, according to a Khmer Chronicle, meant "Royal City". Prey Nokor grew on the site of a small fishing village and area of forest. This area is likely where modern Ho Chi Minh City now lies, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese.
Beginning in the early 17th century, colonization of the area by Vietnamese settlers gradually isolated the Khmer of the Mekong Delta from their brethren in Cambodia proper and resulted in their becoming a minority in the delta. In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh–Nguyễn civil war in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor and to set up a customs house there. Increasing waves of Vietnamese settlers, which the Cambodian kingdom could not impede because it was weakened by war with Thailand, slowly Vietnamized the area. In time, Prey Nokor became known as Saigon. Prey Nokor was the most important commercial seaport to the Khmers. The loss of the city and the rest of the Mekong Delta cut off Cambodia's access to the East Sea. Subsequently, the only remaining Khmers' sea access was south-westerly at the Gulf of Thailand e.g. at Kampong Saom and Kep.

Nguyễn Dynasty rule

In 1698, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn rulers of Huế by sea to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area, thus detaching the area from Cambodia, which was not strong enough to intervene. He is often credited with the expansion of Saigon into a significant settlement. A large Vauban citadel called Gia Định was built by Victor Olivier de Puymanel, one of the Nguyễn Ánh's French mercenaries. The citadel was later destroyed by the French following the Battle of Kỳ Hòa. Initially called Gia Dinh, the Vietnamese city became Saigon in the 18th century.

French colonial era

Colonized by France and Spain in 1859, and ceded to France by the 1862 Treaty of Saigon, the city was influenced by the French during their colonisation of Vietnam, and a number of classical Western-style buildings and French villas in the city reflect this. Saigon had, in 1929, a population of 123,890, including 12,100 French.
In 1931, a new région called Saïgon–Cholon consisting of Saïgon and Cholon was formed. Saïgon and Cholon, meanwhile, remained separate cities with their respective mayors and municipal councils. In 1956, after South Vietnam's independence from France in 1955, the région of Saïgon–Cholon became a single city called Saïgon following the merger of the two cities of Saïgon and Cholon.

Republic of Vietnam era

The Viet Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam in 1945 after a combined occupation by Vichy France and Japan, and before the Communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. The Viet Minh-held sections of Vietnam were more concentrated in rural areas. Following the death of Franklin Roosevelt and the abandonment of anti-colonialist policies, the U.S. supported France in regaining its control over the country, with effective control spanning mostly in the Southern half and parts of the Red River Delta region like Hanoi, Haiphong and Thái Bình.
Former Emperor Bảo Đại made Saigon the capital of the State of Vietnam in 1949 with himself as head of state. In 1954, the Geneva Agreement partitioned Vietnam along the 17th parallel, with the communist Việt Minh, under Ho Chi Minh, gaining complete control of the northern half of the country, while the Saigon government continued to govern the State of Vietnam which continued in the southern half of the country and the southern half gaining independence from France. The State officially became the Republic of Vietnam when Bảo Đại was deposed by his Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm in the 1955 referendum. Saigon and Cholon, an adjacent city with mostly Sino-Vietnamese residents, were combined into an administrative unit known as the Đô Thành Sài Gòn, or Thủ đô Sài Gòn.
South Vietnam was a capitalist and anti-communist state which fought against the communist North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong proxy forces during the Vietnam War, with the assistance of the United States and other countries. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, on the other hand, were supported by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, communist forces launched a failed attempt to capture the city. On 30 April 1975, Saigon fell, ending the Vietnam War with a victory for North Vietnam.

Post-Vietnam War and today

In the conclusion of the Vietnam War on 30 April 1975, the city came under the control of the Vietnamese People's Army. Among Vietnamese diaspora communities and particularly the U.S., this event is commonly called the "Fall of Saigon", while the Socialist Republic of Vietnam refers to it as the "Liberation of Saigon". In 1976, upon the establishment of the unified communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the city of Saigon, the province of Gia Ðịnh and two suburban districts of two other nearby provinces were combined to create Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the late Communist leader Hồ Chí Minh. However, the former name Saigon is still widely used by the Vietnamese, especially in informal contexts. Generally, the term Saigon refers only to the urban districts of Ho Chi Minh City.

Geography

Ho Chi Minh City is located in the south-eastern region of Vietnam, south of Hanoi. The average elevation is above sea level. It borders Tây Ninh Province and Bình Dương Province to the north, Đồng Nai Province and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province to the east, Long An Province to the west and the East Sea to the south with a coast long. The city covers an area of 2,095 km2, extending up to Củ Chi District and down to Cần Giờ on the Eastern Sea. The distance from the northernmost point to the southernmost one is, and from the easternmost point to the westernmost one is.

Climate

The city has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical savanna climate, with an average humidity of 78–82%. The year is divided into two distinct seasons. The rainy season, with an average rainfall of about annually, usually lasts from May to November. The dry season lasts from December to April. The average temperature is, with little variation throughout the year. The highest temperature recorded was in April while the lowest temperature recorded was in January. On average, the city experiences between 2,400 and 2,700 hours of sunshine per year.

Flooding

Ho Chi Minh City is considered one of the cities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, in particular flooding. During the rainy season, a combination of high tide, heavy rains, high flow volume in the Saigon River and Dong Nai River and land subsidence results in regular flooding in several parts of the city. A once-in-100 year flood would cause 23% of the city to flood.

Administration

Ho Chi Minh City is a municipality at the same level as Vietnam's provinces, which is subdivided into 24 district-level sub-divisions :
They are further subdivided into 5 commune-level towns, 58 communes, and 259 wards.

City government

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee is a 13-member executive branch of the city. The current chairman is Nguyễn Thành Phong. There are several vice chairmen and chairwomen on the committee with responsibility over various city departments. The legislative branch of the city is the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council and consists of 95 members. The current Chairwoman is Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm. The judiciary branch of the city is the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. The current Judge is Ung Thị Xuân Hương. The executive committee of Communist Party of Ho Chi Minh City is the leading organ of the Communist Party in Ho Chi Minh City. The current secretary is Nguyễn Thiện Nhân. The chairman of the People's Committee is ranked second in the city politics after the Secretary of the Communist Party, while the chairman of the People's Council is ranked third.

Demographics

The population of Ho Chi Minh City, as of the 1 October 2004 census, was 6,117,251. In mid-2007, the city's population was 6,650,942 – with the 19 inner districts home to 5,564,975 residents and the five suburban districts containing 1,085,967 inhabitants. The result of the 2009 Census shows that the city's population was 7,162,864 people, about 8.34% of the total population of Vietnam, making it the highest population-concentrated city in the country. As of the end of 2012, the total population of the city was 7,750,900 people, an increase of 3.1% from 2011. As an administrative unit, its population is also the largest at the provincial level.
The city's population is expected to grow to 13.9 million by 2025. The population of the city is expanding faster than earlier predictions. In August 2017 the city's mayor, Nguyen Thanh Phong, admitted that previous estimates of 8–10 million were drastic underestimations.
The actual population was estimated 13 million in 2017.
The Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area, a metropolitan area covering most parts of the southeast region plus Tiền Giang Province and Long An Province under planning, will have an area of with a population of 20 million inhabitants by 2020. Inhabitants of Ho Chi Minh City are usually known as "Saigonese" in English and "dân Sài Gòn" in Vietnamese.

Ethnic groups

The majority of the population are ethnic Vietnamese at about 93.52%. Ho Chi Minh City's largest minority ethnic group are the Chinese with 5.78%. Cholon – in District 5 and parts of Districts 6, 10 and 11 – is home to the largest Chinese community in Vietnam. The Hoa speak a number of varieties of Chinese, including Cantonese, Teochew, Hokkien, Hainanese and Hakka; smaller numbers also speak Mandarin Chinese. Other ethnic minorities include Khmer with 0.34%, and Cham with 0.1%.

Religion

The three most prevalent religions in Ho Chi Minh City are Mahayana Buddhism with Taoism and Confucianism, which are often celebrated together in the same temple. Most Vietnamese and Han Chinese are strongly influenced by these traditional religious practices. There is a sizeable community of Roman Catholics, representing about 10% of the city's population. Other minority groups include Hòa Hảo, Cao Đài, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, and members of the Bahá'í Faith.

Economy

Ho Chi Minh City is the economic center of Vietnam and accounts for a large proportion of the economy of Vietnam. Although the city takes up just 0.6% of the country's land area, it contains 8.34% of the population of Vietnam, 20.2% of its GDP, 27.9% of industrial output and 34.9% of the FDI projects in the country in 2005. In 2005, the city had 4,344,000 labourers, of whom 130,000 are over the labour age norm. In 2009, GDP per capita reached $2,800, compared to the country's average level of $1,042.

2006

As of June 2006, the city has been home to three export processing zones and twelve industrial parks. Ho Chi Minh City is the leading recipient of foreign direct investment in Vietnam, with 2,530 FDI projects worth $16.6 billion at the end of 2007. In 2007, the city received over 400 FDI projects worth $3 billion.

2007

In 2007, the city's GDP was estimated at $14.3 billion, or about $2,180 per capita, up 12.6 percent from 2006 and accounting for 20% of the country's GDP. The GDP adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity reached $71.5 billion, or about $10,870 per capita. The city's Industrial Product Value was $6.4 billion, equivalent to 30% of the value of the entire nation. Export – Import Turnover through HCMC ports accounted for $36 billion, or 40% of the national total, of which export revenue reached $18.3 billion. In 2007, Ho Chi Minh City's contribution to the annual revenues in the national budget increased by 30 percent, accounting for about 20.5 percent of total revenues. The consumption demand of Ho Chi Minh City is higher than other Vietnamese provinces and municipalities and 1.5 times higher than that of Hanoi.

2008

In 2008, it attracted $8.5 billion in FDI. In 2010, the city's GDP was estimated at $20.902 billion, or about $2,800 per capita, up 11.8 percent from 2009.

2012

By the end of 2012, the city's GDP was estimated around $28,595 billion, or about $3,700 per capita, up 9.2 percent from 2011. Total trade reached $47.7 billion, with export at $21.57 billion and import $26.14 billion.

2013

In 2013, GDP of the city grew 7.6% by Q1, 8.1% by Q2, and 10.3% by the end of Q3. By the end of 2013, the city's GDP grew 9.3%, with GDP per capita reaching $4,500.

2014

By the end of 2014, the city's GDP grew 9.5%, with GDP per capita reaching $5,100.

Sectors

The economy of Ho Chi Minh City consists of industries ranging from mining, seafood processing, agriculture, and construction, to tourism, finance, industry and trade. The state-owned sector makes up 33.3% of the economy, the private sector 4.6%, and the remainder in foreign investment. Concerning its economic structure, the service sector accounts for 51.1%, industry and construction account for 47.7% and forestry, agriculture and others make up just 1.2%.
Quang Trung Software Park is a software park situated in District 12. The park is approximately from downtown Ho Chi Minh City and hosts software enterprises as well as dot.com companies. The park also includes a software training school. Dot.com investors here are supplied with other facilities and services such as residences and high-speed access to the internet as well as favourable taxation. Together with the Hi-Tech Park in District 9, and the 32 ha. software park inside Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7 of the city, Ho Chi Minh City aims to become an important hi-tech city in the country and the South-East Asia region.
This park helps the city in particular and Vietnam in general to become an outsourcing location for other enterprises in developed countries, as India has done. Some 300,000 businesses, including many large enterprises, are involved in high-tech, electronic, processing and light industries, and also in construction, building materials and agricultural products. Additionally, crude oil is a popular economic base in the city. Investors are still pouring money into the city. Total local private investment was 160 billion đồng with 18,500 newly founded companies. Investment trends to high technology, services and real estate projects.
As of June 2006, the city had three export processing zones and twelve industrial parks, in addition to Quang Trung Software Park and Ho Chi Minh City hi-tech park. Intel has invested about 1 billion dollars in a factory in the city. More than fifty banks with hundreds of branches and about 20 insurance companies are also located inside the city. The Stock Exchange, the first stock exchange in Vietnam, was opened in 2001. There are 171 medium and large-scale markets as well as several supermarket chains, shopping malls, and fashion and beauty centres.
Some of the larger shopping malls and plazas opened recently include:
In 2007, three million foreign tourists, about 70% of the total number of tourists to Vietnam, visited the city. Total cargo transport to Ho Chi Minh City's ports reached 50.5 million metric tonnes, nearly one-third of the total for Vietnam.

New urban areas

With a population now of 8,382,287 , Ho Chi Minh City needs increased public infrastructure. To this end, the city and central governments have embarked on an effort to develop new urban centres. The two most prominent projects are the Thu Thiem city centre in District 2 and the Phu My Hung Urban Area, a new city centre in District 7 where various international schools such as Saigon South International School and Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology are located. In December 2007, Phu My Hung's new City Centre completed the 17.8 km 10–14 lane wide Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard linking the Saigon port areas, Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone to the National Highway 1 and the Mekong Delta area. In November 2008, a brand new trade centre, Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, also opened its doors. Other projects include Grandview, Waterfront, Sky Garden, Riverside and Phu Gia 99. Phu My Hung's new City Center received the first Model New City Award from the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction.

Tourism

Tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City are mainly related to periods of French colonization and the Vietnam War. The city's center has some wide American-style boulevards and a few French colonial buildings. The majority of these tourist spots are located in District 1 and are a short distance from each other. The most prominent structures in the city centre are the Reunification Palace, City Hall, Municipal Theatre, City Post Office, State Bank Office, City People's Court and Notre-Dame Cathedral the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. Some of the historic hotels are the Hotel Majestic, dating from the French colonial era, and the Rex and Caravelle hotels are former hangouts for American officers and war correspondents in the 1960s & '70s.
The city has various museums including the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, Museum of Vietnamese History, the Revolutionary Museum, the Museum of south-eastern Armed Forces, the War Remnants Museum, the Museum of Southern Women, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Nha Rong Memorial House, and the Ben Duoc Relic of Underground Tunnels. The Củ Chi tunnels are north-west of the city in Củ Chi District. The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, in District 1, dates from 1865. The Đầm Sen Tourist and Cultural Park, Suối Tiên Amusement and Culture Park, and Cần Giờ's Eco beach resort are three recreational sites inside the city which are popular with tourists. Aside from the Municipal Theatre, there are other places of entertainment such as the Bến Thành theatre, Hòa Bình theatre, and the Lan Anh Music Stage. Ho Chi Minh City is home to hundreds of cinemas and theatres, with cinema and drama theatre revenue accounting for 60–70% of Vietnam's total revenue in this industry. Unlike other theatrical organisations found in Vietnam's provinces and municipalities, residents of Ho Chi Minh City keep their theatres active without the support of subsidies from the Vietnamese government. The city is also home to most of the private film companies in Vietnam.
Like many of Vietnam's smaller cities, the city boasts a multitude of restaurants serving typical Vietnamese dishes such as phở or rice vermicelli. Backpacking travellers most often frequent the "Backpackers’ Quarter" on Phạm Ngũ Lão Street and Bùi Viện Street, District 1.
It was approximated that 4.3 million tourists visited Vietnam in 2007, of which 70 percent, approximately 3 million tourists, visited Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the most recent international tourist statistic, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 6 million tourists in 2017.
According to Mastercard's 2019 report, Ho Chi Minh City is also the country's second most visited city, with 4.1 million overnight international visitors in 2018.

Transport

Air

The city is served by Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, the largest airport in Vietnam in terms of passengers handled. Long Thành International Airport is scheduled to begin operating in 2025. Based in Long Thành District, Đồng Nai Province, about east of Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thành Airport will serve international flights, with a maximum traffic capacity of 100 million passengers per year when fully completed; Tân Sơn Nhất Airport will serve domestic flights.

Rail

Ho Chi Minh City is also a terminal for many Vietnam Railways train routes in the country. The Reunification Express runs from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi from Saigon Railway Station in District 3, with stops at cities and provinces along the line. Within the city, the two main stations are Sóng Thần and Sài Gòn. In addition, there are several smaller stations such as Dĩ An, Thủ Đức, Bình Triệu, Gò Vấp. However, rail transport is not fully developed and presently comprises only 0.6% of passenger traffic and 6% of goods shipments.

Water

The city's location on the Saigon River makes it a bustling commercial and passenger port; besides a constant stream of cargo ships, passenger boats operate regularly between Ho Chi Minh City and various destinations in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia, including Vũng Tàu, Cần Thơ and the Mekong Delta, and Phnom Penh. Traffic between Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam's southern provinces has steadily increased over the years; the Doi and Te Canals, the main routes to the Mekong Delta, receive 100,000 waterway vehicles every year, representing around 13 million tons of cargo. A project to dredge these routes has been approved to facilitate transport, to be implemented in 2011–14. HCMC Ferrybus was also established as a maritime public transport.

Public transport

Metro

The Ho Chi Minh City Metro, a rapid transit network, is being built in stages. The first line is under construction, and expected to be completed by the end of 2021. This first line will connect Bến Thành to Suối Tiên Park in District 9, with a depot in Long Binh. Planners expect the route to serve more than 160,000 passengers daily. A line between Bến Thành and Tham Luong in District 12 has been approved by the government, and several more lines are the subject of ongoing feasibility studies.

Bus

Public buses run on many routes and tickets can be purchased on the bus. Ho Chi Minh City has a number of coach houses, which house coach buses to and from other areas in Vietnam. The largest coach station – in terms of passengers handled – is the Mien Dong Coach Station in the Bình Thạnh District.

Private transport

The main means of transport within the city are motorbikes, buses, taxis, and bicycles. Motorbikes remain the most common way to move around the city. Taxis are plentiful and usually have meters, although it is also common to agree on a price before taking a long trip, for example, from the airport to the city centre. For short trips, "xe ôm" motorcycle taxis are available throughout the city, usually congregating at a major intersection. A popular activity for tourists is a tour of the city on cyclos, which allow for longer trips at a more relaxed pace. For the last few years, cars have become more popular. There are approximately 340,000 cars and 3.5 million motorcycles in the city, which is almost double compared with Hanoi. The growing number of cars tend to cause gridlock and contribute to air pollution. The government has called out motorcycles as the reason for the congestion and has developed plans to reduce the number of motorcycles and to improve public transport.

Expressway

Ho Chi Minh City has two expressways making up the North-South Expressway system, connecting the city with other provinces. The first expressway is Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway, opened in 2010, connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Tiền Giang and the Mekong Delta. The second one is Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, opened in 2015, connecting the city with Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and the Southeast of Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Khanh Expressway is under planning and will be constructed in the near future.

Healthcare

The health care system of the city is relatively developed with a chain of about 100 government owned hospitals or medical centres and dozens of privately owned clinics. The 1,400 bed Chợ Rẫy Hospital, upgraded by Japanese aid and the French-sponsored Institute of Cardiology and City International Hospital are among the top medical facilities in South-East Asia.

Education

High schools

Notable high schools in Ho Chi Minh City include Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted, Phổ Thông Năng Khiếu High School for the Gifted, Trần Đại Nghĩa High School for the Gifted, Nguyễn Thượng Hiền High School, Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai High School, :vi:Trường Trung học phổ thông Gia Định, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh|Gia Định High School, Lê Quý Đôn High School, Marie Curie High School, Võ Thị Sáu High School and among others. Though the former schools are all public, private education is also available in Ho Chi Minh City. High school consists of grade 10–12.

List of Public High schools in Ho Chi Minh City

Higher education in Ho Chi Minh City is a burgeoning industry; the city boasts over 80 universities and colleges with a total of over 400,000 students. Notable universities include Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, with 50,000 students distributed among six schools; The University of Technology ; The University of Sciences ; The University of Social Sciences and Humanities ; The International University; The University of Economics and Law; and the newly established University of Information Technology.
Some other important higher education establishments include HCMC University of Pedagogy, University of Economics, University of Architecture, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine Nong Lam University, University of Law, University of Technical Education, University of Banking, University of Industry, Open University, University of Sports and Physical Education, University of Fine Arts, University of Culture, the Conservatory of Music, the Saigon Institute of Technology, Văn Lang University, Saigon University and Hoa Sen University.
In addition to the above public universities, Ho Chi Minh City is also home to several private universities. One of the most notable is RMIT International University, Vietnam, a campus of Australian public research RMIT University with an enrollment of about 6,000 students. Tuition at RMIT is about US$40,000 for an entire course of study. Other private universities include The International School of Business , an English-language university run as a partnership with universities abroad, including the University of Western Sydney and UQAM, Montreal. The Saigon International University is another private university run by the Group of Asian International Education. Enrollment at SIU averages about 12,000 students Depending on the type of program, tuition at SIU costs US$5,000–6,000 per year.

Culture

Museums and art galleries

Due to its history, artworks have generally been inspired by both Western and Eastern styles.
Famous art locations in Ho Chi Minh City include Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, and various art galleries located on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street, Tran Phu street, and Bui Vien street.

Media

The city's media is the most developed in the country. At present, there are seven daily newspapers: Sai Gon Giai Phong, and its Vietnamese, investment and finance, sports, evening and weekly editions; Tuổi Trẻ, the highest circulation newspaper in Vietnam; Thanh Nien, the second largest circulation in the south of Vietnam; Nguoi Lao Dong ; The Thao ; Phap Luat and The Saigon Times Daily, an English-language newspaper as well as more than 30 other newspapers and magazines. The city has hundreds of printing and publishing houses, many bookstores and a widespread network of public and school libraries; the city's General Library houses over 1.5 million books. Locally based Ho Chi Minh City Television is the second largest television network in the nation, just behind the national Vietnam Television, broadcasting 24/7 on 7 different channels. Many major international TV channels are provided through two cable networks, with over one million subscribers. The Voice of Ho Chi Minh City is the largest radio station in south Vietnam.
Internet coverage, especially through ADSL connections, is rapidly expanding, with over 2,200,000 subscribers and around 5.5 million frequent users. Internet service providers operating in Ho Chi Minh City include the Vietnam Data Communication Company, Corporation for Finance and Promoting Technology, Netnam Company, Saigon Post and Telecommunications Services Corporation and Viettel Company. As in all of Vietnam, Internet access is regulated; websites containing sensitive political or religious content are routinely blocked, and certain websites have been blocked, though government officials deny that this is intentional. The city has more than two million fixed telephones and about fifteen million cellular phones. Mobile phone service is provided by a number of companies, including Viettel Mobile, MobiFone, VinaPhone, and Vietnam Mobile.

Sports

, Ho Chi Minh City was home to 91 football fields, 86 swimming pools, 256 gyms. The largest stadium in the city is the 25,000-seat Thống Nhất Stadium, located on Đào Duy Từ Street, in Ward 6 of District 10. The next largest is Army Stadium, located near Tan Son Nhat Airport in Tân Bình district. Army Stadium was of the venues for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals. As well as being a sporting venue, it is also the site of a music school. Phú Thọ Racecourse, another notable sporting venue established during colonial times, is the only racetrack in Vietnam. The city's Department of Physical Education and Sports also manages a number of clubs, including Phan Dinh Phung, Thanh Da, and Yet Kieu.
Ho Chi Minh City is home to a number of association football clubs. One of the city's largest clubs, Ho Chi Minh City F.C., is based at Thống Nhất Stadium. As Cảng Sài Gòn, they were four-time champions of Vietnam's V.League 1. The team currently plays in Vietnam's First Division. Navibank Saigon F.C., founded as Quân Khu 4, also based at Thống Nhất Stadium, emerged as champions of the First Division in the 2008 season, and were promoted to the V-League in 2009. The city's police department also fielded a football team in the 1990s, Công An Thành Phố, which won the V-League championship in 1995. Celebrated striker Lê Huỳnh Đức, now manager of SHB Đà Nẵng F.C., played for the Police F.C. from 1995 to 2000, setting a league record of 25 goals in the 1996 season. Since 2016, Sài Gòn F.C. has competed in V.League 1.
In 2011, Ho Chi Minh City was awarded an expansion team for the ASEAN Basketball League. SSA Saigon Heat is the first ever international professional basketball team to represent Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City hosts a number of international sports events throughout the year, such as the AFF Futsal Championship and the Vietnam Vertical Run. Several other sports are represented by teams in the city, such as volleyball, basketball, chess, athletics, and table tennis.

International relations

Sister cities

There are 25 sister cities/regions of Ho Chi Minh City:
CitySince
Shanghai, People's Republic of China14 May 1994
Manila, Philippines27 June 1994
San Francisco, USA10 April 1995
Osaka, Japan13 June 1995
Guangzhou, People's Republic of China1 April 1996
Lyon, France17 January 1997
Shenyang, People's Republic of China21 April 1999
Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia5 September 2000
Champasak Province, Laos28 August 2001
Vientiane, Laos1 September 2001
Rhône-Alpes, France8 November 2001
Phnom Penh, CambodiaJune 2002
Moscow, Russia31 October 2003
Toronto, Ontario, Canada13 February 2006
Yokohama, Japan23 July 2007
Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan27 October 2007
Minsk, Belarus4 November 2008
Vladivostok, Russia21 May 2009
Seville, Spain29 May 2009
Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa10 November 2009
Yangon, Myanmar2012
Monterrey, Mexico27 May 2013
Aichi Prefecture, Japan13 September 2016