Nghe An Province

Nghe An Province is in the northern part of Vietnam, with the South China Sea as its eastern border. Its northern border is with Thanh Hoa Province and it faces Ha Tinh Province on the south. Laos forms its western border.

It is mostly mountainous, on the edge of the Truong Son range, but contains rivers, the most important being called the Ca or Lam river.

The capital is Vinh. Vinh is known for Stalinist architecture; a travel agency said a visitor described Vinh as "The most depressing place he had ever seen'. Another, referring to the pollution, 'Smells like VietNams industrial armpit".

Making up for Vinh, there are scenic mountain areas and caves. Cua Lo is a growing seaport.

Economy

While agriculture had been the first industry, now including sugar mills and other industries based on farm and fishery products, construction material manufacturing is now driving the economy. The province has a number of quarries that produce different kinds of building stone, as well as coal reserves as a power source.

Farmers of the area use the construction material and a local skills base to convert hilly, and otherwise difficult to farm, areas to productive farmland.

Historical

Emperor Le Loi, in 1424, made the province his headquarters in driving out the Minh invasion. Nguyen Hue recruited 5,000 soldiers from the province in 1788, prior to forming the Nguyen Dynasty.

It is the birthplace of Ho Chi Minh and Chu Huy Man. Nghe An was the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

An oil refinery at Vinh was, in addition to specific naval bases, the target of the U.S. retaliatory air strikes following the Gulf of Tonkin incident.