Archaeological excavation in this area proved that humans lived in what is now Quảng Bình province in theStone Age. Many artifacts, such as ceramic vases, stone tools, and china, have been unearthed in Quảng Bình.[5][7]
In 1926, French archaeologistMadeleine Colani discovered and excavated many artifacts in caves and grottoes in west mountainous areas of Quảng Bình. She concluded that theHòa Bình culture existed in this region. Through C14 testing, the artifacts dated back to 10,509 (plus or minus 950) years ago. From Quy Đạt township (Tuyên Hóa District) to south-west about 150 m, the Hum grotto contains many stone tools and animal stones from an ancient human community. Inside Khai grotto near the Quy Đạt township, similar artifacts were found, including ceramics fromĐông Sơn culture. Additionally, artifacts of the Stone Age were unearthed in grottoes in the Quảng Bình region. Owners of these artifacts lived in the caves and grottoes and hunted for their food.[5]
Human settlement in Đồng Hới can be traced 5,000 years back. Many relics and remnants have been found inBau Tro, a lake in the city, most of which date to theStone Age. Around 2880 BC, the site of modern Đồng Hới was a territory of the Viet Thuong tribe ofVăn Lang during the reign of kingHùng Vương. The site was a long-disputed territory between theChampa kingdom andĐại Việt. It officially became Đại Việt territory in 1069 afterLý Thường Kiệt took victory over Champa as a result of the Đại Việt-Champa War (1069).
The area ceased to be the southernmost of Đại Việt following the political marriage of theTrần dynasty princess,Huyền Trân, to Champa king,Jaya Sinhavarman III (Vietnamese:Chế Mân). Princess Huyền Trân was kingTrần Nhân Tông's daughter and king Trần Anh Tông's younger sister. Political matches made to acquire land was a traditional practice by Champa kings. Thanks to this marriage, Đại Việt acquired lands (as dowry) of what is nowQuảng Trị Province andHuế city (provinces which were then known respectively as Chau O and Chau Ri or Chau Ly).[8][9]
During the time of theTrịnh–Nguyễn War (1558–1775), Vietnam was divided into two countries: Dang Trong (South) and Dang Ngoai (North) with theGianh River as frontier line. Đồng Hới was an important fortress of the southernNguyễn lords. The Đồng Hới Wall (Vietnamese:Thành Đồng Hới) was considered the barrier that protected the Nguyễn lords from the attack by the northernTrịnh family.
On February 11, 1965, bombing destroyed much of the city. TheTam Tòa Church, a Catholic cathedral, was severely damaged. Today the bell tower remains near the town center as a monument.
On 19 April 1972, during a major North Vietnam offensive, a task force of four US ships were sailing off the coast of Vietnam —USS Oklahoma City,USS Sterett,USS Lloyd Thomas andUSS Higbee. They were attacked by three North Vietnamese MiG aircraft in theBattle of Đồng Hới. In an attempt to surprise the task force, the MiGs came in low, described as "getting their feet wet." Despite the official stories, they did not surprise the task force, which had spotted them long before engagement range and were ready to shoot. Two ships,Oklahoma City andSterett, had anti-aircraft missiles, whileHigbee andLloyd Thomas were armed with dual purpose 5-inch (127 mm) guns. All ships were at battle stations.
This city is the narrowest land of Vietnam (around 40 km from the east to the west). After thefall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, Quảng Bình province was merged into Bình Trị Thiên province (Bình Trị Thiên is the abbreviation of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên provinces). In 1990, Bình Trị Thiên was once again separated into three provinces as it had been before. Đồng Hới then became the capital of Quảng Bình province.
Đồng Hới is on the National Route 1, North–South Railway, andHo Chi Minh Highway, at the coordinates 17 21' N and 106 10’ E. This city is in the heart of Quảng Bình Province. It bordersBố Trạch on the north,Quảng Ninh on the south, theSouth China Sea on the east andQuảng Ninh on the west. It is 50 km south ofPhong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, 50 km north ofBang Spa, 180 km south-east of Cha Lo border gate with Laos. It has a coastline of 12 km.Nhật Lệ River is the only river that runs through the city.Tro Lake is the source of fresh water. TheNhật Lệ Beach is endowed with fine and white sand.[4]
Like all provinces innorth and north central Vietnam, there are four distinct seasons in Đồng Hới. Despite these distinct seasons, and an annual temperature range of 11.0 °C or 19.8 °F, Đồng Hới still has atropical monsoon climate (KöppenAm) as the mean temperature of the coolest month is 18.8 °C or 65.8 °F. The average annual temperature is 24.7 °C or 76.5 °F, average rainfall varies from 1,300 to 4,000 millimetres or 50 to 160 inches, total sunshine hours per year is 1,783 hours, and average annual humidity is around 82%. The city sees three types of wind: south-east (gió nồm), south-west (gió Lào), and north-east.
In the “spring”, Đồng Hới is very warm, humid and foggy. Although the city is by the sea, its climate is subject to drought and heat in the summer. This is largely due to the dry south-west wind fromGulf of Thailand. This flow of wind is wet but when it passes onto Vietnam, theAnnamite Range releases its moisture to cause rains in Laos but drought in central Vietnam. It is rainy in the northeast monsoon (“fall”) and the weather is very warm (26 to 31 °C or 78.8 to 87.8 °F) although with extremely high relative humidity due to the moist air from the northeast monsoon. In the winter, due to the north-east wind blowing from theSiberia mainland, the temperature may go down below 18 °C or 64.4 °F, and there may be slight rain. The highest rainfall occurs in October (649 millimetres or 25.6 inches), compared to just 39 millimetres or 1.5 inches in Februarys. The highest temperature recorded was 43.2 °C on 30 April 2024, while the lowest was 6.7 °C on 24 January 2016.
The city has diverse topographical and geological features, including hill, mountainous, half mountainous, coastal plains and coastal sand dunes.
The hilly region is in the west, stretching from north to south (in parts of communes: Dong Son, Thuan Duc) with an average elevation of 12–15 m, with total area of 64.93 km2, 41.7% of the city total area. Residents here live on agriculture, forestry, farming. The soil in this area is poor in nutrition, infertile and subject to continuous erosion due to its slope of 7-10%.
The half hilly region surrounds a plain with an average elevation of 10 m from north-east - north to north-west – south-west and south – south-east.[clarification needed] This region covers communes and wards of Bắc Lý, Nam Lý, Nghĩa Ninh, Bắc Nghĩa, Đức Ninh, Đức Ninh Đông, Lộc Ninh and Phú Hải with total area of 62.87 km2, or accounts for 40.2% of the city total area. Residents here lives on industrial, handcraft, trading and a small percentage lives on farming. This region is not very fertile, subject to alum. However, thanks to the heavy distribution of rivers and lakes, ponds and pools, it's better for agriculture than the hilly region. The plain with the average of 2.1 m, with little slope, accounting for 0.2% of the city area (5.76 km2). Most of the city's commercial, administrative and main streets concentrate in this narrow regions. Coastal sand dune area is on the east of the city, with an area of 21.98 km2, making up 14,3% of the total area.[citation needed]
On March 19, 2025, Dong Hoi City submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration of rearranging administrative units from 15 communes and wards to 3 wards, and at the same time expanding the administrative boundaries to 221km2, accordingly:
The second ward plans to merge the communes and wards: Nam Lý, Bắc Lý, Lộc Ninh,Quang Phú and proposes to expand the boundaries to Nam Trạch commune and part ofNhân Trạch commune (Bố Trạch district).
The expansion of the administrative boundary of Đồng Hới city aims to create more space for development, reduce pressure on the central area, help meet the criteria on population, area size and necessary infrastructure to aim for the goal of becoming aProvincial city (Class-1) urban area.
Đồng Hới is endowed with beautiful beaches with fine sand and clean water of Nhật Lệ. The Da Nhay and Ly Hoa beaches (60 km north of the city) are popular tourist destinations. TheBang Spa (hot mineral spring) is ideal for those who enjoy spa baths. The city is 50 km south of theWorld HeritagePhong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park which is ideal for cave and grotto exploration and biological research activities (mainlyPhong Nha Cave and, from September 2010,Thiên Đường Cave andSơn Đoòng Cave are available for visitors).
Đồng Hới is included in former battlefield tours where travelers can visit once-dangerous fields along theAnnamite Range and theHồ Chí Minh trail.[14]
The city provides tourists with 98 hotels and guest-houses from 1 to 4-star hotels. The cuisine includes seafood, the traditional "hot pot", Vietnamese and European-style meals. In 2005, the city welcomed nearly 300,000 visitors.[citation needed]
Flagstick broke ground on another new project on February 1 – FLC Dong Hoi Golf Links in Quang Binh Province. A complex of 10 contiguousgolf courses, three clubhouses, more than 1,000 villas, a large resort hotel, commercial village and convention centre is under construction in seaside area of Dong Hoi andQuang Ninh District,Le Thuy District, which is scheduled to achieve the completion of all construction of the first phase by November 2016, with spring 2017 set as the opening date for play.[15]
According to 2016 statistics, the city has 46 general schools (23 primary schools, 17 secondary schools, 5 high schools, 1 secondary school), 19 preschool schools, and 1 university school.
