From top, left to right:Haiphong skyline onCấm River, Lê Chân statue at Haiphong City Exhibition House, Chùa Vẽ Terminal ofHaiphong Port, Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm crossroad on Lê Hồng Phong Blvd,Haiphong Opera House, Haiphong Central Post,Đồ Sơn Beach
Haiphong is a coastal city located at the mouth of theCấm River, in Vietnam's north-eastern coastal area. TheBính Bridge crosses the Cam and connects the city withThủy Nguyên municipal city.[8] It has a total natural area of 3,194.72 square kilometres or 319,472 hectares. It bordersQuảng Ninh Province to the north,Bắc Ninh Province to the northwest,Hưng Yên Province to the southwest, and theGulf of Tonkin to the east.Bach Long Vi island,Cat Ba Island and the Long Châu islands, located in the Gulf, are also administered as part of the city. Tidal flat ecosystems occur adjacent to the city, some have been reclaimed for agriculture or development purposes.[9]
Haiphong features ahumid subtropical climate (Koppen: Cwa) with hot, humid summers and warm, dry winters. The city is wetter from April through October; roughly 90% of the city's annual rainfall (which totals approximately 1,700 millimetres or 67 inches) typically falls during these months. There is a difference in temperatures between the city's winters and summers. Haiphong's coolest months, January and February, sees average high temperatures reach 20 °C (68 °F) and average low temperatures at around 14 °C (57.2 °F). Its warmest months, June and July, sees average high temperatures hover around 33 °C (91.4 °F) and average low temperatures at around 26 °C (78.8 °F). Sea temperatures range from a low of 21 °C (70 °F) in February to a high of 30 °C (86 °F) during the months of July and August.[10]
Haiphong was the home of Lê Chân, one of the female generals under the command of theTrưng Sisters who rose against Chinese domination in 40 AD and ruled until their defeat in 43 AD. Lê Chân was known to have established theHải tần Phòng thủ (“Defenced Sea-coast”) during the war against generalMa Yuan of theHan dynasty.[13][14]
Following the defeat ofJapan inWorld War II, Vietnamese nationalists agitated for independence against French return. French forces landed in Haiphong and encountered resistance which resulted in the deaths of three French soldiers. In retaliation, the French ships, among them the cruiserSuffren,shelled the city, setting it ablaze[16] and precipitating theFirst Indochina War.[17][18] French infantry forces under the command ofJean-Étienne Valluy entered the city, fightinghouse to house with the support of armored units and airplanes.[19]
In theVietnam War, Haiphong was subjected to bombing byUS Navy andAir Forcestrike aircraft. U.S. AdmiralThomas H. Moorer ordered themining of Haiphong harbor on 8 May 1972, effectively sealing the port. Until it was lifted, the mining caused no casualty.[20][21] The physical structure of the city was mostly unaffected by the war as the US had a self-imposed prohibition zone for the city. After the war, the city recovered its role as an industrial center.[15]
On 12 June 2025, the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15[2] on the arrangement of provincial-level administrative units (the resolution took effect on June 12, 2025). Accordingly,Hải Dương Province was merged into Hai Phong City.[23]
Haiphong is an economic center of the North in particular and Vietnam in general both. Under French domination, Haiphong was level 1 city, equal to Saigon and Hanoi. The last years of the 19th century, the French had proposed to build Haiphong into the economic capital of Indochina.[24]
In 2009, Haiphong state budget revenue reached 34,000 billion Vnd. In 2011, budget revenues in the city reached 47,725 billion, increase 19% compared to 2010.[25] In 2015, total revenues of the city reached 56 288 billion. Government plans that to 2020, Haiphong's revenues will be over 80,000 billion and the domestic revenue reach 20.000 billion. In the ranking of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2013 of Vietnam, Haiphong city ranked at No. 15/63 provinces.[26] Haiphong has relationship of trading goods with more than 40 countries and territories around the world. It is striving to become one of the largest commercial centers of the country.[27] On Vietnam's Provincial Competitiveness Index 2023, a tool for evaluating the business environment in Vietnam’s provinces, Hai Phong received a score of 70.34. This was an improvement from 2022 in which the province received a score of 70.76. In 2023, the province received its highest scores on the 'Labor Policy' and 'Time Costs' criterion and lowest on 'Policy Bias' and ‘Transparency’.[28]
Industry is a key sector in Haiphong including food processing, light industries and heavy industries. Major products include fish sauce, beer, cigarettes, textiles, paper, plastic pipes, cement, iron, pharmaceuticals, electric fans, motorbikes, steel pipes and ships and out-sourcing software implementation.[29] Most of these industries have been growing more significantly between 2000 and 2007, with the exceptions of the cigarette and pharmaceutical industries. Shipbuilding, steel pipes, plastic pipes and textiles are among the industries with the most rapid growth.[29]
There are also growing industries supplying products used by existing industries in the city. PetroVietnam set up a joint-venture PVTex with textile manufacturerVinatex to build Vietnam's first polyester fiber plant in Haiphong. The factory will use by-products from oil-refining and reduce reliance on imported materials.[30] 270,600 people were employed in Haiphong's industry. 112,600 industrial jobs were created between 2000 and 2007.[29]
Around one third of Haiphong's area or 52,300 ha (as of 2007) are used for agriculture. Rice takes up around 80% of the agricultural land with an output of 463,100 tons in 2007.[29] Other agricultural products include maize, sugar and peanuts.[29]
Haiphong has a fishing sector with an output of 79,705 tons (2007). Gross output has almost doubled between 2000 and 2007, mostly due to growth in aquaculture, which made up 60% of gross output in 2007. Sea fish contribute around one fourth to the sector.[29]
As of 2007, 315,500 were employed in agriculture and fishery, a decrease from 396,300 in 2000. These sectors still account for almost a third of total employment in Haiphong, a larger share than industry.[29]
Haiphong is the third most populous city in Vietnam, with a population of 2.103.500 for the metropolitan area (2015), encompassing an area of 1,507.57 km2 (582.08 sq mi), 46,1% of population reside in the urban districts.[31] The gender distribution is half female (50.4%).[32]
As of the 2009 census, Haiphong's average annual population growth rate was given as 4.0%. Haiphong's crude birth rate was recorded at 18.1live births per 1000 persons vs the crude death rate of 7.6 per 1000 persons.Life expectancy at birth was estimated at 77.1 years for women and 72.0 years for men, or 74.5 years overall.Infant mortality rate was measured at 11.8 infant deaths per 1000 live births, over two points above the nation's average for urban areas. In the same census, the city's out-migration was 1.9% vs in-migration of 2.8% and, for anet migration rate of 0.9%.[32]
Haiphong is located at the junction of two National Highways: Route 5, leading west toHanoi, and Route 10, leading south toNam Định and onward to connect withNational Route 1 atNinh Bình. Highway 356 passes west–east from the Route 5/10 junction through Haiphong's city center all the way to the coast. A connecting road from route 5 to route 18 links Haiphong withQuảng Ninh Province. In 2015, the new highway connecting Haiphong with Hanoi was completed; this reduces the trip by one hour as compared to the previous route.[33]
Moored container ship waiting to return to sea
ThePort of Haiphong on theCấm River is divided into three main docks: Hoang Dieu (Central terminal) located near the city's center, Chua Ve, and Dinh Vu both farther downstream to the east.[34]
^"Vị trí địa lý thành phố Hải Phòng" [The Geographical Location of Hai Phong City”].Cổng thông tin điện tử Thành phố Hải Phòng (in Vietnamese). 26 February 2025. Retrieved24 November 2025.
^Vietnam bySpencer C. Tucker, page 47. "On 23 November DebeS delivered an ultimatum to the Vietnamese at Haiphong, ordering them to withdraw from the French section of the city, the Chinese quarter, and the port. He gave them only two hours to reply. When the time was up the French subjected the Vietnamese positions to air, land, and sea bombardment, the bulk of the firepower coming from the three- and eight-inch guns of the French Navy Cruiser Suffren. Only military targets were destroyed and not the Vietnamese quarter as some have claimed. Estimates of the number killed in the shelling and ensuing panic vary widely. Casualties up to 20,000 have been cited. French Admiral Battet later said that no more than 6,000 Vietnamese had died, but in 1981Vu Quoc Uy, then chairman of the Haiphong municipal committee, told Stanley Karnow that the figure was only 500 to 1,000 dead. Others have put the figure as low as 200".
^(in French) Maurice Vaïsse,L'Armée française dans la guerre d'Indochine (1946–1954) : Adaptation ou inadaptation, 2000, p. 276
^Plon,Le General de Gaulle et l'Indochine 1940–1946, page 210. "In connection with the naval bombardment, let us note that only the ships of small tonnage could go up the river of Haiphong. On November 23, two colonial sloops supported for the first time the French troops with their artillery to a limited effect: the Chevreuil with its double turret, with its two pairs of 100mm, Savorgnan de Brazza with its four turrets each of one 138mm. No battleship was present. On November 27 on that the evening, the cruiser Suffren was in the Bay d' Along, its tidal water prohibiting it access of the Cua Cam. It transported troops in reinforcement..."
^Phillippe Devillers,Histoire du Viêt-Nam de 1940 à 1952. Editions du Seuil, Paris. Third edition,1952, pp. 331–340
^Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David:Vietnam Past and Present: The North (History and culture of Hanoi and Tonkin). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006DCCM9Q.
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