Pleiku Plây Ku | |
|---|---|
| Pleiku City Thành phố Pleiku | |
 From top to bottom, from left to right: Pleiku at night,Minh Thành pagoda,Đại đoàn kết square, Đức An lake, Biển Hồ | |
 Seal | |
 Interactive map of Pleiku | |
  Pleiku Location of Pleiku in Vietnam | |
| Coordinates:13°59′N108°0′E / 13.983°N 108.000°E /13.983; 108.000 | |
| Country |  Vietnam |
| Province | Gia Lai |
| Area | |
• Total | 260.77 km2 (100.68 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 740 m (2,430 ft) |
| Population (2024 census) | |
• Total | 331.178 |
| • Density | 1.27/km2 (3.3/sq mi) |
| Climate | Aw |
Pleiku is a former city in centralVietnam, located in theCentral Highlands region. It was the capital of theGia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by theBahnar andJarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards orDegar, although now it is inhabited primarily by theKinh ethnic group. The city is the centre of the urban district of Pleiku which covers an area of 260.77 km² (100 mi²).
As of 2024, the city has a population of around 331.178 people.[2]
On 1 July 2025, Pleiku ceased to exist as a municipal city due to the elimination of district-level units in Vietnamelimination of district level units, and its territory was reorganized into five wards and two communes directly under Gia Lai Province.[3]
The namePleiku first appeared in theGovernor-General of French Indochina records in 1905, in the decree that established the province of Gia Lai. The Decree of the Governor-General of Indochina dated July 4, 1905, established an autonomous province in the western mountainous region ofBinh Dinh province, naming itPlei-Kou-Derr. This marked the first official use of the namePlei-Kou in writing.
The wordPlơi means "village" inJarai, whileKơdưr can mean either "north" or "upper". Therefore, the namePleiku can be translated as "upper village" or "village in the north".
The wordDerr is likely a Jarai word that was added to the namePleiku by the French to distinguish it from other villages in the area. The namePleiku has been used since the colonial period and is still the official name of the city today.
At the end of theFirst Indochina War, in June 1954, theFrench ArmyGroupe Mobile 100 was ordered to fall back fromAn Khê to Pleiku and then to reopen Route Coloniale 14 between Pleiku andBuôn Ma Thuột. This led to the last battle of the war: theBattle of Mang Yang Pass.
Pleiku was strategically important during theVietnam War because it was the primary terminus of the military supply logistics corridor extending westwards along Highway 19 from the coastal population centre and port facilities ofQui Nhơn. Additionally, its central location on the plateau, between Kon Tum to the North,Buôn Ma Thuột to the south, and theNorth Vietnamese Army's base areas insideCambodia to the west made Pleiku the main centre of defense of the entire highland region of theRepublic of Vietnam. This was obvious to both sides; theUnited States established an armed presence very early in the conflict atCamp Holloway, and theViệt Cộng attack on this base in early 1965 was one of the key escalating events that brought U.S. troops into the conflict.[4]
On 15 June 1972,Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z, operating aConvair 880 (VR-HFZ) from Bangkok to Hong Kong, disintegrated and crashed while the aircraft was flying at 29,000 feet (8,800 m) over Pleiku, Vietnam after a bomb exploded in a suitcase placed under a seat in the cabin, killing all 81 people on board.
After the fall of Buôn Ma Thuột to a major North Vietnamese assault in early 1975, and the resulting insecurity ofNational Route 19 leading fromQui Nhơn, the president,Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, ordered the hasty evacuation of Pleiku. The military operation to attempt the withdrawal of ARVN forces, down the poorly maintained tertiary road LTL-7B throughAyun Pa toTuy Hòa, led to a catastrophe in which over 100,000 evacuees from Pleiku and Kon Tum were killed or left stranded without support.[5]
Pleiku is located in the center ofGia Lai province and borders:
Pleiku is located betweenNational Highway 14 andNational Route 19 near the Indochina intersection of neighboringCambodia andLaos on theHo Chi Minh Highway. Pleiku occupies 26,076.8 hectares, and is the economic, political, cultural and social center ofGia Lai province. Pleiku is 465 km north ofHo Chi Minh City, 1,287 km south ofHanoi, 181 km fromBuôn Ma Thuột and 377 km fromDa Nang.
Pleiku is located at an average altitude of 700m - 800m; Ham Rong junction, or the junction ofNational Highway 14 andNational Highway 19 south of Pleiku, has an altitude of 785m.
| Climate data for Pleiku, elevation 800 m (2,600 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33.2 (91.8) | 35.0 (95.0) | 36.3 (97.3) | 36.3 (97.3) | 35.1 (95.2) | 33.1 (91.6) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.8 (91.0) | 32.0 (89.6) | 34.0 (93.2) | 36.3 (97.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.4 (79.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.1 (88.0) | 29.5 (85.1) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.7 (80.1) | 26.4 (79.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 25.8 (78.4) | 27.7 (81.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.6 (69.1) | 22.7 (72.9) | 24.2 (75.6) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.1 (73.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.3 (72.1) | 22.3 (72.1) | 21.9 (71.4) | 20.8 (69.4) | 19.4 (66.9) | 21.9 (71.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.0 (57.2) | 15.1 (59.2) | 17.4 (63.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.1 (68.2) | 20.1 (68.2) | 19.8 (67.6) | 18.6 (65.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 15.2 (59.4) | 18.1 (64.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 5.6 (42.1) | 6.8 (44.2) | 5.9 (42.6) | 10.0 (50.0) | 12.6 (54.7) | 11.0 (51.8) | 15.6 (60.1) | 14.8 (58.6) | 13.7 (56.7) | 11.0 (51.8) | 5.8 (42.4) | 5.8 (42.4) | 5.6 (42.1) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 2.4 (0.09) | 6.7 (0.26) | 24.2 (0.95) | 92.8 (3.65) | 249.2 (9.81) | 322.9 (12.71) | 396.1 (15.59) | 462.7 (18.22) | 358.9 (14.13) | 190.8 (7.51) | 62.8 (2.47) | 10.8 (0.43) | 2,179.9 (85.82) |
| Average rainy days | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 8.1 | 17.7 | 23.0 | 26.6 | 27.4 | 24.8 | 15.9 | 7.2 | 2.3 | 157.5 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 76.6 | 73.7 | 72.0 | 75.1 | 82.9 | 89.1 | 90.8 | 91.9 | 90.4 | 86.1 | 82.1 | 79.0 | 82.5 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 263.2 | 260.1 | 272.1 | 240.8 | 210.1 | 155.5 | 146.2 | 127.9 | 136.1 | 178.1 | 199.1 | 229.3 | 2,415.3 |
| Source 1: Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology[6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: The Yearbook of Indochina (1930-1931 and 1937-1938)[7] | |||||||||||||
In 1971, during the Republic of Vietnam, Pleiku provincial capital had 34,867 residents. According to the statistical, the city's population includes 28 ethnic groups; TheKinh people make up the majority (87.5%), the rest are other ethnic groups, mainly theGia Rai andBa Na ethnic groups (12.5%). The number of people of working age is about 328,240 people, accounting for 65% of the population.
The natural population growth rate decreased rapidly, reaching 1.12% in 2008.
Ethnic minorities live mainly in villages such as Plei Op village (Hoa Lu ward), Kep village (Dong Da ward), Brúk Ngol village (Yen The ward), and some other villages. The entire urban area has 62,829 households with 274,048 people with permanent residence. Including the converted population, there are about 504,984 people.
Pleiku city is divided into 22 commune-level administrative units, including 14 wards:Chi Lang,Dien Hong,Dong Da,Hoa Lu,Hoi Phu, HoiThuong,Ia Kring,Phu Dong,Tay Son,Thang Loi,Thong Nhat,Tra Ba,Yen Do,Yen The and 8 communes:An Phu,Bien Ho,Chu A,Dien Phu,Gao,Ia Kenh,Tan Son,Tra Da.
The city is home to theHoàng Anh Gia Lai football club.
The city sits at the junction of several national roads—National Route 14 toKon Tum in the north andBuôn Ma Thuột in the south andNational Route 19 toStung Treng inCambodia in the west (viaRatanakiri Province) and toBình Định Province in the east.
In addition, Pleiku is served byPleiku Airport in the near outskirts of the city.
| Đắk Lắk province |  | |
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| Đắk Nông province | ||
| Gia Lai province | ||
| Kon Tum province | ||
| Lâm Đồng province | ||
※ denotes provincial seat. | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
