Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam and is located near the Mekong Delta. Under the name, Prey Nokor, it was the main port of Cambodia, before being annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon (Vietnamese: Sai Gon; pronunciation), it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina, and later of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. In 1975, Saigon was merged with the surrounding province of Gia Dinh and renamed Ho Chi Minh City (although the name Saigon is still frequently used, particularly by its citizens)
The city center is situated on the banks of the Saigon River, 60 kilometers (37 mi) from the South China Sea and 1,760 kilometers (1,094 mi) south of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
The metropolitan area, which consists of Ho Chi Minh City metro area, Thu Dau Mot, Di An, Bien Hoa and surrounding towns, has more than 9 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in Vietnam and Indochina
Geography and climate
Saigon is located at 10°45'N, 106°40'E in the southeastern region of Vietnam, 1,760 km (1,094 miles) south of Hanoi. The average elevation is 19 meters (63 ft) above sea level. It borders Tay Ninh and Binh Duong provinces to the north, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces to the east, Long An Province to the west and the South China Sea to the south with a coast of 15 km in length. The city covers an area of 2,095 km² (809 sq mi) (0.63% of the surface of Vietnam), extending up to Cu Chi (12mi/20 km from the Cambodian border), and down to Can Gio on the East Sea coast. The distance from the northernmost point (Phu My Hung Commune, Cu Chi District) to the southernmost one (Long Hoa Commune, Can Gio District) is 102 kilometers (63 mi), and from the easternmost point (Long Binh Ward, District Nine) to the westernmost one (Binh Chanh Commune, Binh Chanh District) is 47 kilometers (29 mi).
The city has a tropical climate, with an average humidity of 75%. A year is divided into 2 distinct seasons: The rainy season with an average rainfall of about 1,800 millimetres (71 in) annually (about 150 rainy days per year), which usually begins in May and ends in late November. The dry season lasts from December to April. The average temperature is 28 °C (82 °F), the highest temperature sometimes reaches 39 °C (102 °F) around noon in late April, while the lowest may fall below 16 °C (61 °F) in the early mornings of late December.
Transportation
Tan Son Nhat International Airport, a joint civilian and military airport, is located 4 mi (6 km) north of the center (District 1) of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Taxi and bus services are available for travel to and from the airport and within the city. Because of the rapid growing number of air-passengers and Tan Son Nhat Airport's proximity to the center of the city, the Vietnamese Government has prepared to build a new international airport near Long Thanh Township, Dong Nai Province about 25 mi (40 km) to the northeast.
Ho Chi Minh city's road system is in improvable condition - many of its streets are riddled with potholes. This is especially true of the city's numerous back streets and alleyways, which are sometimes little more than dirt paths. Traveling by bus is the only public transport available although the city is seeking financing sources for implementing metro (subway) and elevated train projects, including the Ho Chi Minh City Metro planned for completion in 2020. Recently, the number of motorcycles has increased to about 4 million. There are also over 500,000 automobiles, packing the city's arterial roads and making traffic congestion and air pollution common problems. If Beijing is "the City of Bicycles", then Ho Chi Minh City is "the Capital of Motorbikes". Visitors should consider the city's streets as dangerous due to the motorists' lack of behavior and the city's lack of traffic law enforcement. Drivers can be seen driving the wrong way up a one way street or ignoring red lights.
The city is the terminal hub of the North South Railroad of Vietnam. Passengers can travel to Hanoi and the Chinese border, about 1,212 mi/1,950 km to the north. There are many harbors along the Saigon and Dong Nai Rivers, such as: Saigon Port, Newport, Ben nghe Port and VICT Port. They account for the annual 40% export-import cargo output of Vietnam.
From Ho Chi Minh City, one can travel to many places in Southern Vietnam and to Cambodia by road or waterway. The city is linked to the central Highlands by National highways 14 and 20, to the Central Coast and the north by National Highway 1 and to the Mekong river delta by National Highways 1 and 50. Two expressways are being built to connect Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho, the capital of the Mekong river delta, and to Dau Giay Township, Dong Nai province, 70 km to the northeast.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Saigon.

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