| Native Name: | Vietnamese: italic=unset|Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh |
| Official Name: | Ho Chi Minh City |
| Other Name: | Saigon |
| Native Name Lang: | vi |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality (special) |
| Nicknames: | Vietnamese: Thành phố mang tên Bác The Pearl of Far East (historical) Paris of the Orient (historical)[1] |
| Pushpin Map: | Vietnam#Southeast Asia#Asia |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Vietnam##Location within Southeast Asia##Location within Asia |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Coordinates: | 10.7756°N 106.7019°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Vietnam |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Southeast |
| Parts Type: | Districts |
| Parts: | 16 urban districts, 5 rural districts and 1 sub-city |
| Government Type: | Municipality |
| Governing Body: | Ho Chi Minh City People's Council |
| Leader Title1: | Secretary of CPV |
| Leader Name1: | Nguyễn Văn Nên |
| Leader Title2: | Chairwoman of People's Council |
| Leader Name2: | Nguyễn Thị Lệ |
| Leader Title3: | Chairman of People's Committee |
| Leader Name3: | Phan Văn Mãi |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 2095.39 |
| Area Metro Km2: | 30,595 |
| Elevation M: | 19 |
| Elevation Ft: | 63 |
| Population Footnotes: | [3] |
| Population Total: | 9,456,700 |
| Population Rank: | 1st |
| Population As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Density Km2: | 4,513 |
| Population Urban: | 7,344,000 |
| Population Rural: | 2,112,700 |
| Population Metro: | 22,552,900 (1st) |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | 737 |
| Population Demonym: | Saigonese |
| Demographics Type1: | GRDP (Nominal) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Municipality (Special) |
| Demographics1 Info1: | US$ 68.1 billion (2023)[4] |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Metro |
| Demographics1 Info2: | US$ 133.1 billion (2023) |
| Blank6 Name: | HDI (2022) |
| Blank6 Info: | 0.811[5] (3rd) |
| Area Code: | 28 |
| Area Code Type: | Area codes |
| Timezone: | Indochina Time |
| Utc Offset: | +7 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 70xxx–74xxx |
| Iso Code: | VN-SG |
| Registration Plate Type: | License plate |
| Registration Plate: | 41, 50–59 |
| Blank Name Sec2: | International airports |
| Blank Info Sec2: | Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Rapid transit system |
| Blank2 Info Sec2: | Ho Chi Minh City Metro |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1698 |
| Established Title1: | Change of name |
| Established Date1: | 1976 |
| Founder: | Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh |
| Motto: | Latin: Paulatim crescam (historical)[6] |
| Named For: | Ho Chi Minh |
| Image Map1: | Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.svg |
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC; vi|Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh), better known and colloquialy referred to as Saigon (vi|Sài Gòn), is the most populous city in Vietnam, with a population of around 10 million in 2023. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigon River. As a municipality, Ho Chi Minh City consists of 16 urban districts, five rural districts, and one municipal city (sub-city). As the largest financial centre in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the highest gross regional domestic product out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities,[7] contributing around a quarter of the country's total GDP.[8] Ho Chi Minh City's metropolitan area is ASEAN's 6th largest economy, also the biggest outside an ASEAN country capital.
Since ancient times, water transport has been heavily used by inhabitants in the area. The area was occupied by Champa from 2nd century AD to around the 19th century, due to Đại Việt's expansionist policy of Nam tiến. After the fall of the Citadel of Saigon, the city became the capital of French Indochina from 1887 to 1902, and again from 1945 until its cessation in 1954. Following the partition of French Indochina, it became the capital of South Vietnam until it was captured by North Vietnam, who renamed the city after their former leader Hồ Chí Minh, though the former name is still widely used in informal usages. Beginning in the 1990s, the city underwent rapid expansion and modernization, which contributed to Vietnam's post-war economic recovery and helped revive its international trade hub status.
Ho Chi Minh City has a long tradition of being one of the centers of economy, entertainment and education in Vietnam. As such, the city is also the busiest international transport hub in Vietnam, as Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport accounts for nearly half of all international arrivals to Vietnam[9] and the Port of Saigon is among the busiest container ports in Southeast Asia.[10] Ho Chi Minh City is also a tourist attraction. Some of the war and historic landmarks in the city include the Independence Palace, Landmark 81 (tallest building in Vietnam), the War Remnants Museum, and Bến Thành Market. The city is also known for its narrow walkable alleys and bustling night life. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is facing increasing threats of sea level rise and flooding as well as heavy strains on public infrastructures.
See main article: Names of Ho Chi Minh City.
The first known human habitation in the area was a Cham settlement called Baigaur.[11] The Cambodians then took over the Cham village of Baigaur and renamed it Prey Nokor, a small fishing village.[12] [13] Over time, under the control of the Vietnamese, it was officially renamed Gia Định in 1698, a name that was retained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when it adopted the name Vietnamese: Sài Gòn, francized as French: Saïgon, although the city was still indicated as Vietnamese: [[wiktionary:嘉|嘉]][[wiktionary:定|定]] on Vietnamese maps written in chữ Hán until at least 1891.[14]
The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after reunification in 1976 to honour Ho Chi Minh. Even today, however, the informal name of Vietnamese: Sài Gòn remains in daily speech. However, there is a technical difference between the two terms: Vietnamese: Sài Gòn is commonly used to refer to the city centre in District 1 and the adjacent areas, while Ho Chi Minh City refers to all of its urban and rural districts.
The original toponym behind Sài Gòn, was attested earliest as Chinese: 柴棍, with two phonograms whose Sino-Vietnamese readings are sài and côn respectively, in Lê Quý Đôn's "Miscellaneous Chronicles of the Pacified Frontier" (Chinese: 撫邊雜錄, Vietnamese: Phủ biên tạp lục c. 1776), wherein Lê relates that, in 1674, Cambodian prince Ang Nan was installed as uparaja in Chinese: 柴棍 (Sài Gòn) by Vietnamese forces.
Chinese: 柴棍 also appears later in Trịnh Hoài Đức's "Comprehensive Records about the Gia Định Citadel" (Chinese: 嘉定城通志, Vietnamese: Gia Định thành thông chí, c. 1820), "Textbook on the Geography of the Southern Country" (Chinese: 南國地輿教科書, Vietnamese: Nam quốc địa dư giáo khoa thư, 1908),[15] etc.
Adrien Launay's French: Histoire de la Mission de Cochinchine|italics=no (1688−1823), "Documents Historiques II: 1728 - 1771" (1924: 190) cites 1747 documents containing the toponyms: provincia Rai-gon, Rai-gon thong (for *Sài Gòn thượng "Upper Saigon"), & Rai-gon-ha (for *Sài Gòn hạ "Lower Saigon").
It is probably a transcription of Khmer Central Khmer: ព្រៃនគរ (Prey Nokôr)[16], or Khmer Central Khmer: ព្រៃគរ (Prey Kôr).
The proposal that Sài Gòn is from non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese Chinese: 堤岸 (“embankment”,, SV: đê ngạn)