The largest city in Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh City, with around 9.0 million residents, followed by the capital Hanoi (8.1 million) and the northern port of Hai Phong (2.0 million). These three urban giants anchor a fast-urbanizing nation of roughly 97 million people, but the full top ten stretches from the Mekong Delta in the south to the highlands and the central coast.
The Ten Largest Vietnamese Cities
Ranked by population, Vietnam's largest cities are:
- Ho Chi Minh City — approximately 9.0 million
- Hanoi — approximately 8.1 million
- Hai Phong — approximately 2.0 million
- Da Nang — approximately 1.1 million
- Can Tho — approximately 0.8 million
- Bien Hoa — approximately 0.7 million
- Nha Trang — approximately 0.5 million
- Vung Tau — approximately 0.35 million
- Hue — approximately 0.45 million
- Buon Ma Thuot — approximately 0.34 million
These figures refer to the urban core; Vietnam's two megacities govern much larger administrative areas that, with surrounding districts, push their official populations even higher. Together the top ten account for a substantial share of the country's growing urban population.
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi: The Twin Engines
Ho Chi Minh City, in the south, is Vietnam's commercial powerhouse and its most populous city at roughly 9.0 million. Formerly called Saigon — a name locals still use affectionately — it is the country's financial center, busiest port, and the hub of foreign investment, manufacturing, and startups. Its skyline, motorbike-filled boulevards, and around-the-clock energy make it the most visibly modern city in the nation.
Hanoi, in the north, is the political capital and second-largest city with about 8.1 million residents. More than a thousand years old, it blends ancient pagodas, French colonial architecture, and the historic Old Quarter with rapidly expanding suburbs. As the seat of government, Hanoi sets national policy while serving as a cultural and educational heartland. The rivalry and contrast between the laid-back, business-minded south and the traditional, administrative north is a defining feature of Vietnamese life.
Regional Hubs: Hai Phong, Da Nang and Can Tho
Beyond the two megacities, several regional centers stand out. Hai Phong (around 2.0 million) is the major northern seaport, handling much of the cargo bound for Hanoi and the surrounding Red River Delta industrial zone. Da Nang (about 1.1 million) is the leading city of central Vietnam, prized for its beaches, river-front development, and proximity to the UNESCO heritage towns of Hoi An and My Son. It has become a magnet for tourism and tech investment alike.
Can Tho (roughly 0.8 million) is the capital of the Mekong Delta, the agricultural rice bowl of the country, and is famous for its floating markets along the river channels. Each of these cities is the gateway to a distinct region, reflecting how Vietnam's population spreads along its long, S-shaped coastline.
Coastal and Highland Cities
The remainder of the top ten showcases Vietnam's geographic variety. Bien Hoa (about 0.7 million) is an industrial city just outside Ho Chi Minh City, part of the sprawling southern manufacturing belt. Nha Trang (around 0.5 million) and Vung Tau (about 0.35 million) are popular beach resort cities on the central and southern coasts. Hue (roughly 0.45 million) was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty and is home to a sprawling UNESCO-listed citadel and royal tombs. Buon Ma Thuot (about 0.34 million), in the Central Highlands, is the heart of Vietnam's coffee industry — the country is one of the world's top coffee exporters, and much of that crop grows in the red volcanic soils around this city.
Why Vietnam's Cities Are Growing
Vietnam has been one of Asia's fastest-urbanizing countries. Decades of economic reform, foreign investment, and a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services have drawn millions of people from rural provinces into the cities. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in particular continue to swell with internal migrants seeking jobs in factories, offices, and the service economy. This rapid growth brings new infrastructure — metro lines, ring roads, and high-rise housing — but also challenges like traffic congestion, flooding, and rising living costs. You can explore more about world cities and capitals through our interactive geography games.
Two Deltas at Opposite Ends of the Country
Vietnam is long and narrow, running more than 1,600 kilometres from north to south, and its population concentrates in two river deltas at either end. The Red River delta in the north holds Hanoi and Haiphong; the Mekong delta in the south lies below Ho Chi Minh City.
Between them the country narrows to under fifty kilometres wide in places, pinched between the Annamite range and the sea. That central strip holds Da Nang, Hue and Vinh, none of which approach the size of the delta cities.
The Mekong delta is among the most productive agricultural regions in Asia and supplies the rice that makes Vietnam one of the world's largest exporters. It is also acutely exposed to salinity and subsidence, worsened by upstream dams and by groundwater extraction.
Saigon Is Still Saigon to Many People
Ho Chi Minh City was renamed after reunification in 1976, and the old name persists in ordinary speech, in the airport code SGN, and in the name of District 1, which is still Saigon in practice.
It is the larger of the two big cities and the commercial capital, generating a disproportionate share of national output. The French colonial fabric survives in the centre, including the post office, the opera house and Notre-Dame Cathedral built from Marseille brick.
Its growth since the doi moi economic reforms of 1986 has been rapid, and the city has become the centre of Vietnam's manufacturing and startup economy, with a metro line finally opening in late 2024 after years of delay.
Hanoi Is a Thousand Years Old
Hanoi marked its millennium in 2010, dating from 1010 when Ly Thai To moved his capital to the site and named it Thang Long, ascending dragon. The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070, housed Vietnam's first university.
The Old Quarter retains a street plan organised by trade, with names still announcing what was once sold on each: silk, tin, paper, sugar. The buildings are the tube houses, narrow-fronted and deep, a form that developed because frontage was taxed.
Hanoi is the political capital and noticeably more conservative and more northern in character than the south, a distinction Vietnamese people describe readily and which maps onto the country's twentieth-century division.
The War Is Still in the Landscape
Vietnam was partitioned at the seventeenth parallel from 1954 until 1975, and the cities carry the marks. Hue, the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty, sat close to the dividing line and its citadel was devastated during the Tet Offensive in 1968; it was later inscribed by UNESCO and has been progressively restored.
Unexploded ordnance remains a live problem across the central provinces, with clearance operations continuing more than fifty years after the fighting ended, and the health effects of defoliants are still being treated.
Da Nang, now the fastest-growing of the central cities and a beach and technology destination, was the site of the first American combat landings in 1965 and of one of the largest air bases in the region.
Motorbikes Are the Transport System
Vietnam has tens of millions of registered motorcycles, and in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi they carry the overwhelming majority of journeys. Crossing a street in either city is a well-documented experience for visitors, who are advised to walk steadily and let traffic flow around them.
Both cities have moved to restrict them. Hanoi has approved plans to ban motorbikes from the inner districts as metro and bus capacity expands, and air quality is the principal argument, with Hanoi regularly recording pollution levels among the worst in South-East Asia.
The bike is also an economic unit: goods, livestock, furniture and whole families travel on them, and the informal delivery and ride-hailing economy built on top of them employs very large numbers of people in both cities. Our Vietnam country guide sets out the deltas and the long coast between them.
Common Questions About Vietnamese Cities
What is the largest city in Vietnam?
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest, with an urban population of roughly 9.0 million people. It is Vietnam's economic capital, though not its political one.
Is Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City bigger?
Ho Chi Minh City is larger, at about 9.0 million people compared with Hanoi's roughly 8.1 million. Hanoi, however, is the official capital of Vietnam.
What was Ho Chi Minh City called before?
It was known as Saigon. The city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 after the reunification of Vietnam, but residents still commonly call it Saigon.
How many people live in Vietnam?
Vietnam has a total population of approximately 97 million, making it one of the most populous countries in Southeast Asia and the world.
Is Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City the capital?
Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City is larger and is the commercial centre, which causes the confusion, but the government, the National Assembly and the embassies are all in Hanoi.
Why is Saigon still called Saigon?
The city was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976, but Saigon remains in everyday use, survives as the name of District 1, and is still the international airport code. Both names are used without much controversy.