Facts About Can Tho
- The city is nicknamed the “western capital”, and is located 169 kilometres from Hồ Chí Minh City.
- Cần Thơ is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam and the largest city along the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam.
- The area on which Can Tho stands was renamed several times under the Nguyen leadership, as a result of boundary changes. In 1839, the area came under the Phong Phu district, a place that was well-known for its peace and prosperity.
- In 2007, about 50 people died when the Cần Thơ Bridge collapsed, causing Vietnam’s worst engineering disaster.
- Can Tho is twinned with Nice, France; Shantou, China; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Amol, Iran Riverside, California, United States & Jeollanamdo, Korea.
- Can Tho was first established as Tran Giang in 1739, under the stewardship of Mac Thien Tich, the son of governor Mac Cuu who passed away in 1735.
- The Estimated Population of Can Tho is 1.282 million.
- The city remained Can Tho until the French left the region in 1954, while it was also renamed Phong Dinh during the period under the South Vietnam government of the 1960s and 1970s. The city’s name reverted back to Can Tho once again, on its reunification in 1975.
