The total area of Vinh city is 104.97 square kilometres and includes 16 urban wards and 9 suburban communes.
Vinh is the biggest city and economic and cultural centre of north-central Vietnam.
Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province and is a key point in the East-West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
On September 5, 2008, Vinh was upgraded from Grade-II city to Grade-I city, the fifth Grade-I city of Vietnam after Haiphong, Đà Nẵng and Huế.
Vinh was originally known as Ke Van. Later, this successively became Ke Vinh, Vinh Giang, Vinh Doanh, and then Vinh Thi. Eventually, in 1789, the official name became simply Vinh, probably under European influence.
The Estimated Population of Vinh is 502,140
Vinh is twinned with Namyangju, South Korea; Kasumigaura, Japan; Dasumira, Japan; Biên Hòa, Việt Nam; Newhaven, United Kingdom & Ulyanovsk, Russia.
The city of Vinh was once the site of a number of significant historic sites, particularly an ancient citadel. Over the years, however, Vinh has been extensively damaged in a number of wars. In the 1950s, fighting between the French colonial powers and the Việt Minh resistance forces destroyed much of the city, and further damage was done by the United States bombing in the Vietnam War.
The service sector comprises the largest part of Vinh’s economy, with around 55% of the working population being employed in this area.
Vinh was sometimes seen as a “gateway to the south”.