An Giang Province

Infobox province of Vietnam
Name = An Giang
Meaning = Peaceful River


Council Chair = Võ Thanh Khiết
Committee Chair = Nguyễn Hoàng Việt
Capital = Long Xuyên
Region = Mekong Delta
Area = 3,406.2
Population = 2,170,100
Population year = 2004
Population density = 637.10
Ethnicities = Vietnamese, Khmer, Chăm, Hoa
Calling code = 76
ISO code = VN-44
Website = www.angiang.gov.vn

An Giang (audio|An Giang.ogg|pronunciation; Hán Tự: ; written identically in both English and Vietnamese) is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country, sharing a border with Cambodia to the northwest.

Geography

An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hau Giang and Tien Giang branches of the Mekong are the dominant geographical features of the province. With the exception of the west, most of An Giang is fairly flat, and is criss-crossed by many canals and small rivers. This terrain has led to An Giang being a significant agricultural centre, producing significant quantities of rice.

Administration

Politically, An Giang is divided into nine districts:

*An Phú
*Châu Phú
*Châu Thành
*Chợ Mới
*Phú Tân
*Tân Châu
*Thoại Sơn
*Tịnh Biên
*Tri Tôn

The cities of Long Xuyen (the provincial capital) and Châu Đốc, both of which are located on the Hau Giang branch of the Mekong, exist as independent municipalities.

Demographics

An Giang first became a province in 1832, having been settled by ethnically Vietnamese migrants moving southwards in search of new land. It is believed that An Giang was once an important centre of the vanished Óc Eo culture, presumably owing to its position on the river. Traditionally, An Giang has been known for its silk industry.

An Giang is home to a sizable number of people from Vietnam's ethnic minorities. Due to the province's proximity to Cambodia, the Khmer Krom are the largest non-Vietnamese group. Other groups, such as the Cham and ethnic Chinese (Hoa), are also found in An Giang.

The Ba Chuc massacre of April 1978, in that border province with Cambodia. On the day the Khmer Rouge began its series of border raids, April 15, 1978, Ba Chuc was a quiet little village of about 3,500 people. For two weeks, ending April 30, 1978, the Khmer Rouge tore through Ba Chuc slicing to bits anything that breathed, literally ripping apart young children limb from limb and hacking the adults to pieces with machetes. When the raids ceased the population of Ba Chuc had been reduced to 2.

[http://khmercanada.site.voila.fr/atrocites.htm]

ee also

*Basa fish

Famous people from An Giang

*Huynh Phu So
*Nguyen Ngoc Tho, vice-president of the Republic of Vietnam (before April 30, 1975)
*Ton Duc Thang, famous Communist, ex-President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; later became the first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
*Vo Tong Xuan, agronomist and former rector of An Giang University
*Vương Trung Hiếu, writer
*Le Minh Tung, Vice-Chairman of An Giang province and current rector of An Giang University
*Nguyen Hien Le, writer
*Ta Minh Tam, artist
* Tim Sa Khorn (famous monk and human rights advocate persecuted by Vietnamese authorities)

External links

* [http://www.angiang.gov.vn/ageng/xemtin.asp?idcha=1192&c
] (English version)
* [http://www.bhxhag.org.vn An Giang social security website (BHXH An Giang)]