An Giang province Tỉnh An Giang
—  Province  —
Nickname(s): Peaceful River
Location of An Giang within Vietnam
Coordinates: 10°30′N 105°10′E / 10.5°N 105.167°E / 10.5; 105.167Coordinates: 10°30′N 105°10′E / 10.5°N 105.167°E / 10.5; 105.167
Country	Vietnam
Region	Mekong Delta
Capital	Long Xuyên
Government
• People's Council Chair	Võ Thanh Khiết
• People's Committee Chair	Nguyễn Hoàng Việt
Area
• Total	3,406.2 km2 (1,315.1 sq mi)
Population (2004)
• Total	2,170,100
• Density	640/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnicities	Vietnamese, Khmer, Chăm, Hoa
Time zone	ICT (UTC+7)
Calling code	76
ISO 3166 code	VN-44
Website	www.angiang.gov.vn

An Giang ( listen) 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. The Cam Mountains, also known as the Thất Sơn range or the "Seven Mountains", are located in the western Tịnh Biên District. Followers of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition, founded in An Giang in 1849, refer to these mountains as Bửu Sơn, "Precious Mountains".

  Administration

Politically, An Giang is divided into nine districts:

• Long Xuyên: 11 wards and 2 rural communes
• Tân Châu: 5 wards and 9 rural communes
• Châu Đốc: 4 wards and 3 rural communes
• An Phú: 2 towns and 12 rural communes
• Châu Phú: 1 town and 12 rural communes
• Châu Thành: 1 town and 12 rural communes
• Chợ Mới: 2 towns and 16 rural communes
• Phú Tân: 2 towns and 16 rural communes
• Thoại Sơn: 3 towns and 14 rural communes
• Tịnh Biên: 3 towns and 11 rural communes
• Tri Tôn: 2 towns and 13 rural communes

An Giang includes 156 rural communes, wards and towns.

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

  Vehicle registration plate

• Long Xuyên 67-B1 XXX.XX
• Châu Đốc 67-E1 XXX.XX
• Tân Châu 67-H1 XXX.XX
• Châu Phú 67-C1 XXX.XX
• Châu Thành 67-D1 XXX.XX
• Chợ Mới 67-L1 XXX.XX
• Thoại Sơn 67-M1 XXX.XX
• Tri Tôn 67-N1 XXX.XX

  Demographics

  Cam Mountains

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.^[1]

  Etymology

The province's name is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese word: 安江, meaning "peaceful river".^[2]

  Famous people from An Giang

  Political

• Tôn Đức Thắng, famous Communist, ex-President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; later became the first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Long Xuyên).
• Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, vice-president of the Republic of Vietnam before April 30, 1975 (Long Xuyên).
• Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, former minister of Vietnamese health (Chợ Mới).

  Literature - Arts

• Nguyễn Quang Sáng, writer (Chợ Mới).
• Anh Đức, writer (Châu Thành).
• Nguyễn Chánh Sắt, writer (Tân Châu).
• Vương Trung Hiếu, writer (Thoại Sơn).
• Trịnh Bửu Hoài, writer (Châu Đốc).
• Viễn Phương, poet (Tân Châu).
• Hoàng Hiệp, musician (Chợ Mới).
• Song Ngọc, musician (Long Xuyên).
• Chóe, painter (Chợ Mới).
• Bạch Tuyết, dr. and artist elite (An Phú).
• Tạ Minh Tâm, artist elite (Long Xuyên).
• Đức Tuấn, singer (Long Xuyên).
• Đông Đào, singer (Phú Tân).

  Education

• Võ Tòng Xuân, professor, dr., artist people, agronomist and former rector of An Giang University (Tri Tôn).
• Trần Hữu Thường, teacher (Tân Châu).
• Lê Minh Tùng, Vice-Chairman of An Giang province and current rector of An Giang University

  Religions

• Huỳnh Phú Sổ, founder of the Hòa Hảo sect of Buddhist (Phú Tân).
• Buddha Boss (Tri Ton).

  Military

• Nguyễn Văn Nhơn, general of Nguyễn dynasty (former Vĩnh An).
• Thư Ngọc Hầu, general of Nguyễn dynasty (Chợ Mới).
• Trần Bá Lộc, collaborator with France (Chợ Mới).

  Other

• Đoàn Minh Huyên, founder of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition

  See also

• Basa fish

  References

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: An Giang Province

• An Giang Province official website (English)

	Takeo Province,  Cambodia	Kandal Province,  Cambodia
			Dong Thap province
		An Giang province
	Kien Giang province		Can Tho

An Giang Province Capital: Long Xuyên Châu Đốc Châu Đốc An Phú District An Phú Long Bình Khánh An Phú Hữu Vĩnh Lộc Vĩnh Hậu Nhơn Hội Phú Hội Vĩnh Hội Đông Khánh Bình Quốc Thái Phước Hưng Đa Phước Vĩnh Trương Châu Phú District Cái Dầu Bình Thủy Khánh Hòa Mỹ Đức Mỹ Phú Ô Long Vĩ Vĩnh Thạnh Trung Thạnh Mỹ Tây Bình Long Đào Hữu Cảnh Bình Phú Bình Chánh Bình Mỹ Châu Thành District An Châu Chợ Mới District Chợ Mới Mỹ Luông Kiến An Kiến Thành Mỹ Hội Đông Nhơn Mỹ Long Giang Long Điền A Long Điền B Tân Mỹ Mỹ Hiệp Bình Phước Xuân Long Kiến An Thạnh Trung Hội An Hoà Bình Hoà An Phú Tân District Chợ Vàm Phú Mỹ Long Sơn Long Hòa Phú Lâm Phú Thạnh Phú An Phú Thọ Tân Hòa Tân Trung Phú Hưng Hiệp Xương Bình Thạnh Đông Phú Bình Hòa Lạc Phú Hiệp Phú Thành Phú Long Phú Xuân Tân Châu District Tân Châu Phú Vĩnh Long Phú Vĩnh Xương Thoại Sơn District Núi Sập Phú Hoà, An Giang Óc Eo Tịnh Biên District Tịnh Biên An Cư Tân Lợi An Hảo Văn Giáo Vĩnh Trung Tri Tôn District Tri Tôn Ba Chúc Châu Lăng Lương Phi Vĩnh Phước Lương An Trà Lạc Quới Vĩnh Gia Núi Tô An Tức Ô Lâm Cô Tô Tà Đảnh Tân Tuyến