Which municipality is Vietnam's most populous?

Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s most populous municipality.

Known as Saigon before its official renaming in 1976, the city lies in southern Vietnam along the Saigon River and near the Mekong Delta. It grew from a regional Khmer settlement into a major Vietnamese commercial center, then became the capital of French Cochinchina and later South Vietnam. Today it is one of Vietnam’s principal economic, financial, and transport hubs.

The wording “municipality” matters: Vietnam has centrally governed municipalities that rank administratively alongside provinces. Ho Chi Minh City is one of those municipalities, rather than merely a city contained inside a larger province. Hanoi, the national capital, is the country’s second-largest municipality by population, while Da Nang and Can Tho are also centrally governed municipalities but are substantially smaller.

A common mix-up is confusing the city’s official name with its former name. “Saigon” remains widely used for the urban core and in everyday speech, but the official municipality is Ho Chi Minh City. Recent administrative changes and population estimates can alter totals, not its leading position.