Map - Điện Biên Province (Tỉnh Ðiện Biên)

Điện Biên Province (Tỉnh Ðiện Biên)
Điện Biên is a province in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is bordered by Lai Châu to the northeast, Sơn La to the southeast, Pu'er City, Yunnan, China, to the northwest, and Phongsaly province in Laos to the west. The province covers an area of 9,541 square kilometres and as of 2019 it had a population of 598,856 people.

The name "Điện Biên" means "stable frontier" (referring to Điện Biên's location on the border between Lan Xang and Vietnam). Điện Biên has various ancient monuments including the caves Thẩm Khương, as well as Thẩn Búa in Tuần Giáo. The original settlers were the Ai Lao or Tai people who are a direct ancestor of Lao people in Laos today. The names of some villages and towns still use words of Tai origin, such as Mường (city) and Tham (cave).

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Lự in Mường Thanh were the most developed in the area and controlled Sìn Hồ, Mường Lay, and Tuần Giáo.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, Tai people (not to be confused with the Thai people of Thailand) from Mường Ôm and Mường Ai occupied Mường Lò in Nghĩa Lộ and Mường Thanh in Điện Biên. They eventually gained control of the whole area between Mường Lò and Mường Thanh (Điện Biên).

 
Map - Điện Biên Province (Tỉnh Ðiện Biên)
Country - Vietnam
Flag of Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam (Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is located at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of 311699 km2 and population of 96 million, making it the world's sixteenth-most populous country. Vietnam borders China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea. Its capital is Hanoi and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (informal popular name is Saigon).

Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam. The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam under Chinese rule from 111 BC, until the first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism, and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta, conquering Champa. The Nguyễn—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. Following the August Revolution, the nationalist Viet Minh under the leadership of communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independence from France in 1945.
Currency / Language  
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VND Vietnamese đồng ₫ 0
Neighbourhood - Country  
  •  China 
  •  Khmer Republic 
  •  Laos