Bạc Liêu Province


Bạc Liêu Province is a province of Vietnam. It is a coastal province, and is situated in the Mekong Delta region of the southern part of the country.

Etymology

Bạc Liêu is derived from the Teochew name Po Liaw meaning “meagre hamlet”.

Administrative divisions

Bạc Liêu is subdivided into seven district-level sub-divisions:
They are further subdivided into seven commune-level towns, 50 communes, and seven wards.

Geography

Bạc Liêu is generally thought of as being in the Mekong Delta, although it is actually located slightly to the south of the Mekong's main outflows. Bạc Liêu is around south of Cần Thơ, the largest city in the Mekong Delta.

Economy

The most important parts of Bạc Liêu's economy are rice farming, fishing, food processing, and clothing manufacturing.

History

After the Fall of Saigon, 30 April 1975, Bạc Liêu Province and Cà Mau Province were merged into one new entity called Minh Hải Province. Although it is presently located in Vietnam, the area used to be a part of the Khmer Empire which ruled most of Indochina many centuries ago. It is still home to many ethnic Khmer people in addition to a large ethnic Teochew Chinese population. In 1996, Minh Hải Province was split into two, with the northeast becoming Bạc Liêu Province and the southwest becoming Cà Mau Province.

Culture

, an important song in the traditional music of southern Vietnam, was composed in Bạc Liêu around 1918 or 1919.
Referring to Bac Lieu, many people immediately think of the homeland of Prince Bac Lieu Trần Trinh Huy also called Ba Huy, or the Black Prince - was a famous player not only in Bac Lieu but even in Saigon and the South of Vietnam during the 1930s and 1940s.