Area and population of the 34 provinces and cities after the provincial merger in 2025 of Vietnam

According to Resolution No. 60 at the 11th Conference of the 13th Central Executive Committee of the Party, the Central Committee has agreed on the policy of organizing local government at two levels: the provincial level (province, centrally-controlled city), and the communal level (commune, ward, special zone).

The Central Committee has agreed to terminate the operation of district-level administrative units from July 1st after the Resolution amending and supplementing several articles of the 2013 Constitution and the amended Law on Organization of Local Government of 2025 comes into effect.

At the same time, the Party's highest leadership body also agreed on the policy regarding the number of provincial-level administrative units after the merger being 34 provinces and cities (28 provinces and 6 centrally-controlled cities); The name and the political-administrative center of the provincial-level administrative unit after the arrangement are determined according to the principles stated in the submission and the plan of the Government's Party Committee.

According to the list attached to Resolution No. 60, there are 11 provincial-level units (2 cities, 9 provinces) that did not undergo merger, including: Hanoi City, Hue City, and the provinces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Cao Bang.

According to the list attached to the resolution, 52 provinces and cities implemented mergers and consolidations to form 23 new provinces and cities.

Based on the data as of the end of 2023 from the Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), the area and population of the 23 provinces and cities after the merger are projected as follows:

As a result, this arrangement and consolidation will lead to a significant change in the ranking of the scale of provinces and cities nationwide compared to the current situation.

The new Lam Dong province (formed by the merger of Lam Dong, Dak Nong, and Binh Thuan) will become the largest province in the country with a total area of over 24,200 km2, far exceeding the 16,000 km2 of Nghe An, currently the largest province.

The ranking above Nghe An will also include the new Gia Lai province (formed by the merger of Gia Lai and Binh Dinh) with an area of 21,500 km2, and the new Dak Lak province (formed by the merger of Dak Lak and Phu Yen) with an area of 18,000 km2.
Bac Ninh, currently the province with the smallest area nationwide with just 822 km2, after merging with Bac Giang, will also have a much larger size than many other provinces and cities, with a total area exceeding 4,000 km2.

Similarly, the new Ninh Binh province, formed by the merger of Ha Nam (currently the second smallest province with 860 km2), Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh, will also have an area of approximately 4,000 km2, ranking above many other provinces and cities, including Hung Yen (merged with Thai Binh), Hai Phong, and Hanoi.