Cà Mau


Cà Mau is a former city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and most goods are transported there by boats and barges.
The population is approximately 226,372 as of 2019. Cà Mau is accessible by road via National Route 1 or by air. The city is administratively subdivided into eight urban phường and seven rural xã.

Economy

Cà Mau is Vietnam's biggest exporter of shrimp and prawns. In 2005, Cà Mau province alone exported about $500 million of shrimp and prawns. A large petroleum project under construction, the Cà Mau Gas-Power-Fertilizer Complex, is valued at $1.4 billion. It includes:
  • 2 thermal power plants with a total capacity of 1500 MW
  • A fertilizer plant with production capacity at 800,000 metric tonnes of urea/year, and
  • A gas pipeline 18 inches in diameter to extend 298 km offshore and with 27 km onshore piping in gas from the PM3 gas field shared with Malaysia. Two billion cubic metres of gas are piped to feed these plants per year.
The project opened in December 2008.

Tourism

Cà Mau has several attractions that draw domestic and international tourists. These include several wild bird parks, the southernmost point in Vietnam, and a number of pagodas. Near Cà Mau is the U Minh area with its famous mangrove forest and swamp cuisine: fish hot pots, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Khmer cuisines. Cà Mau also has several 1- to 3-star hotel restaurants.

History

During the 1st millennium, the region of the present Cà Mau province was part of the Kingdom of Funan, which included Laos, Cambodia, parts of eastern Thailand, and southern Vietnam. This region was later conquered by the kingdom of Chenla and the Khmer Empire. In 1757, the land belonging to Cà Mau province was ceded by the Khmer king to the Nguyễn lord of Đàng Trong with an early settlement of Vietnamese people. During French rule, Cà Mau was only a small town. During the Republic of Vietnam, the area nearby Cà Mau was a stronghold for the Việt Cộng, a Hanoi-backed guerrilla group fighting the United States Army and the South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War. After 1975, Cà Mau was made the administrative seat and the governmental center of Minh Hải province, which included Cà Mau and Bạc Liêu province. In 1995, Cà Mau province broke off from Minh Hải province with Cà Mau as its capital. In 1999, the prime minister by a decree recognised Cà Mau as a borough – Cà Mau Borough. In 2010, the Prime Minister further upgraded City of Cà Mau to a 2nd class urban area.

Transportation

Cà Mau is served by Cà Mau Airport.

Demographics

The majority of its residents is ethnic Vietnamese, in addition to 300 Khmer Krom households and 400 Hoa households.

Climate

Cà Mau has a tropical monsoon climate with a lengthy wet season and a relatively brief dry season. The wet season lasts from April to December, and the greatest rainfall occurs in August with. The dry season lasts from January to March, the driest month being February with an average of. Temperatures are high year round, but rise noticeably before the arrival of the monsoons in April.

People from Cà Mau