South Central Coast

In Vietnam, South Central Coast and South Central Region are two terms which can refer to the same region or two regions that do not correspond to each other. South Central Coast consists of the independent municipality of Đà Nẵng and seven other provinces, which means South Central Coast doesn't include Central Highlands. Nevertheless, the term "South Central Region" can also be used to include Central Highlands as it is part of southern part of Central Vietnam.
The region has traditionally been one of the main gateways to neighbouring Central Highlands. It has a complex geography with mountain ranges extending up to the coast, making transport and infrastructure development challenging but favouring tourism in some places, most notable around Phan Thiết, Nha Trang, and Da Nang. Tourism also benefits from Cham cultural heritage, including architecture, performances, and museums. It is generally much less industrialized and developed than the region around Ho Chi Minh City or the Red River Delta, but it has some regional industrial centers in Da Nang, around Nha Trang and Quy Nhon.
South Central Coast - 8 provinces: Da Nang, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận. The two southern provinces Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận are sometimes seen as part of the Southeast region. In the Nguyễn dynasty, this area was known as Tả Trực Kỳ.

Provinces

History

The region was inhabited by people of the Sa Huỳnh culture between around 1000 BC and 200 AD. Remains of this ancient civilization were found in Sa Huỳnh, Quảng Ngãi province. It was succeeded by a kingdom called Lin-yi by the Chinese or Lâm Ấp in Vietnamese that was in existence from 192 AD. Its political center was just north of the South Central Coast near Huế. Lin-yi was culturally influenced by India. According to Chinese sources, it repeatedly raided Jiaozhi, which was one factor that contributed to several wars between Jiaozhi and their Chinese colonizers against Lin-yi in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries.
The historic territory of Champa roughly equals the South Central Coast region, although it has at times extended well into the North Central Coast and its influence also extended into the Central Highlands. Except for its first capital, all of Champa's political centers were located in the South Central Coast. Some of the earlier capitals, as well as the religious center of Mỹ Sơn and the port city of Hội An were located in the territory of present-day Quảng Nam province. Probably due to defeats in wars against Đại Việt the political center shifted further south to Vijaya in what is now Bình Định province. After the fall of Vijaya to Vietnam in 1471, Champa had to retreat to the southern principality of Panduranga, while much of occupied Champa continued to exist as a sort of protectorate within Vietnam for some time.
Relations with the mountainous hinterland and traders from overseas were crucial. Champa's trade specialized on procuring luxury goods such as eaglewood from the Central Highlands and even as far as Attapeu in southern Laos and selling them to foreign merchants through their ports at Hội An and Thi Nai.

Geography

Topography

In contrast to most other coastal regions in Vietnam, the South Central Coast's terrain is not mainly flat. It has a diverse topography with mountain ranges and hills extending not only along the entire border with Central Highlands but also to the coast, forming several passes, bays, peninsulas, and beautiful sceneries with beaches and mountain backdrops. Many of the highest mountains are at or near the border with the Central Highlands, the highest of which is Ngọc Linh mountain at 2598 meters. There are several high peaks near the coast of Da Nang city, Bình Định province, Phú Yên province, Khánh Hòa province, and Ninh Thuận province.
Several mountain passes function as geographic borders between the provinces of the region, with one or two provinces between two major passes. Major passes include the Hải Vân Pass on the northern border of the region, Binh De pass between Quảng Ngãi province and Bình Định province, Cù Mông pass between Bình Định province and Phú Yên province and Cả pass between Phú Yên province and Khánh Hòa province.
The region includes several islands. Some of the larger ones are the Lý Sơn Islands, the Cham Islands, and Phú Quý island. The Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands are officially administered by Da Nang City and Khánh Hòa Province. However, sovereignty over them is disputed and Vietnam actually controls only some of the Spratly Islands.

Hydrography

There are several rivers along the South Central Coast, the most significant being Thu Bồn River in Quảng Nam province and Đà Rằng River in Phú Yên province (most of the latter's river system is in the Central Highlands. Other major rivers include Trà Khúc River in Quảng Ngãi province, Côn River in Bình Định province, Ki Lo River in Phú Yên province, Cái River in Khánh Hòa province, and Dinh River in Ninh Thuận province.

Climate

Summer temperatures average above along most of the coast with slightly lower temperatures further inland. Winters are significantly cooler with average temperatures ranging from around. The region includes some of the most arid as well as some of wettest climates in Vietnam, with the rest being somewhere in between. While average precipitation per year exceeds in many parts of the three provinces in the north of the region, it is less than in much of Ninh Thuận province.

Economy

Agriculture, forestry, fishing

	in bn VND	% of national
Sector 1 GDP	22,557	9.7
Agriculture gross output	23,949.1	10.1
Forestry gross output	1325.1	12.35
Fishery gross output	12,410.8	14.21

The South Central Coast's sector 1 performance can be seen as average in the national context, with its GDP contribution similar to its population share. Rice output is below average, but output of some other crops as well as forestry and fishing are above average.
The province with the largest sector 1 economy is Bình Định, due to its relatively large output in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. It is followed by Quảng Nam province with 15%, Bình Thuận province with 14.6%, Quảng Ngãi province and Khánh Hòa province with around 13% each. Forestry output is concentrated in Quảng Nam province and Bình Định province with around 25% each, with Quảng Ngãi province and Bình Thuận province contribute another 15% each, while Da Nang and especially Ninh Thuận province have very small forestry sectors. Fishing output is highest in Khánh Hòa province and Bình Định province, followed by Phú Yên province and Quảng Ngãi province with around 12% each and Quảng Nam province, Bình Thuận province and Phú Yên province with 9 to 10% each.
2.52 million tons of rice were harvested in the South Central Coast in 2007, 7% of Vietnam's total rice harvest. The main producers are Bình Định, Bình Thuận, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, and Phú Yên. The region's maize harvest made up 7.5% of the nation's total.

	Output	% of national	Major producers
Cotton	3000 tons	18.63	Bình Thuận, Phú Yên, Ninh Thuận
Tobacco	5000 tons	15.67	Ninh Thuận, Quảng Nam, Phú Yên
Sugar-cane	2,643,600 tons	15.21	Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Quảng Ngãi
Coconuts	126,696 tons	12.1	Bình Định, Quảng Ngãi
Cashew nuts	33,391 tons	11.06	Bình Thuận, Khánh Hòa, Bình Định
Peanuts	51,900 tons	10.28	Quảng Nam, Bình Định, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Thuận
Pepper	3445 tons	3.82	Bình Thuận
Rubber	12,996 tons	2.16	Bình Thuận

Some tea and coffee are also planted in the region, but their output is insignificant in the national context.

Industry

The South Central Coast is central Vietnam's most industrialized region, mostly due to major industrial centers such as Da Nang and Khánh Hòa province. However, industrialization in the region is still lagging behind the national average and is far behind Vietnam's two major industrial hubs around Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The region's industrial GDP was 35,885.4 billion VND in 2007, accounting for 37.35% of the region's total GDP and 7.54% of Vietnam's industrial GDP. More than 40% of that is produced in Khánh Hòa province and Da Nang and another 13 to 14% each by Quảng Nam province and Bình Định province. Bình Thuận province has been able to increase its share to 12% with growth rates in industry averaging 21.6% from 2000 to 2007. Most other provinces have achieved growth between 15 and 20%, with slower growth only in the established industrial centers of Da Nang and Khánh Hòa province. The region's average industrial growth rate was 16.3% per year from 2000 to 2007, making the main driving force of the economy.
Da Nang has a relatively diversified industrial sector including textiles, fabric, fertilizer, cement, soap, paper, pharmaceuticals etc. Khánh Hòa's industrial sector is still more reliant on basic industries such as food and seafood processing and beverages, shipbuilding, etc. The province also benefited significantly from investment related to the former Russian naval base at Cam Ranh, to which around 30 factories were attached. Quy Nhon is the region's third largest industrial center. It has been able to capitalize on its advantage as a gateway to the Central Highlands to develop resource-based industries and a major furniture manufacturing cluster. Other industries are more dispersed, such as construction materials and basic food processing.
New industrial centers are currently being developed in the economic zones: Chu Lai Economic Zone in southern Quảng Nam, nearby Dung Quat Economic Zone in northern Quảng Ngãi province, Nhơn Hội Economic Zone in Quy Nhon, and Van Phong Economic Zone in northern Khánh Hòa province. All four zones have large areas of land, major infrastructure and industrial projects. However, in contrast to the smaller industrial parks, they aren't limited to industrial sectors.