Bắc Giang was a former province in the Northeast region of Vietnam.
On June 12, 2025, Bắc Giang was incorporated into Bắc Ninh province (now Bắc Ninh city).
History It was part of Kinh Bắc (京北, "north [of] capital"), a region that included two modern provinces of Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh. It has been posed since the Lý Dynasty to emphasize the defense factor for Thăng Long capital-citadel.
Its current name Bắc Giang (北江, "northern river") has been informed in an unofficial way since the Trần Dynasty to describe the feud of An Sinh Prince Trần Liễu, where was on the right shore of the Cầu River.
Besides, it also has another name being Lục Nam (陆南), which has been given by the French and was grafted from Lục Ngạn rural district and Lục Nam river. In particular, both names described the terrain of the province, where there were many hills (lục ngạn) with a river flowing through its south (lục nam).
Middle Ages During the Later Lê dynasty, the province was Bắc Hà prefecture (Bắc Hà phủ). Following the ascent of the Nguyễn Dynasty, it became the prefecture of Thiên Phúc in 1822, before becoming the prefecture of Đa Phúc during the time of Emperor Tự Đức. From 5 November 1889 to 9 September 1891, there existed the province of Lục Nam. It comprised the districts of Bảo Lộc, Phượng Nhỡn, Lục Nam, Hữu Lũng (split from Lạng Giang and Bắc Ninh Province) and the rural district of Yên Bái (split from Lạng Sơn Province). In 1891 after the return of the districts of Bảo Lộc and Phượng Nhỡn back to Bắc Ninh province, Lục Nam was abolished and integrated into Đạo Quan Binh I (the 1st Infantry Regiment).
The modern province of Bắc Giang was founded on 10 October 1895, when it was created out of Bắc Ninh Province. It initially comprised the prefectures of Lạng Giang and Đa Phúc and the districts of Kim Anh, Yên Dũng, Phượng Nhỡn, Việt Yên, Hiệp Hòa, Yên Thế and some small territories south of Lục Nam River. The province capital was Phủ Lạng Thương, which is now the city of Bắc Giang. In 1896, the prefecture of Đa Phúc and the Kim Anh District was returned to Bắc Ninh Province.
XX century In March 1945, Japanese troops conducted multiple massacres of French prisoners of war in Bắc Giang province. Immediately after the surrender of the Bắc Giang garrison, they bayoneted 45 prisoners of war to death; four badly wounded men survived. On 11 March 22 prisoners were killed on the banks of the Cầu River. Thirteen more were killed in a similar fashion two days later. On 14 March, 14 French prisoners were executed behind a church.
In 1950, during the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Bắc Giang was put into the Confederation of Northern Vietnam () by the communist Việt Minh and comprised seven districts: Hiệp Hòa, Lục Ngạn, Yên Thế, Lạng Giang, Việt Yên, Yên Dũng, Hữu Lũng. On 22 February 1955, the Sơn Động district (Quảng Yên province) was incorporated into Bắc Giang province. On 1 July 1956, upon the formation of the Autonomous Region of Việt Bắc (), the Hữu Lũng district was transferred to Lạng Sơn province. On 21 January 1957, the districts of Sơn Động and Lục Ngạn were divided into the three districts of Sơn Động, Lục Ngạn and Lục Nam. On 27 October 1962, Bắc Giang merged with Bắc Ninh into the new Hà Bắc province, until it was re-partitioned on 1 January 1997 into its previous components.
XXI century Currently, Bắc Giang province situated to the east of Hanoi, it covers , and, as of 2024, its population was 1,962,600 people.
The province lies in the Red River Delta and is bordered by Quảng Ninh to the east, Lạng Sơn to the north, Thái Nguyên and the urban district of Sóc Sơn in the capital Hanoi to the west, and Bắc Ninh and Hải Dương to the south.
On 12 June 2025, as part of major nationwide reforms, Bắc Giang province was dissolved and merged with Bắc Ninh province.
Geography Bắc Giang lies in the Red River Delta. It borders Quảng Ninh to the east, Lạng Sơn to the north, Thái Nguyên and the urban district of Sóc Sơn in the capital Hanoi to the west, and Bắc Ninh and Hải Dương to the south. It comprises three land forms namely, the lowland or delta land, the midland and the mountainous region. While the midland areas are in the districts of Hiệp Hoà and Việt Yên, and the city of Bắc Giang, the mountainous districts are the Sơn Động, Lục Ngạn, Yên Thế, Tân Yên, Yên Dũng and Lạng Giang; the seven mountainous districts account for 72% of the area of Bắc Giang province.
Of the total land area of the province, is agricultural land, is forest land, is residential and urban land and for other uses. The farmland in the province is good for intensive farming of rice, vegetable, and fruit crops, and bulb trees. There is scope for expanding land under forests. The produce from the forests has been estimated as 3.5 million m3 of wood and 500 million trees of bamboo and neohouzeaua.
Bắc Giang occupies an area of , which is 1.2% of the area of the whole country. According to statistics from 2000, 32.4% of the land is used for agriculture, while 28.9% is used for forestry, industry or is otherwise uncleared. The remainder comprises mountains, unexploited waterways and land used for miscellaneous purposes. The province is from Hanoi and has a good network of roads such as the National Highways No. 1A, 31 and 279. It has railway lines from Bắc Giang to Hanoi, Lạng Sơn, Thái Nguyên, and mineral areas in Quảng Ninh by train.
The terrain is moderately mountainous, lying between the high mountains to the north and the Red River Delta to the south. Although a large part of the terrain is mountainous most of it is not isolated. The region to the northern end of the province is mountainous uncleared forest. To the east and southeast of the province is Đông Triều and Mount Yên Tử, located within the Yên Tử Nature Reserve. The elevation of the province is mostly in the range, with a maximum of (Mount Yên Tử). To the northeastern end of the province, along the border with Quảng Ninh there is the Khe Rỗ forest, spanning 71.53 km2, with a rich biodiversity.
Bắc Giang has a total of 347 km of rivers and springs, the three most prominent rivers are the Lục Nam, the Thương and the Cầu. Apart from waterways, Bắc Giang has many lakes, including Cấm Sơn Lake and Khuôn Thần Lake; the area covered by ponds, lakes and lagoons is .Cấm Sơn Lake lies in the district of Lục Ngạn, which borders Lạng Sơn Province. It is long and has a width varying from up to . It has an area of , but this can increase to during monsoonal flooding. Khuôn Thần Lake has an area of and the centre of the lake has five small hilly islands surrounded by 20-year-old pine forests. Pedal and motor boating are both permitted on the lake. Ethnic minority hamlets are located on the shores of the lake. Approach route to the lake is from Bắc Ninh - , then to Bắc Giang - ), further to the Hoà River - and finally arrive at Cấm Sơn Lake. The highest flow in the Thương River is reported to be 64.4 m3/s and lowest flow is 12.9 m3/s.
Climate The province has the dominant characteristics of the tropical, temperate climate zone of the Northern Plain. The temperature, humidity and rainfall vary over months and seasons. The climate in the province has been discerned in two distinct seasons - the hot, rainy season from May to September and the cold, dry season from November to March. The average temperature varies between ; the maximum temperature recorded was while the lowest temperature was . Humidity values are in the range of 73% to 87%. The average rainfall is reported to be . The annual sunshine hours of 1,500 to 1,700 hours is good to grow tropical and subtropical trees. The average wind velocity is and the average atmosphere pressure is 757.71 mmHg. Since the province is located away from Vietnam's eastern coast and the South China Sea (East Sea), the incidence of hurricanes and storms is rare, although whirlwinds and hailstorms are a localised phenomenon in a few mountainous districts.
Minerals Bắc Giang had 63 registered mines in 2005 involved in mining 15 types of minerals such as coal, metal, industrial minerals, building materials. Important mines are the coal mines in Yên Thế, Lục Ngạn and Sơn Động districts, which have coal reserves of about 114 million tonnes (including anthracite, lean-coal, peat-coal); Dong Ri mine has 107.3 million tonnes that has potential for a large scale industrial development. Iron ore reserves (0,5 million tonnes) have been found in the Yên Thế district. Bronze ore reserves (100,000 tonnes) have been found in Lục Ngạn and Sơn Động districts. Three million tonnes of Kaolin reserves have been located in Yên Dũng. Large reserves of clay (360 million m3) are concentrated in Việt Yên, Lang Giang, Lục Nam, Yên Thế, and Hiệp Hoà districts, about 100 m3 are used to make fire-bricks. Gravel and conglomerates are in Hiệp Hoà and Lục Nam districts.
Avifauna A joint survey of the multi-taxa inventory conducted in the Bắc Giang province by the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (CBC-AMNH) and the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources, Hanoi (IEBR) has recorded 146 species of birds, including 61 species from Khau Rịa and Mt Pu Tha Ca and 105 species from Mt Tây Côn Lĩnh.
Demographics According to the General Statistics Office of the Government of Vietnam, the population of Bắc Giang province as of 2016 was 1,657,600 with a density of 430 persons per km2 over a total land area of of the province. The male population during this period was 790,300, with females accounting for 838,100. The rural population was 1,473,000 against an urban population of 153,400.
According to the census of 1 April 2009, the population was 1,555,720 with a density of 407 people/km2, 1.7 times the national average. There are 26 ethnic groups in the province - of these, ethnic Kinh comprised 88.1%, followed by Nùng people with 4.5%, Tày with 2.6%; Sán Chay people and Sán Dìu people, both with 1.6%, Hoa 1.2% and Dao people 0.5%.
Administration Bắc Giang is subdivided into 10 district-level sub-divisions : 1 provincial city: Bắc Giang (capital) 2 town: Việt Yên Chũ 7 districts:
Hiệp Hòa Lạng Giang Lục Nam Lục Ngạn Sơn Động Tân Yên Yên Thế
They are further subdivided into 16 commune-level towns (or townlets), 207 communes, and 7 wards.