A district-level town () is a former type of second tier subdivision of Vietnam. District-level towns had equal status with urban districts, districts, municipal cities, and provincial cites. Towns were officially classified into Class-3 or Class-4 (as a result of Decree No. 42/2009/ND-CP).

District-level towns were abolished in 2025 along with other district-level subdivisions.

Towns could only be the capital of a province, and not of a municipality. At the third tier, towns were divided into wards and communes.

Many provincial capitals were once towns, though many of these became provincial cities.

District level In Vietnam, there were other kinds of district-level urban subdivision: urban districts (), districts (huyện), municipal cities (thành phố thuộc thành phố trực thuộc trung ương) and provincial cities (thành phố thuộc tỉnh). Urban districts were for urban areas, and only consisted of wards, but provincial cities and towns could consist of wards (in urban areas) and communes (in suburban areas). Towns were similar to provincial cities, but smaller and with a lower population density. Moreover, municipalities could includes towns (such as Sơn Tây, Hanoi), and even municipal cities.

Towns were categorized as urban, with its residents classified as an urban population, although they could include rural areas where residents were involved in agriculture. Main economic activities in towns included industry, services and business.

Upgrade and downgrade Commune-level towns or townships () were often upgraded to towns, or district-level towns (), and district-level town could develop into provincial cities.

But district-level towns could also be downgraded to a district capital, especially when there was a merger of provinces. Examples include An Lộc (the provincial capital of former Bình Long Province), and Sông Cầu (formerly the provincial capital of Phú Yên Province).

Some district-level towns were downgraded to commune-level towns for a while and then re-established, such as Nghĩa Lộ, Bắc Cạn, Đồ Sơn (which from 2007 became the urban district of Đồ Sơn), Phúc Yên, Hà Tiên, Vị Thanh, and Gia Nghĩa.

When a district-level town was downgraded, the urban area became a commune-level town, while suburban areas were merged into other districts or established as rural communes. Some district-level towns became commune-level towns and were not re-established, for example: Đô Lương, Tiên Yên, Ninh Giang, Cát Bà, and Vĩnh An of Đồng Nai Province.

One unusual example was Phan Rang, a district-level town which was divided into two commune-level towns, Phan Rang and Tháp Chàm, in 1977. Both commune-level towns belonged to a county (Ninh Hải and An Sơn, respectively), and in 1981 the two commune-level towns were merged and were re-established as a county-level town named Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, and later became a provincial city.

Kiến An, a former district-level town, became a municipality of Hải Phòng from 1962 to 1980, and was later downgraded into a commune-level town. It was reinstated between 1988 to 1994 before becoming an urban district of Hải Phòng.

Đồ Sơn was the only district-level town within a municipality (Hải Phòng). It acquired this status in 1994, and continued to be until September 12, 2007 when it became an urban district of Hải Phòng.

Sơn Tây was a district-level town governed as part of Hanoi from 1978 to 1991, before being merged into Hà Tây Province. It was upgraded into a provincial city in August 2007, but when Hà Tây Province was merged into Hanoi in 2008, Sơn Tây was again made into a district-level town.

List of district-level towns Municipal district-level towns Name Municipality Population (person) Area (km2) Established Class Sơn Tây Hà Nội 230,577 113.50 1884, re-established 2009 Hương Thủy Huế 95,299 426.96 2010 Hương Trà Huế 72,677 392.32 2011 Phong Điền Huế 105,597 945.66 2025

Provincial district-level towns Name Province Population (person) Area (km2) Established Class An Khê Gia Lai 67,711 200.65 2003 An Nhơn Bình Định 178,709 242.70 2011 Ayun Pa Gia Lai 41,160 287.00 2007 Ba Đồn Quảng Bình 106,413 162.30 2013 Bỉm Sơn Thanh Hóa 69,826 63.86 1981 Bình Long Bình Phước 105,520 126.28 2009 Bình Minh Vĩnh Long 95,639 93.63 2012 Buôn Hồ Đắk Lắk 100,357 282.61 2008 Cai Lậy Tiền Giang 143,050 140.20 2008 Chơn Thành Bình Phước 121,083 390.34 2020 Chũ Bắc Giang 127,881 251.55 2025 Duy Tiên Hà Nam 177,150 120.92 2019 Duyên Hải Trà Vinh 77,006 193.40 2015 Điện Bàn Quảng Nam 226,564 214.28 2015 Đông Hòa Phú Yên 119,991 265.62 2020 Đức Phổ Quảng Ngãi 155,743 371.67 2020 Giá Rai Bạc Liêu 166,324 353.99 2015 Hòa Thành Tây Ninh 139,853 82.92 2020 Hoài Nhơn Bình Định 259,287 420.87 2020 Hoàng Mai Nghệ An 113,360 169.75 2013 Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh 36,940 58.95 1992 Kiến Tường Long An 51,620 204.36 2013 Kim Bảng Hà Nam 145,744 175.40 2025 Kinh Môn Hải Dương 215,637 165.33 2019 Kỳ Anh Hà Tĩnh 82,955 280.25 2015 La Gi Bình Thuận 108,519 185.37 2005 Long Mỹ Hậu Giang 61,986 149.27 2015 Mộc Châu Sơn La 148,259 1,072.09 2025 Mường Lay Điện Biên 11,618 112.67 1971 Mỹ Hào Hưng Yên 115,608 79.37 2019 Ngã Năm Sóc Trăng 108,995 241.93 2013 Nghi Sơn Thanh Hoá 302,210 455.61 2020 Nghĩa Lộ Yên Bái 68,206 107.78 1995 Ninh Hòa Khánh Hòa 230,566 1,197.50 2010 Phú Thọ Phú Thọ 70,653 64.60 1903 Phước Long Bình Phước 81,200 119.38 2009 Quảng Trị Quảng Trị 23,356 74.00 1989 Quảng Yên Quảng Ninh 180,028 333.70 2011 Quế Võ Bắc Ninh 223,964 155.11 2023 Sa Pa Lào Cai 81,857 681.37 2019 Sông Cầu Phú Yên 120,780 492.80 2009 Tân Châu An Giang 141,342 176.7 2009 Thái Hòa Nghệ An 66,127 135.14 2007 Thuận Thành Bắc Ninh 199,577 117.83 2023 Tịnh Biên An Giang 143,098 354.59 2023 Trảng Bàng Tây Ninh 235,352 340.14 2020 Vĩnh Châu Sóc Trăng 211,418 471.00 2011 Việt Yên Bắc Giang 229,162 171.01 2024

See also Mueang Urban township

References