Bến Tre was a former province of Vietnam. It was one of the country's southern provinces, and was situated in the Mekong Delta. It is also famous for its coconuts and the Coconut Religion nationwide. Disconnected from the mainland, the province lies mainly on 2 river islands. It has land borders only with Vĩnh Long Province, which occupies the western tip of the southern river island.

On June 12, 2025, Bến Tre was incorporated into Vĩnh Long province.

Etymology

The origin of the province’s name is still unclear as it was first inhabited by the Khmer people, though some speculated it may have been called Kompong Russei. Its original name was then later altered by incoming waves of immigration and settlement by ethnic Vietnamese into Bến Tre. In Vietnamese, "Bến Tre" literally means "bamboo port", which is quite inaccurate considering it is regionally famous for its coconuts.

History

Since 1757, the land of Bến Tre belonged to Tân An canton, Định Viễn district, under Long Hồ administrative unit. During the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng, the area was part of Hoằng Trị prefecture (comprising Tân Ninh, Bảo An, and Bảo Hậu districts), under Vĩnh Long province. In 1832, An Hóa islet (now part of Bến Tre province) was included in Kiến Hòa district.

In 1867, the French established Bến Tre as a district (hạt). After several administrative changes, it officially became Bến Tre province in 1900. By 1912, the province was divided into four districts: Ba Tri, Sóc Sải, Mỏ Cày, and Thạnh Phú; Sóc Sải was later renamed Châu Thành in 1927. In 1956, the province was renamed Kiến Hòa and expanded to include nine districts.

The revolutionary government continued to refer to it as Bến Tre province. After 1975, there were plans to merge it with other provinces, but it remained a separate province. In 1976, the name was officially changed back to Bến Tre, consisting of one town and seven districts.

In 2009, Mỏ Cày was divided into two districts: Mỏ Cày Bắc (North) and Mỏ Cày Nam (South); Bến Tre town was also upgraded to a city. Today, Bến Tre province has nine district-level administrative units, with Bến Tre city classified as a grade-II urban area since 2019.

On 12 June 2025, as part of major nationwide reforms, Bến Tre province was dissolved and merged with Vĩnh Long province. Bến Tre province is, on average, only above sea level.

Transportation

Construction on the Rạch Miễu Bridge, which links Bến Tre to neighboring Tiền Giang province to its north, was started in 2002. The bridge was finished and opened for traffic on 19 January 2009. Before that time, Bến Tre was only accessible to automobiles via ferry.

Notable people

  • Nguyễn Phương Khánh (born 1995), beauty pageant
  • Mai Thiên Vân (born 1982), singer and Bến Tre native; now lives in the U.S.

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File:Kênh Chợ Lách.jpg|

File:Một khách sạn ở cồn Phụng.jpg|

File:Đình Tân Thạch.jpg|

File:Nhà bia Trương Vĩnh Ký.jpg|

File:Nơi hành đạo của ông Đạo Dừa.jpg|

File:Nhà thờ dòng Ki Tô Vua.jpg|

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File: Tàu du lịch cặp bến cồn Phụng.jpg|Tourist boats dock at Con Phung wharf on Tiền River

File: Vườn bến tre.jpg|The coconut garden is green thanks to alluvium

File: Coconuttree.JPG|Coconut is a large-scale and popular crop grown in bến Tre

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References

  • Bến Tre website (in English)
  • Bến Tre website (in Vietnamese)
  • Bến Tre province profile
  • Website Thành phố Bến Tre - Ben Tre City