Vũng Tàu (Saigon accent: , Hanoi accent: ) is a former coastal city in southeast Vietnam. The city covered of area and consisted of 16 urban wards on Vũng Tàu island with an islandic commune of Long Sơn, including the same name island and Gò Găng Island. The city is known as a major crude oil extraction center of Vietnam.
Since July 2025, Vũng Tàu City was legally abolished and became a part of Ho Chi Minh City just like its parent province Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu. The name Vũng Tàu was then re-adopted by a ward-level subdivision covering the southern cape of the peninsula, the heart of the former city; however, the whole area of the former city is still colloquially called as 'Vũng Tàu' as is the case where many other major provincial cities in the nation that were dissolved.
Administrative divisions Since April 2015, Vũng Tàu consisted of 16 wards (phường): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Thắng Nhất, Thắng Nhì (formerly Ward 6), Thắng Tam, Nguyễn An Ninh, Rạch Dừa, and the commune (xã) of Long Sơn.
The wards were divided into quarters (khu phố), which were divided into smaller community groups (tổ dân phố). The commune was divided into hamlets (thôn).
History According to archeological excavations in 2002 and 2005 in Giồng Lớn, a coastal sandbank in Long Sơn island, humans have lived in the area since the 2nd millennium BC. Evidence of burial sites, working tools, clay pots, jewelleries, weapons and other tools suggested close connections with the Óc Eo Culture and trade activities with nearby countries.
Between 1st and 7th centuries, Vung Tau was ruled by Funan, who were replaced by the Chenla Kingdom. Little is known of Vũng Tàu during the Funan and Chenla period.
In 1295, Zhou Daguan, a Yuan Chinese diplomat serving under Temur Khan, passed by a place called Zhenpu (真蒲, also written as Chen-p'u or Chân Bồ), probably in the region of Vũng Tàu or southern Vietnam, on his official voyage to Angkor. In his book The Customs of Cambodia, he describes Zhenpu as the frontier and territory of Cambodia.
During 14th and 15th centuries, the cape that would become Vũng Tàu was a swamp which European trading ships visited regularly. The ships' activities inspired the name Vũng Tàu, which means "anchorage". The Portuguese referred to this place as Oporto Cinco Chagas or simply Cinco Chagas in their maps. Apres de Mannevillette (1707–1780), one of the greatest French chart-publishers, mentioned Saint Jacques in his book La Neptune Oriental. This term was later adopted by Europeans and the French.
The French Indochinese government later named it Cap Saint-Jacques (Cáp Xanh-Giắc, in Vietnamese). The cliff of Vũng Tàu is now called Mũi Nghinh Phong (literally meaning "Cape of breeze welcome" or "Cape of greeting wind").
Vietnamese settlement During the 16th and 17th century, conflicts caused by the opposing clans in the Trịnh–Nguyễn War led to emigrations of Vietnamese people from Thuận Quảng to the coastal area near Vũng Tàu.
Vũng Tàu was originally referred to as Tam Thắng ("Three Boats") in memory of the first three villages in this area: Thắng Nhất (or Nhứt), Thắng Nhì (or Nhị) and Thắng Tam, within the province of Biên Hòa under the Nguyễn dynasty. Under the reign of emperor Gia Long (1761–1820), when Malay pirates built a base here and subsequently became a danger to traders in Gia Định city, the king sent 3 army detachments to crack down on the pirates. The pirates were defeated and the troops were given the land as an incentive to continue to protect the area. The villages, then named Thắng Nhất 勝一, Thắng Nhì 勝二, Thắng Tam 勝三 occupied arable areas at the southern tip and along the western shore of the peninsula.
The kings Gia Long, Minh Mạng and Thiệu Trị invested heavily into Vũng Tàu's protection, by opening various defensive facilities. A military barrack, Phước Thắng bảo 福勝堡, on the hill slope overlooking the Buffalo Cape, then called was built in 1839. The barrack was operated as a fortress and armed with 6 bronze cannons
French colonisation 10 February 1859 marked the first use of cannons by Nguyễn's army, when they fired at French battleships from the fortress of Phước Thắng, located 100m from Vũng Tàu's Front Beach. This marked an important period in Vietnam's war against French invaders in southern Vietnam (then called Cochinchina).
In 1876, according to a decree by the French government, Vũng Tàu was merged in Bà Rịa county per Saigon's administration. During the 1880s there were talks about moving Saigon's port facilities to Vũng Tàu, but this came to nothing due to Saigon's better infrastructure.Saigon: A History, p. 82, by Nghia M. Vo (2011): "There were talks about moving the port facilities to Vũng Tàu at the mouth of the river where ..."
On 1 May 1895, the governor of Cochinchina established by decree that Cap Saint Jacques would thereafter be an autonomous town. In 1898, Cap Saint Jacques was merged with Bà Rịa county once again, but re-divided in 1899. In 1901, the population of Vũng Tàu was 5,690, of which 2,000 persons were immigrants from northern Vietnam. Most of the town's population made their living in the fishing, farming and service industries. On 4 April 1905, Cap Saint Jacques was made an administrative district of Bà Rịa province. In 1929, Cap Saint Jacques became a province, and in 1934 became a city (commune).
Between 1885 and 1934 period, the French designed the town centre along the Front Beach, then named Baie de Cocotiers, along with several notable architectural works for the administrative function such as l'Hôtel de l'Inspection, the Post Office, Grand Hotel and the Lighthouse. In 1898, the French governor of Indochina, Paul Doumer (who later became president of France), built the Villa Blanche in Vũng Tàu that is still a prominent landmark.
A national route was paved in 1896 (then called Colonial route 15), as well as a jetty in the Front Beach to connect Cap with Saigon.
In the First Indochina War Vũng Tàu's military hospital facility was used by French soldiers on sick leave.
On 21 July 1952 Viet Minh fighters disguising themselves in French military uniforms and armed with machetes, grenades, and Sten submachine guns snuck into the building's R&R centre, where a number of unarmed French officers were having dinner with their families. The rebels threw a grenade from the kitchen killing the Vietnamese bartender, then shot the cook Nguyen Van Loc who was trying to play dead. Attackers stationed in the hallway found the four children of Air Vietnam President Jean Perrin—Christian, Elysabeth, Michel, and Nicole—who were playing a game of hide-and-seek. Elysabeth, Christian and Nicole were gunned down by the Viet Minh, and Michel who tried to run away was hacked to death with machetes. Now that the coast was clear they entered the dining room where the French customers were attacked with gunfire and grenade attacks. Twenty people including four Vietnamese civilians were killed in the attack, and 23 were injured. The only people to survive unharmed were a boy who hid behind a chair and a lieutenant who covered himself in a dead woman's blood to make it appear he was dead.Holdfast Newsletter
South Vietnam
After the Geneva Agreement was signed, the State of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam resettled 1 million people from the North to southern Vietnam, including more than 800,000 Catholic Christians. Three temporary resettlement camps were established in Vung Tau. The local government placed these new residents at key locations along Route 15 (now National Route 51) such as Bến Đá, Thắng Nhất, Thắng Nhì, Rạch Dừa, Phước Thắng and Phước Thành, forming many religious Catholic parishes throughout the region.
With a strategic location right at the sea route close to the capital city of Saigon, the government of the Republic of Vietnam and its allies in the United States, Australia, and South Korea consolidated and developed Vung Tau into a strategic defense spot. After taking over French military facilities here, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam established many large training facilities such as the Training Center for Rural Construction Officers, the Communications School, and the Military Police School, Cade School and Military Hospital.
During the Vietnam War, the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group was based in Vũng Tàu – as were various United States military units at different times. Vũng Tàu also became popular for R&R, among in-country US, Australian and New Zealand personnel.Keith W. Nolan. Search and Destroy: The Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron 2010, p. 35: "Harrington anticipated rendezvousing with his vehicles, supplies, and troops at the port city of Vũng Tàu in III Corps, then launching operations north-west of Sài Gòn with the 25th Division."
Due to its rising significance as a military base and coastal beach resort, Vung Tau attracted a large number of residents during the war time. Its population rose from 29,390 in 1955 to a whopping 119,300 in 1973.Gauthier, Julien. L'Indochine au travail dans la paix française. Paris: Eyrolles, 1949. Tr 198
The fall of Vũng Tàu In the last days of April 1975, many South Vietnamese troops retreated to Vũng Tàu as the communists closed on southern Vietnam. After the capture of Bà Rịa and Phước Tuy province on 27 April, the 3rd Division forces began their attacks on Vũng Tàu. However, the Cỏ May bridge had been destroyed, and strong defense from ARVN Airborne at the south end of the bridge proved fatal to the northern forces. The Division's 12th Regiment was then landed by fishing boats behind the Airborne lines and this, together with a renewed attack by the 2nd Regiment, forced the Airborne to retreat into Vũng Tàu. At 01:30 on 30 April the Division began its attack on Vũng Tàu forcing the Airborne into the city center where they eventually succumbed at 11:00.:chapter 6
A fierce armed hostage crisis took place between the ARVN officers and the communists at Palace Hotel ended with the final surrender at 13:30.
Reunified Vietnam After the reunification of Vietnam, Vũng Tàu was administered as a city under the Republic of Southern Vietnam. Politically, it is governed by the Military Administration Committee of Vũng Tàu City, led by Phạm Văn Hy (Tư Hy), Chairman, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the City. In January 1976, a major adjustment of administrative boundary in southern Vietnam saw the merger of Vũng Tàu and three nearby provinces into Đồng Nai. Vũng Tàu then became a district-level town (thị xã) of this new province.
After the war, due to Vietnam being put under debilitating trade embargoes by the United States and failing economy, Vũng Tàu was a common launching place for the "Vietnamese boat people" – refugees escaping the post-war Communist regime. The government-led nationalisation of private entreprises, collectivisation of the economy, central planning and money changes carried out in the post-war years brought in hardships for the majority of people.
Special zone After oil was discovered in southern Vietnamese waters, the Vietnamese government pushed for the exploitation and extraction of this new resource. On 30 May 1979, Vũng Tàu was merged with Côn Đảo Islands to form Vũng Tàu-Côn Đảo Special Zone in a bid to facilitate the new service and logistics hub for the oil industry. Between 1980 and 1982, the city saw drastic changes in infrastructure and demographically was transformed into a service and logistics hub for the new industry. Politically, the Special zone was given the same status as provinces and centrally-run cities. Administratively, it was divided into 1 district (Côn Đảo) and 5 wards: Châu Thành, Thắng Nhất, Thắng Nhì, Thắng Tam, Phước Thắng and Long Sơn commune.