Bến Tre

Bến Tre is a former city in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam, and was the capital of the former Bến Tre Province. In 2025 the Vietnamese government issued a resolution merging that province with the rest of Vĩnh Long, and the city is now described as lying in Vĩnh Long province. It stands on Bảo Island, 85 kilometres southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and covers 65.75 square kilometres, with 124,499 people at the 2019 census. The terrain is flat and cut by canals, at an average elevation of 1 to 1.5 metres above sea level, with the Hàm Luông River along its west side. The name means a wharf with many bamboos, and French colonial rule made the town a provincial capital in 1900. It was nearly destroyed by bombing in the Battle of Ben Tre during the 1968 Tet Offensive, and it became an official city in 2009.