Tân An

Tân An is a former provincial city and the capital of the former Long An province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It was upgraded from town status to city status on 26 August 2009, and had 165,214 people in 2009 over an area of 81.79 square kilometres. The city lies 47 kilometres southwest of the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, bordered on the north by Thủ Thừa district, on the east by Tân Trụ and Châu Thành districts and on the west and southwest by Tiền Giang province, and Ward 1 is its economic, political and cultural centre. It was the political, cultural, economic, scientific and technological centre of Long An province, in the Southern Key Economic Region, with National Highway 1A, National Highway 62 and the Vàm Cỏ Tây river passing through its centre. Tân An and its surroundings were once a province of their own, created by the French in December 1889 and merged into Long An Province in October 1956. During the Vietnam War it was the headquarters of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division of the United States.