District (Vietnam)

On the Second Tier, Vietnam is divided into 713 units. Urban District (Vietnamese: quận Chữ nôm: (郡)), together with Provincial City (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh), Town (thị xã) and Rural District (huyện) have an equal status under the Second Tier units.

The rural districts are subordinate to Municipality or Province as the Second Tier unit. At the Third Tier, Rural District is divided into Township and Commune.

The rural districts existed since the 15th century. Prior to 1945 the huyện (chữ Hán: ) was also called district and earlier "sub-prefecture" of the prefectures, or phủ into which provinces were previously divided. The administrative reorganization by Minh Mạng in 1832 did not substantially affect the position of the huyện, but concentrated administration of the level above the huyện, the phủ under new larger unit of the tỉnh and provincial governors. The position of local prefects and district heads remained unaffected.

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Wikipedia