Vĩnh Long ( listen) is the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. The name was spelled 永隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the former Han-Nom writing system.
Vĩnh Long covers 48.1 km2 and has a population of 147,039 (as of 2009). Vĩnh Long is on the Cổ Chiên river, which branches out from the Mekong River at the narrows of Mỹ Thuận about 10 kilometers upstream, only to meet it later downstream. Across the Cổ Chiên river from Vĩnh Long are the An Binh and Bình Hòa Phước islands, some 15 kilometers across, with the Mekong River on the other side. A number of canals run through Vĩnh Long, with tall vehicular bridges crossing them. Transport by boat is possible, although parts of the town, particularly An Binh, become unreachable at low tide.
Vĩnh Long is about two hours from the large city of Cần Thơ in the adjacent Hậu Giang Province, and about three hours from Saigon. The floating market town of Cái Bèi is on the other side of the An Binh island and is the frequent destination for tourist boats from Vĩnh Long.
Coordinates: 10°15′N 105°58′E / 10.250°N 105.967°E / 10.250; 105.967
|
|
Famous quotes containing the word long:
“If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man,—and I think that it is, though only the wise improve their advantages,—it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)