Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway (Vietnamese language

Vietnamese language

Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

: Đường Hồ Chí Minh) is a highway in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Road 1A. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh

Ho Chi Minh

Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

. The route roughly coincides with the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Ho Chi Minh trail

The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...

 during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. It is a two-lane highway and is planned for 8-lane highway and will connect Cao Bang Province

Cao Bang Province

Cao Bằng is a province of northeastern Vietnam. The province has borders with Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Bắc Kạn, and Lạng Sơn provinces within Vietnam. It also has common international border with Guangxi province of the People's Republic of China...

 by the Sino-Vietnamese border to Ca Mau Province

Ca Mau Province

Cà Mau is a province of Vietnam, named after its capital city. It is located in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam, and is the southernmost of Vietnam's 58 provinces...

 with the total length of 3,167 km. As of 2007, this road runs from Hoa Lac in Hanoi

Ha Tay Province

Hà Tây is a former province of Vietnam, in the Red River Delta, now part of Hanoi. On May 29, 2008, it was decided that Ha Tay would merge with Hanoi province on August 1, 2008.- Geography :...

 to Ngoc Hoi in Kon Tum Province

Kon Tum Province

Kon Tum province lies in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam and shares borders with Laos and Cambodia. It has an area of 9,934 square km and a population of approximately 330,000. The economy is primarily agricultural.-Name:...

 with a total length of 1,234.5 km.

In the provinces of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Nam, the road divides into two separate roads: Đường Hồ Chí Minh Dông (Ho Chi Minh Highway East) and Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây (Ho Chi Minh Highway West). Đường Hồ Chí Minh Dông is a well-traveled road with many trucks, towns and restaurants along it. There are few steep hills on the Đường Hồ Chí Minh Dông, with the exception of the portion of the highway in Quảng Nam just before it merges with Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây. Conversely, Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây cuts through extremely mountainous areas with steep hills and few gas stations. Consequently, all heavy traffic avoids these portion of Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây. At times heavy-rain washes out small segments of Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây, making it impassable to trucks and cars. Many farmers allow their goats, buffalo and cows to graze along the roadside, and they frequently wander onto the road, so drivers must be careful on this stretch of the road.

When the highway was first built, a small portion of Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây within Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Nam passed through Laos, but the highway now stays completely within Vietnam's borders.

Localities on the route

Pác Bó, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn

Bac Kan

-Administrative divisions:The town is divided into 4 wards: Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Đức Xuân, Sông Cầu and Phùng Chí Kiên and 4 communes: Huyền Tụng, Dương Quang, Nông Thượng, Xuất Hóa....

, Chợ Mới, Bắc Kạn

Chợ Mới, Bắc Kạn

Chợ Mới is a township and capital town of Cho Moi District, Bac Kan province, in Vietnam....

, Chợ Chu, đèo Muồng, crossroads of Trung Sơn, crossroads of Phú Thịnh, Bình Ca bridge (sông Lô), Km124+500 Quốc lộ 2, crossroads of Phú Hộ, Phú Thọ

Phú Thọ

Phú Thọ is an urban district and town in Phu Tho province, Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 63,333. The district covers an area of 64 km²....

, Ngọc Tháp Bridge (Hồng River), Cổ Tiết, Trung Hà bridge, Sơn Tây

Son Tay

Sơn Tây is an urban district and city in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was the capital of Son Tay province before merging with Ha Dong province in 1965...

, Hòa Lạc

Hòa Lạc

Hòa Lạc is a commune and village of the Phú Tân District of An Giang Province, Vietnam....

, Xuân Mai, Chợ Bến, Xóm Kho, Ngọc Lạc

Ngoc Lac

Ngoc Lac is a district of Thanh Hoa Province in the North Central Coastal region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the district had a population of 132,191. The district covers an area of 504 km². The district capital lies at Ngoc Lac.-References:...

, Lâm La, Thái Hòa

Thai Hoa

Thái Hòa is a town of Nghe An province, in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It was established in November 2007 on the basis of Thai Hoa townlet and seven communes formerly belonging to Nghia Dan District. At that time, it had 66000 inhabitants on an area of 135 km²...

, Tân Kỳ

Tan Ky

Tân Kỳ là một huyện miền núi của tỉnh Nghệ AnAs of 2003 the district had a population of . The district covers an area of 726 km². The district capital lies at Tan Ky.-References:...

, Khe Cò, Phố Châu, Vũ Quang

Vu Quang

Vu Quang is a remote forested region of Vietnam, in which several new species of deer and antelope have been discovered since the 1990s. Some are so new that scientific description is still pending, although most have local names....

, Tân Ấp, Khe Gát, Bùng

Bung

A bung is truncated cylindrical or conical closure to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube or barrel. Unlike a lid which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner volume, a bung is partially inserted inside the container to act as a seal...

, Cam Lộ

Cam Lo

Cam Lộ is a rural district of Quang Tri province in the North Central Coastal region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 46,231. The district covers an area of 347 km²...

, cầu Tuần, Khe Tre, Đê Bay Pass, Mũi Trâu Pass, Túy Loan, Hòa Khương, Thạnh Mỹ, Lò Xo Pass, Ngọc Hồi, Kon Tum, PleiKu

Pleiku

Pleiku is a town in central Vietnam, located in that nation's central highland region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province; it is inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or Degar....

, Buôn Ma Thuột

Buon Ma Thuot

Buôn Ma Thuột or sometimes Buon Ma Thuat or Ban Mê Thuột, is the capital city of Dak Lak Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Its population is approximately 300,000...

, Gia Nghĩa

Gia Nghia

Gia Nghĩa is the capital town of Ðăk Nông Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam....

, Chơn Thành

Chon Thanh

Chon Thanh , is a district of Binh Phuoc Province, in the southeastern region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the district had a population of 59,856. The district covers an area of 415 km². The district capital lies at Chon Thanh....

, crossroads of Bình Phước, Tân Thạnh

Tân Thạnh

Tân Thạnh is a commune and village in Giá Rai District, Bạc Liêu Province, in south-western Vietnam.-References:...

, Mỹ An

Mỹ An

Mỹ An is a commune and village in Lục Ngạn District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam....

, Cao Lãnh

Cao Lanh

Cao Lãnh is the capital city of Dong Thap province, Vietnam. It is located at around .Prior to 1975, Cao Lanh was the capital of the Kien Phong province, in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. In February 1976, Kien Phong was merged with Sa Dec province to become Dong Thap province. Sa Dec...

, Cao lãnh Bridge (Tiền River), Vàm Cống Bridge (Bassac River

Bassac River

The Bassac River is a distributary of the Tonle Sap and Mekong River. The river starts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and flows southerly, crossing the border into Vietnam near Châu Đốc....

), Rạch Sỏi, Minh Lương, Gò Quao

Go Quao

Go Quao is a district of Kien Giang Province in the Mekong River Delta region of Vietnam.-Divisions:The district is divided into communes:...

, Vĩnh Thuận

Vinh Thuan

Vĩnh Thuận is a rural district of Kien Giang province in the Mekong River Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 133,539. The district covers an area of 608 km². The district capital lies at Vinh Thuan....

, Cà Mau City, Đầm Cùng bridge, Năm Căn

Năm Căn

Năm Căn is a commune-level town and capital town of Năm Căn District, Ca Mau province, in Vietnam. Nam Can is 50 km south of Ca Mau City, the provincial capital. The town is located on the river. Vinashin has a shipbuilding factory here. An oil refinery is considered to be built here by an...

, Đất Mũi

Đất Mũi

Đất Mũi is a commune and village in Ngọc Hiển District, Ca Mau Province, in Vietnam....

.