Qui Nhơn

Quy Nhơn ( listen) is a coastal city in Bình Định Province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of 286 km². Quy Nhơn is the capital of Bình Định Province. As of 2009 its population was 280,900. Historically, the commercial activities of the city focused on agriculture and fishing. In recent years, however, there has been a significant shift towards service industries and tourism. There is also a substantial manufacturing sector.

History

The town of Quy Nhơn was officially founded in the late 18th century, although its origins stretch back much further to the 11th-century Champa culture, the Tây Sơn Dynasty and the 18th century seaport of Thị Nại. During the 1620s the town was host to Portuguese Jesuits who called the place Pulo Cambi.

The city is renowned as the birthplace of 18th century Vietnamese emperor Nguyễn Huệ and, more recently, had a large American military presence during the Vietnam War. Today the city is recognized as a first class city with a geo-economic priority and an urbanized infrastructure. The government describes it as one of the three commercial and tourism centres of the central southern coastal region (with Đà Nẵng and Nha Trang).