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Thanks to its strategic position, HCM City is the meeting place of
many ethnic groups from the North, Central and South of Vietnam
through different periods of time. The city has so many resources
that it can provide many opportunities for the migrants from all
over Vietnam.
The city is a place where the majority Kinh people, through a long
period of time, have associated with and lived in harmony with many
other peoples. Citizens also comprise Chinese, Cham, Khmer peoples,
and members of the Tay, Muong, Nung, Thai, Meo, Han, Cao Lan, Sau
Diu, Tho, and Man ethnic groups that have long been at home in
Vietnam. Members of peoples from the Central Highlands are
represented, too, especially the Gia Rai, Ede, Bana, Sedang, Stieng,
Van Kieu, Churu and others. They live peacefully with the Kinh
people and add to the cultural and economic diversity of HCM City.
Of the more than five million city dwellers, minority ethnic groups
make up about one million people. People of Chinese heritage make
the largest of the minority groups. The city is home to about 50% of
all Chinese in Vietnam. About 12% of city residents are of Chinese
origin, and District 5 is the Chinese center in HCM City.
During the war for reunification, a large number of soldiers and
workers from the U.S., France, Canada, Australia, the Philippines,
Taiwan, Thailand and others lived in Saigon. Therefore, many
families in what was known as Saigon-Gia Dinh have links to a
variety of countries, religions and social groups. In the community
of Saigon-Gia Dinh, the Kinh people make the largest group. In the
1960s, the city had 1,423,500 Kinh people, 77% of the 1,800,000 city
dwellers.
In 1954, about 33,000 northerners “went South” to settle in the
areas of Saigon-Gia Dinh and Cholon. Among them, 75% were Catholics
from Bac Ninh, Bui Chu, Phat Diem, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Hung Hoa, Lang
Son, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh and other provinces. They
concentrated on the outskirts of Saigon like Tan Binh (40% of the
population and within 12 wards), Go Vap (10 wards), Phu Nhuan (5
wards), Binh Thanh (every ward).
In 1959, 1960 and especially 1963, when the political situation in
the Central of Vietnam was getting more and more severe, many Kinh
people moved to HCM City. People from Quang Nam Province moved to
the Bay Hien area while people from Binh Dinh and Thua Thien
provinces moved to poorer areas of Co Giang, Khanh Hoi, Ban Co and
so on.
Kinh people from Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Nai, An Xuyen (Bac Lieu),
Ba Xuyen (Soc Trang), Long Xuyen and others also moved to HCM City
as a heaven during the unrest at that time. After the war, very few
settlers returned to their home districts.
HCM City is therefore a melting pot of all kinds of peoples. They
get along well with each another by following the “Solidarity,
Mutual Assistance, and Equality” motto of the Party.
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