Location

According to the economic zoning by the government of Vietnam, Trung Bộ borders provinces Ninh Bình, Hòa Bình and Sơn La of Bắc Bộ to the north, provinces of Bình Phước, Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu of Nam Bộ to the south. To the east it borders South China Sea (Biển Đông), to the west it borders Cambodia, Laos.

Administrations

This region is divided into two main subregions: North Central or North Central Coast and South Central which, in turn, includes South Central Coast andCentral Highlands (see the map). The North Central Coast and South Central Coast sometimes are known as Central Coast. The North Central Coast includes six provinces: Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế. In Nguyen Dynasty, this area, except Thua Thien, was known as Hữu Trực Kỳ (the area located in the left of Thua Thien). The South Central Coast includes 8 provinces, in order from the north to the south: Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hoà,Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận. In Nguyen Dysnasty, this area was known as Tả Trực Kỳ (the area located in the right of Thua Thien). Central Highlandsincludes 5 provinces: Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Đắc Lắc, Đắc Nông and Lâm Đồng.