Launching the book "The times of administrative unit separation and merger"

Book seriesEstablishment and change of place names and administrative boundaries in Vietnamese historyby researcher Nguyen Quang An, nearly 2,000 pages thick, has just been released to readers by the National Political Publishing House.

The book consists of two volumes,From the Hung King period to April 1975andFrom May 1975 to December 2024This is a scientific work compiled by the author from thousands of documents and legal texts dividing administrative regions in Vietnam.

Through the book series, the author introduces to readers the process of separation, merger of administrative units, and changes in administrative place names in Vietnam through the periods of King Hung's founding of the country with the Van Lang and Au Lac states; the period of Northern domination; from the Khuc family to Dinh - Tien Le - Ly - Tran - Ho; the period of Ming Dynasty domination; from Le So to Tay Son; Nguyen Dynasty; and French colonial period.

Since the August Revolution, the separations, mergers, and changes in administrative unit names during the Democratic Republic of Vietnam period; the areas occupied by the French army; and the Republic of Vietnam have also been fully recorded by the author.

The times of separation, merger, and change of administrative place names at provincial and district levels since the country's reunification (April 1975) until now are also recorded.

The synthesis, systematization, arrangement and presentation of the continuous changes in place names and boundaries of administrative units throughout the long historical period of the country are recorded relatively fully based on a system of sources of documents such as books, newspapers, documents and official legal documents.

Talking about the book series, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Truong Hai Long said that studying the process of changing place names and boundaries of administrative units in history to be able to locate an old administrative, economic, cultural, and military geographical area compared to today is an urgent need and has important practical significance.

Currently, there are not many in-depth scientific works in this field in the country, especially in terms of documentation. Records, documents, and texts recording place names, boundaries, and changes in administrative units are scattered, not scientifically preserved, and very difficult to exploit.

The book series by researcher Nguyen Quang An is evaluated by Mr. Long as a scientific work compiled and researched massively, elaborately, synthesizing thousands of documents, materials, and legal documents on the division of Vietnam's borders into administrative regions through the periods, from the time of Hung Vuong to the present.

The publication provides information and knowledge about the names, history of formation, development, change, separation, and merger of Vietnamese administrative units from the past to the present; is a valuable, useful, and convenient reference tool for agencies, research institutes, experts, and scientists in the field of administrative boundary management, policy makers, and researchers in toponymy; especially for the research and compilation of national and local geographical and historical records.