Brief information about the Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh; [tʰàjŋ̟ fǒ hò cǐ mīŋ̟] or [tʰàn fǒ hò cǐ mɨ̄n]), abbreviated as HCMC, also known by its former name Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn; [sàj ɣɔ̀n] or [ʂàj ɣɔ̀ŋ]), or Prey Nokor city in Khmer language, is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of 9 million (13 million in the metropolitan area) as of 2019.
Located in southeastern Vietnam, the metropolis surrounds the Saigon River and covers about 2,061 square kilometres (796 square miles). From 1955 to 1975, Saigon was the capital of the Republic of Vietnam, commonly known as South Vietnam.Ho Chi Minh City is the financial centre of Vietnam and is classified as a Beta+ World City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
It is home to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange by total market capitalization in Vietnam and the headquarters of many national and international banks and companies. As a major gateway to Vietnam, the city received over 8.6 million international visitors in 2019, of which 4.1 million were overnight visitors. The main passenger airport serving the metropolitan area is Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the busiest airport in Vietnam handling over 40 million passengers in 2019.