Key facts
- Country
- Vietnam
- Region
- Northwest
- Capital
- Yên Bái ward
- Subdivision
- 99 second-level subdivisions , (10 wards, 89 communes)
- Type
- Province
- Body
- Lào Cai Provincial People's Council
- Chairman of people s council
- Nguyễn Văn Vịnh
- Chairman of people s committee
- Trịnh Xuân Trường
- Total
- 13,256.92 km (5,118.53 sq mi)
- Density
- 134.1778/km (347.5190/sq mi)
- Vietnamese
- 33.78%
- M ng
- 25.08%
- T y
- 14.83%
- Dao
- 14.24%
- Gi y
- 4.53%
- Others
- 7.54%
- Province
- VND 43.634 trillion, US$ 1.895 billion
- Time zone
- UTC+7 ( ICT )
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
Lào Cai is a province of the Northwest region of Vietnam bordering the province of Yunnan in China. The province covers an area of about 13,257 km (5,119 mi) and as of 2025 it had a population of 1,778,785 people.
Lào Cai and Sa Pa are two cities within the province at the border with China; the former is known as a trading post and the latter is hill station known for tourism. Lào Cai shares border with the city of Hekou, in the Yunnan province of Southwest China. This border town was closed after the 1979 war with China, and reopened in 1993. Sa Pa is a hill resort and market centre for the local ethnic Hmong, including the Red, Black, Green and Flower Hmong. Located across the Muong Hoa Valley from Vietnam's highest mountain, Fansipan, the city is sometimes referred to as the "queen of mountains". In a 1929 survey conducted in the area, the vegetation (flora) and fauna (mammals) recorded by the French biologist Delacour who accompanied Theodore Roosevelt were unique to the region in northern Vietnam.