Vietnam is a country on the Indochina Peninsula, its territory is not large, only 329,000 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to the size of an ordinary province in China, from the map, Vietnam's territory is narrow and long, like a bug that has always stood up, but this small country is divided into 59 provinces. You know, China only has 34 provincial-level administrative regions. What is the reason behind this division?
First, historical reasons. Vietnam is a neighbor of China, part of the Confucian cultural circle, but also China's former vassal state, the history of this country is not long, some people have commented: Vietnam's 2,000 years of history, 200 years to fight against the rule of French colonialists, the remaining 1800 years in the fight against the middle. The long history of being ruled has left Vietnam with a lot of rulers, and if the French deliberately broke down Vietnam into smaller pieces in order to facilitate their rule.
Second, topographical reasons. Three-quarters of the country's land is mountainous and plateau, and the river network is dense, and these mountains, plateaus and river networks naturally divide Vietnam into small areas, people live in plains between mountains, and the connection between places is naturally weakened. When dividing administrative regions, topography is undoubtedly a very important criterion, and this criterion also determines that Vietnam naturally has many administrative regions.
Third, security reasons. Vietnam's terrain is narrow and long, as we have already said, the narrow terrain makes It easy for Vietnam to be cut off, and if foreign enemies come, more provinces mean more local military and political centers, and they can rely on Vietnam's unique terrain to form an effective resistance. Moreover, the narrow terrain will also cause the north-south division of Vietnam, which has happened many times in history, and the central government has divided the local government into multiple parts, which can weaken the local power and consolidate its position.
Taking Vietnam's 330,000 square kilometers of land and 59 provinces, the area of each of them is about 0.56 million square kilometers, and at this size, the provinces in their mouths are really difficult to be called provinces in the true sense, and in a big country like China, they are the size of a county-level city, and Vietnam itself is exactly the size of a province in China. The matter of taking a name naturally depends on the wishes of each family, and if there is a reason, we can call the village a country. In this regard, Japan, with its 377,000 square kilometers, is to be honest, and their administrative division is prefectural prefectures, with a total of 43 prefectures, which seems to be more in line with Chinese standards.