The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. Mekong delta is made up of 13 provinces: Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, An Giang, Đong Thap, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau
Mekong delta is about 40.000 square kilometers (km2) in area. And it is known as one of the widest and richest delta in ASEAN, in Vietnam it is considered as the biggest granary of Vietnam (the second one is Red River delta in the North of Vietnam), it provides 60% of nation’s rice. Besides that, Mekong delta is the place of different tropical fruits such as durian, coconut, banana, pineapple, dragon fruit… and when people come here they can enjoy the seasonal fruits all round year.
Mekong delta is the area which has the biggest population in Vietnam, now it has a population of about 18 million people. In the past, most of the people here lived by farming.
In Vietnam, people don’t call this land “Mekong delta”, but they call “Nine dragons delta” because when the Mekong river comes to Vietnam, it divides into 2 small branches, then the 2 branches divide into 9 mouths going to the East Sea. Seeing on the map, people can realize that the river now looks like 9 dragons
The uniquely southern charm with its welcoming introduction to life along the river is the real draw, and visitors can explore quaint riverside towns, sample fruits bartered in the colourful floating markets or dine on home-cooked delicacies before overnighting as a homestay guest. Other highlights include visits to local orchards, flower markets and fish farms. There are also bird sanctuaries, rustic beach getaways like Hon Chong and impressive Khmer pagodas in the regions around Soc Trang and Tra Vinh.
There are 2 distinguished seasons in Mekong delta: rainy season (from May to November) and sunny season (from December to April). Especially, in the rainy season the color of all the rivers are brown because of the alluvium, in the sunny season the color changes into light blue.
The Mekong River is one of the world's 10th rivers in its river length and has great influences upon nature and societies of the Indo-china Peninsula. The name "MEKONG" originate in Thai language, Mae Nam Khong1). The source of the Mekong River is in Tibet mountains and is called Dza Chu River (River of Rock). After running through very narrow valley paralling Yangz Jiang and Salween River, the Mekong reach to Yung-Nan Province of China and is called Lancang Jiang (Turbulent River). Via Golden Triangle, the crossing of China, Myanmer and Laos boarder, the Mekong flow into Vientiane Plain. The term, Lower Mekong means downstream segment from the point. There are some notorious rapids for French navigation plan in colonial period before the Mekong get to Cambodia, and the last segment is the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, which distributes grate influeces to agriculture, especially paddy fields there.
Sources : http://www.tnktravelvietnam.com/html/mekong-delta-tours.php
http://mekongdeltatour.org/
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