North Central Coast in the context of Chứt people

The Vietnamese government often groups the various provinces and municipalities into three regions: Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, and Southern Vietnam. These regions can be further subdivided into eight subregions: Northeast Vietnam, Northwest Vietnam, the Red River Delta, the North Central Coast, the South Central Coast, the Central Highlands, Southeast Vietnam, and the Mekong River Delta. These regions are not always used, and alternative classifications are possible. Other classifications used can be: Northern, Central, Southern, and Mekong.

Huế, formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province, is the southernmost coastal city in the North Central Coast region, approximately in the center of the country, and an educational, medical, scientific, and cultural hub of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Trị to the north, Đà Nẵng to the south, Salavan and Sekong of Laos to the west and the South China Sea to the east. As one of the country's six direct-controlled municipalities, it falls under the administration of the central government.

Huế has 128 km of coastline, 22,000 ha of lagoons and over 200,000 ha of forest. The city is located in the middle of the North Central and South Central regions (including the South Central Coast and Central Highlands), and is transitional in many aspects: geology, climate, administrative division and local culture.

Cồn Cỏ (listen ; also known as Tigris Insula in the maritime terminology) is a special administrative region of Quảng Trị province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam.

The Gianh River (vernacular Vietnamese: sông Gianh, also known as Gianh giang; Sino-Vietnamese: Linh Giang 靈江) is a river in the Quảng Bình province of Vietnam's North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ). The river is 268 kilometres (167 mi) in length.

The Gianh–Son River served as the boundary between Đàng Ngoài and Đàng Trong, ruled by rival families, during the partition of Vietnam in the 17th and 18th centuries following the Trịnh–Nguyễn War. The 17th parallel, used as the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975, was located just south of the Gianh River, at the Bến Hải River in Quảng Trị province.

Son River or Troc River (Vietnamese: Sông Son or sông Tróc) (lit. Lipstick River, because its water is red in flooding season) is a tributary of Gianh River in Quảng Bình Province, North Central Coast region, Vietnam. This river runs in the territory of Quảng Bình Province. The upstream of this river with the length of 7729 m runs underground in limestone mountains of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. Son River makes confluence with Gianh River near Ba Đồn town of Quảng Trạch District before emptying into South China Sea.

Quảng Trị (Vietnamese pronunciation: [kʷâŋ ʈ͡ʂîˀ]) is a coastal province near the southernmost part of the North Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Huế to the south, Savannakhet of Laos to the west and the South China Sea to the east, with 75 kilometres (47 mi) of coast. On June 12, 2025, Quảng Bình province was merged into Quảng Trị.

Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal province in the North Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị to the south, Khammouane of Laos to the west and the Gulf of Tonkin (South China Sea) to the east.

On June 12, 2025, Quảng Bình was merged into Quảng Trị.