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.
