Provinces of Vietnam
On the first tier, Vietnam is divided into fifty-eight provinces (, Chữ Hán: 省) and five municipalities under the command of the central government (). Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in Vietnam. Municipalities are centrally-controlled cities and have special status equal to the provinces. The provinces are divided into provincial cities, towns, and rural districts as the second-tier units. At the third tier, provincial city or town is divided into ward and commune, while rural district is divided into townships (thị trấn) and communes. Governance. Provincial Committee of the Communist Party. Provincial Committee of the  Communist Party ("Đảng bộ Đảng Cộng sản cấp tỉnh" or "Tỉnh ủy Đảng Cộng sản") is a provincial subordinate of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Since Vietnam is a one party state, the provincial committee of the Communist Party is the most prominent organ of provincial governance. Each provincial committee of the Communist Party is headed by a Secretary ("Bí thư"). The Secretary is de facto leader of the province. People's Council. The legislative branch of a province is the People's Council ("Hội đồng Nhân dân" or HDND for short). The People's Council votes on the policy , regulations and orders for development of the province. Members of People's Council are called delegates or councillors ("đại biểu") and are elected by people living within that province. It is equivalent to the legislative National Assembly of Vietnam. The People's Council is headed by a Chairman ("Chủ tịch") and a Vice Chairman ("Phó Chủ tịch"). The number of councillors varies from province to province, depending on the population of that province. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee, which acts as the executive arm of the provincial governance. This arrangement is a somewhat simplified version of  the situation in Vietnam's national government. Provincial governments are subordinates to the central government. People's Committee. The executive branch of a province is the People's Committee ("Uỷ ban Nhân dân" or UBND for short). The People's Committee is responsible for implementing policy and executing laws and orders. The People's Committee is equivalent to the executive Government of Vietnam. People's Committee also manages the provincial departments ("Sở") which are equivalent to the Ministries. Members of the People's Committee are called commissioners ("Ủy viên"). The People's Committee is headed by a Chairman ("Chủ tịch ) and Vice Chairmen (Phó Chủ tịch"), and consists of between 4 and 7 commissioners. The number of commissioners depends on the population of the province. The Chairman and Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee are also councillors of the People's Council. People's Court. The judiciary branch of a province is the People's Court ("Tòa án Nhân dân" or TAND for short). The People's Court is responsible for judiciary processes and trials. The People's Court is equivalent to the judiciary Supreme People's Court of Vietnam. The People's Court is headed by a Chief  Judge ("Chánh án") and consists of a number of judges ("thẩm phán"). Police Department. Provincial police department is under direct command of the Ministry of Public Security. List and statistics. According to the census results of 1 April 2019, the population of Vietnam is 96,208,984 people. The most populous top-level administrative unit in Vietnam is Hồ Chí Minh City, one of the five centrally governed cities. It has 8,993,082 people living within its official boundaries. The second most populous administrative unit is the recently expanded Hà Nội with 8,053,663 people. Prior to the expansion of the capital city, this  rank belonged to Thanh Hóa with 3,640,128 people. The least populous is Bắc Kạn, a mountainous province in the remote northeast with 313,905 people. In land area, the largest province is Nghệ An, which runs from the city of Vinh up the wide Sông Cả valley. The smallest is Bắc Ninh, located in the populous Red River Delta region. The following is a table of Vietnam's provinces broken down by population and area, 1 April 2019, based on 2019 Census and 2018 area data from Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. See also List of postal codes in Vietnam  Regions. The Vietnamese government often groups the various provinces into eight regions, which are often grouped into three macro-regions: Northern, Central and Southern. These regions are not always used, and alternative classifications are possible. The regions include: