| Bến Tre province | |
| Native Name: | Tỉnh Bến Tre |
| Native Name Lang: | vi |
| Type: | Province |
| Nickname: | Bamboo Landing |
| Coordinates: | 10.1667°N 136°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Mekong Delta |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Bến Tre |
| Leader Title: | People's Council Chair |
| Leader Name: | Nguyễn Hữu Phước |
| Leader Title1: | People's Committee Chair |
| Leader Name1: | Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hà |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 2379.70 |
| Population Total: | 1,799,328 |
| Population As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Ethnicities |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Vietnamese, Khmer, Hoa, Chăm |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP[2] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics2 Info1: | VND 41.851 trillion US$ 1.818 billion |
| Timezone: | ICT |
| Utc Offset: | +7 |
| Area Code Type: | Area codes |
| Area Code: | 75 (until 16 July 2017) 275 (from 17 June 2017) |
| Iso Code: | VN-50 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 86xxx |
Bến Tre (pronounced as /vi/) is a province of Vietnam. It is one of the country's southern provinces, and is situated in the Mekong Delta. It is also famous for its coconuts and the Coconut Religion nationwide.
Bến Tre is subdivided into 9 district-level subdivisions.The eight districts areBa Tri,Bình Đại,Châu Thành,Chợ Lách,Giồng Trôm,Mỏ Cày Bắc,Mỏ Cày Nam, andThạnh Phú.There is also one provincial city of Bến Tre (capital).They are further subdivided into 7 commune-level towns (or townlets), 147 communes, and 10 wards. See also List of communes in Bến Tre province.
Geographically, Bến Tre is wedged between the two main branches of the Tiền Giang River, which is itself one of the two main branches of the Mekong. The province's northern boundary is formed by the Tiền Giang's main course, while the province's southern boundary is formed by the Tiền Giang's largest branch (which breaks away from the Tiền Giang just upriver from Bến Tre province). Between the Tiền Giang and its main branch are two smaller branches, passing through the middle of Bến Tre.
The entire province is criss-crossed with a network of smaller rivers and canals. The extensive irrigation that this provides makes Bến Tre a major producer of rice, but also means that the area is prone to flooding. The Climate Change Research Institute at Cần Thơ University, in studying the possible consequences of climate change, has predicted that 51% of Bến Tre province can be expected to be flooded if sea levels rise by 1 meter.[3] Bến Tre province is, on average, only 1.25m (04.1feet) above sea level.
Construction on the Rạch Miễu Bridge, which links Bến Tre to neighboring Tiền Giang province to its north, was started in 2002. The bridge was finished and opened for traffic on 19 January 2009. Before that time, Bến Tre was only accessible to automobiles via ferry.
In what has been called "the start of the Vietnam War", in January and February 1960, the Việt Cộng attacked and took temporary control of several districts in Bến Tre, then known as Kiến Hòa.[4] The Việt Cộng set up "people's committees", and confiscated land from landlords and redistributed it to poor farmers. One of the leaders of the uprising was Madame Nguyễn Thị Định, who led the all-female "Long Hair Army".
Although the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) recaptured the villages, uprisings spread to many other areas of South Vietnam. The uprisings were spontaneous rather than planned, as the official policy of the Communist government in Hanoi was that the Việt Cộng's stance should be restrained and defensive, not offensive.[5]