Lai Châu

Lai Châu Town Square Monument, as seen in April 2014.

Lai Châu (Template:Audio) is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital city of Lai Châu Province. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District and Tam Đường District.

History

Lai Châu town square in 2006

Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: Mường Lay) was the seat of lords of the White Tai who were dominant over other Thai peoples of the area, though there was rivalry between the White Tai rulers of Muang Lay and Muang So.<ref>Michael C. Howard, Kim Be Howard Textiles of the Daic peoples of Vietnam Page 75, 2002 "In general the White Tai nobles in the north were dominant, but even among them there was intense rivalry between the rulers of Muang Lay and Muang So. In the 1870s and 1880s Chinese bandits known as Haw (or Ho) moved into northern ..."</ref> During the 1870s Muang Lay was the base of lord Đèo Văn Trị of the White Tai who sought to unite and become chief of the 12 mường (Sino-Vietnamese: Template:Lang / Template:Lang) making up the Sip Song Chau Tai. This he partially achieved, with the help first of the Chinese Black Flags, then later the French. His authority, and the autonomy of the area, was recognised by the French in 1890.

Demographics

As of 2020 the city had a population of 42,973, covering an area of 92.37 km².<ref name=NQ866/>

Administrative divisions

Lai Châu City is officially divided into 7 commune-level sub-divisions, including 5 wards (Đoàn Kết, Đông Phong, Quyết Thắng, Quyết Tiến, Tân Phong) and 2 rural communes (San Thàng, Sùng Phài).<ref name=NQ866/>

Climate

Lai Châu has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), typical for northwestern Vietnam, with hot, oppressively humid, and wet summers and warm to very warm, dry winters. Template:Weather box