Phu Quoc (Phú Quốc) is the largest island in Vietnam, in the Gulf of Thailand. Since 1 July 2025 it has been the Phu Quoc Special Zone (đặc khu Phú Quốc) in An Giang Province, with a total area of about 575 km². From 2021 to 2025 it was Phu Quoc City, and before that a district of Kiên Giang Province.
Phu Quoc at a glance
| Administrative unit | Phu Quoc Special Zone (đặc khu), a commune-level unit |
| Province | An Giang (since 1 July 2025) |
| Area | About 575 km² for the whole special zone |
| Islands | The main island plus the An Thới archipelago, including Hòn Thơm |
| Population | About 158,000 (planning figure, year not stated) |
| Coastline | More than 150 km |
| Distance to the mainland | 46 km from Hà Tiên, 120 km from Rạch Giá |
| Distance to Ho Chi Minh City | About 300 km, around 1 hour by plane |
| Distance to Cambodia | A few km from the Vietnam–Cambodia maritime boundary |
| Coordinates | 10.2406°N, 103.9726°E |
| Administrative centre | Dương Đông area (4 Đường 30/4) |
| Protected area | Phu Quoc National Park, within the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO, 2006), now in An Giang |
| Time zone | UTC+7, no daylight saving |
| Language | Vietnamese |
| Currency | Vietnamese dong (VND, đ) |
Facts checked October 6, 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
What does “Phú Quốc” mean?
The name is written 富國 in Chinese characters. Phú (富) means rich or wealthy, and quốc (國) means country or nation. The special zone’s own website describes the name as a rich land.
Other names for the island:
- Koh Tral — the Khmer name. John Crawfurd, a British envoy who visited the island in 1822, recorded it as “Koh-trol” and translated it as “shuttle island.”
- Đảo Ngọc (Pearl Island) — the nickname officials use. Sources give different reasons for it, among them pearls and the island’s natural beauty.
- The “99 mountains” island — a traditional description of the forested hills. It is a figure of speech, not a count.
Where is Phu Quoc?
Phu Quoc lies in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Hà Tiên and Rạch Giá. The special zone’s website puts Hà Tiên 46 km away and Rạch Giá 120 km away. The island sits a few kilometres from the Vietnam–Cambodia maritime boundary. Ho Chi Minh City is about 300 km away, roughly one hour by air.
The two ways to reach the island are by sea from the mainland and by air. See the ferry guide and the airport guide.
Is Phu Quoc a province, a city or a special zone?
It is a special zone, and it belongs to An Giang Province. Its status has changed twice since 2021:
- 1 January 2021: city. Resolution 1109/NQ-UBTVQH14, adopted on 9 December 2020, turned Phu Quoc District into Phu Quoc City, still in Kiên Giang Province.
- 1 July 2025: special zone. Resolution 1654/NQ-UBTVQH15, adopted on 16 June 2025, merged the wards of Dương Đông and An Thới and the six communes of Dương Tơ, Hàm Ninh, Cửa Dương, Bãi Thơm, Gành Dầu and Cửa Cạn into the Phu Quoc Special Zone. The special-zone government began operating on 1 July 2025.
The province changed in the same month. Resolution 202/2025/QH15, adopted on 12 June 2025, merged Kiên Giang and An Giang into one province that kept the name An Giang.
Under Law 72/2025/QH15 Vietnam now has two levels of local government: the province, and the commune-level unit (commune, ward or special zone). The Phu Quoc Special Zone is one commune-level unit, so it has no wards or communes under it. The old ward and commune names still work as place names, and this site uses them that way.
The special zone covers the whole of the former wards and communes. Hòn Thơm Island, which was part of An Thới ward, is inside it.
Two neighbours are not part of Phu Quoc:
- Thổ Châu (Tho Chau) became a special zone of its own under the same resolution. Before 1 July 2025 it was a commune of Phu Quoc City. Figures from the old district or city, including its former total area, include Thổ Châu and do not describe today’s special zone.
- Nam Du belongs to the Kiên Hải special zone, also in An Giang Province.
History of Phu Quoc
The sections below run in order, from the earliest archaeological finds to the 2025 reorganisation.
Early history
Archaeological finds show that people lived on the island in prehistoric times, long before a Khmer state existed.
Koh Tral and the Mac family
The earliest Cambodian references found to Koh Tral appear in royal documents of 1615. They show Khmer authorities assigning governors across Khmer territories. How many Khmer lived on the island at that time is not known.
Mạc Cửu (Mac Cuu), a Chinese merchant, founded Hà Tiên around 1700 with seven settlements, Phu Quoc among them. He approached the Nguyen lords of southern Vietnam in 1708 and became their vassal from 1714. Vietnamese sources date his formal submission to different years, 1708 in some and 1714 in others.
Nguyen Anh on Phu Quoc
Nguyễn Ánh, the future Emperor Gia Long, took refuge on the island in 1782 and 1783 while the Tây Sơn were pursuing him. Members of his household stayed there until October 1788.
In March 1822 John Crawfurd called at the island. Residents told him the population was four to five thousand people.
French rule
The French took Hà Tiên in 1867, and Phu Quoc came under French rule with it.
The war and Phu Quoc Prison
Phu Quoc Prison, known as the Coconut Tree Prison (Cây Dừa), held prisoners of war from June 1967 to March 1973 under South Vietnamese authorities. About 40,000 prisoners passed through it in that time, which is a total count and not the number held at once. The site was ranked a special national monument in 2014 (Decision 2408/QĐ-TTg).
Border settlement
The Vietnam–Cambodia Agreement on Historic Waters, signed on 7 July 1982, used the Brévié line of 1939 to divide the islands between the two countries. Islands south of the line, Phu Quoc among them, belong to Vietnam.
Key dates
- 1867 — The French take Hà Tiên, and Phu Quoc with it.
- 1967–1973 — Phu Quoc Prison operates.
- 1982 — Vietnam and Cambodia sign the historic waters agreement.
- 2006 — UNESCO recognises the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve, which includes Phu Quoc National Park. The date is 27 October.
- 2012 — The EU registers Phú Quốc fish sauce as a protected designation of origin (Regulation 928/2012, 8 October). See Phu Quoc fish sauce.
- December 2012 — Phu Quoc International Airport opens.
- 2014 — A 110 kV undersea cable from Hà Tiên connects the island to the national power grid.
- November 2016 — VinaPhone launches Vietnam’s first commercial 4G service, on Phu Quoc.
- 2018 — The Hòn Thơm cable car opens and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest non-stop three-rope cable car.
- January 2019 — Corona casino opens to Vietnamese citizens as a trial. Since 26 November 2025 Vietnamese players are admitted with no time limit (Resolution 08/2025/NQ-CP).
- 1 January 2021 — Phu Quoc District becomes Phu Quoc City.
- 1 July 2025 — Phu Quoc City becomes the Phu Quoc Special Zone in An Giang Province.
People and language
The special zone has about 158,000 residents, according to the planning figure published in a 2025 plan; the data year is not stated. Two such figures exist and they differ slightly.
Vietnamese is the national language. English is not yet common among local residents: the special zone has launched a Community English Initiative, aimed first at small traders, taxi drivers and service staff. When a conversation stalls, ask the seller to type the price into a calculator or write it down.
Weather
Phu Quoc has two seasons, a wet season driven by the monsoon and a dry season. The wet season runs roughly from May to October and the dry season roughly from December to April. Rain is heaviest from July to September. Sources differ by about a month on the exact dates, so treat the months as a range.
Explore Phu Quoc
- Regions — the island’s areas, from Dương Đông to An Thới
- Beaches
- Things to do
- Islands
- Food and drink
- Plan your trip
- Phu Quoc National Park
- Phu Quoc fish sauce
- Pepper farms
- Cao Dai temple