U Minh Thuong National Park or Upper U Minh National Park (Vietnamese language

Vietnamese language

Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

: Vườn quốc gia U Minh Thượng) is a national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 in the province of Kiên Giang

Kien Giang Province

Kiên Giang is a province of Vietnam, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. It is known for fishing and rice farming. The provincial capital is Rạch Giá, 250 km from the Ho Chi Minh City...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

.

Establishment

It was established according to decision number 11/2002/QĐ-TTg, dated 14 January 2002, signed by then Vietnamese Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Vietnam

-Office:The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the head of the executive branch of the Vietnamese government. The Prime Minister presides over the Vietnamese cabinet, and is responsible for appointing and supervising ministers...

 Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. This decision turned the U Minh Thuong Nature Reserve into U Minh Thuong National Park.

Area and location

The park covers approximately 80.53 square kilometres (31.1 sq mi) with the nearest city being Rạch Giá

Rach Gia

Rạch Giá is the capital city of Kien Giang province, Vietnam. It is located around on the coast of Gulf of Thailand, 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City...