Kon Tum travel guide

Kon Tum province lies in Central Tay Nguyen Highlands and shares a border with Laos. More than 50% of the Kon Tum’s population comprises numerous minorities such as Xo Dang, Ba Na, Gie Trieng, Brau, Gia Rai, and Ro Mam.

Kon Tum is the largest plateau on the central Highlands. It is more than 800 meters above sea level. The majority of the local inhabitants are made up the Ba Na, one of the several ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands. The second largest group is the Kinh which is followed by the Gia Rai people.

The provincial capital of Kon Tum is the townships of the same name which is located on the northern part of Central Highlands. The town is situated on the river bank of the Dac Pla river, a tributary of the town is in a small flat land area which is just 525 meters above sea level.

Kon Tum was an administrative centre of the French colonialists who ruled the Central Highlands as early as the 19th century. Some French missionaries arrived in Kon Tum as earlier as 1651. They came in a greater number in 1838 to pave the way for the French troops to invade the country. to oppress insurrections repeatedly launched by the Vietnamese people the French built a big prison in Kon Tum where many staunch revolutionaries were jailed. Vietnamese soldiers in the French army were dispatched to guard the prison and a severe prison regime was applied there. The forming of the highway 19 that runs through the central Highlands to lowland areas to the east were the result of flesh and blood of prisoners from the Kon Tum prison.