Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers as well as more affluent travelers on the Southeast Asia circuit. It is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists. Nha Trang Bay is amongst the world's most beautiful bays. Tourists can participate in Sea Festival and August- Nha Trang Rendezvous Festival every 2 years. Nha Trang was the site of the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant that was held on July 14, 2008.

The city has about 300,000 inhabitants and is projected to increase to 500,000 to 600,000 inhabitants in the year 2020 according to estimation of Nha Trang Administrative Board Statistics.

Historically, the city was known as Kauthara under the Champa. The city is still home to the Po nagar Tower built by the Champa.

As a coastal city, Nha Trang's developed in marine science with Nha Trang Oceanography Institution. There's also Hon Mun marine protected area - one of four first marine protected area in the world admitted by IUCN. The famous French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Émile John Yersin (who discovered the Yersinia pestis bacterium) identified himself with Nha Trang's life for 50 years (people called him Ông Năm- Mr Fifth in familiar way), established the Indochina Pasteur Institution (Nha Trang Pasteur Institution now) to research bubonic plague and then died on March 1, 1943 in Nha Trang. A street in the city is named after him, there is a shrine located next to his tomb, and his house has been converted into the Yersin Museum.

Read More (Source: Wikipedia.org)