Ho Chi Minh City: History, Weather & Best Time to Visit

History of Ho Chi Minh City:

Ho Chi Minh city was known as Saigon for long time from 1698 until 1976. Before the 17th century, this was the land of Khmer People. In 1658, King of Kmer People gave this land to Vietnamese and 40 years later, this started with the name Saigon. In 1859, French attached Gia Dinh City – Next to Sai Gon . In 1868, Tu Duc King of the Nguyen Dynasty signed an agreement to recognized French Ruling in the South of Vietnam. During the French time, Sai Gon was known as the Pearl of Orient.

In 1954, Communist Government and French signed Geneve Agreement to have election in 1956 to unify our country. South of Vietnam temporary under Republic of Vietnam’ s control, North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh’ s control. But Ngo Dinh Diem with the support from USA claimed himself as the First President of South Vietnam and the Vietnam War started and Vietnam was divided into 2 countries. During Vietnam War, Sai Gon City was the Capital of South Vietnam while Hanoi was the Capital of North Vietnam. This war continued until 30th April 1975 when the Communist Gorvernment defeated South Vietnam and Sai Gon stoped being the Capital.

On 2nd July 1976, Communist Gorvernment decided to name this Ho Chi Minh City as a commemoration to President Ho Chi Minh. With the population of 9 million (2019), Ho Chi Minh City is the Biggest City in Vietnam. This is also the center for Economy, Polity and Culture for the whole Country.

Weather of Ho Chi Minh City:

Ho Chi Minh City features a “Tropical wet and dry or savanna” climate. The highest temperature is about 35.4°C (95.72°F) and the lowest is about 23.0°C (73.4°F), with an average yearly temperature of 28.2°C (82.8°F). Annual rainfall averages nearly 1398.3 millimetres (55.05 inches).

Historical monthly average weather conditions for Ho Chi Minh City.

Months	High / Low (°C)	Rain Falls
January	32.1° / 23.0°	1.0 days
February	34.0° / 23.3°	2.2 days
March	35.4° / 25.0°	4.4 days
April	35.3° / 26.4°	11.6 days
May	34.5° / 27.0°	12.0 days
June	32.2° / 25.6°	15.5 days
July	31.3° / 24.9°	23.9 days
August	31.7° / 25.0°	23.9 days
September	31.3° / 24.8°	16.0 days
October	31.2° / 24.3°	18.5 days
November	31.4° / 23.9°	12.4 days
December	31.0° / 23.0°	7.3 days

Best Time to Visit Ho Chi Minh City:

The best time to travel to Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City is during the months of December to March. The temperature usually ranges from 20°C to 32°C. This period marks the dry period in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding regions when temperatures are relatively cool during the day and chilly at night.