Central Highlands (Vietnam)

The Central Highlands (Vietnamese: Cao nguyên Trung Phần, or Cao nguyên Trung Bộ), South Central Highlands (Vietnamese: Cao nguyên Nam Trung Bộ), or Western Highlands (Vietnamese: Tây Nguyên), is a geocultural subregion located in Vietnam's South Central region.

The subregion contains parts of provinces: Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, Quảng Ngãi, and Lâm Đồng, and prior to 2025 consisted of provinces Đắk Nông, Lâm Đồng, Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, and Kon Tum.

Geography

The Central Highlands are a series of plateaus bordering the lower part of Laos and northeastern Cambodia, namely Kon Tum Plateau at 500 m, Kon Plông Plateau, Kon Hà Nừng Plateau, Pleiku Plateau at 800 m, Mdrak Plateau at approximately 500 m, Đắk Lắk Plateau at around 800 m, Mơ Nông Plateau with the height of about 800–1000 m, Lâm Viên Plateau of approximately 1500 m and Di Linh Plateau of about 900–1000 m. All of these plateaus are situated south of the Annamite Range.

The Central Highlands are mostly drained by tributaries of the Mekong. The Sesan or Tonlé San river drains the northern portion of the highlands, and the Srepok River the southern. A series of shorter rivers run from the eastern edge of the highlands to the Vietnamese coast.

Tây Nguyên can be divided into three subregions according to their deviation in topography and climate, namely: North Tây Nguyên (Bắc Tây Nguyên) (inclusive of Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces), Middle Tây Nguyên (Trung Tây Nguyên) (covering provinces of Đắk Lắk and Đắk Nông), South Tây Nguyên (Nam Tây Nguyên) (Lâm Đồng). Trung Tây Nguyên has a lower altitude and therefore has a higher temperature than the other two subregions.

Provinces

Đắk Lắk

Gia Lai

Lâm Đồng (before were Lâm Đồng and Đắk Nông)

Quảng Ngãi (before was Kon Tum)

History

The native inhabitants of the Central Highlands, known as the Montagnards (Mountain peoples), are various peoples that mainly belonged to the two major Austroasiatic (Bahnaric) and Austronesian (Highland Chamic) ethnolinguistic families.