Ho Chi Minh City is the commercial center and the largest metropolis of Vietnam. Situated in the southern region of Vietnam, this area is dominated by the estuary of the Mekong River system and is called the Vietnam's "Rice Basket". Ethnic Vietnamese account for about 90% of Ho Chi Minh City's population while various other ethnic groups make up the remaining 10%. This 10% is mostly accounted for by the Chinese population.
The population of Ho Chi Minh City, as on October 1, 2004, was 6,117,251 out of which 19 interior districts had 5,140,412 residents and 5 suburban districts had 976,839 inhabitants. In 2005 the city's population accounted for about 7.4% of the total population of Vietnam, thus, making it the city with the highest population density in the country. Its population is the largest at the provincial level also. As Ho Chi Minh City is the economic and commercial capital of the country, it faces widespread rural migration. This probably is the reason why the population of the city is growing so rapidly. In the time period between 1999 and 2004, the city's population has increased by about 200,000 people per year.
The majority of the population is ethnic Vietnamese or Kinh and accounts 90% of the City's population. Chinese or Hoa ethnic groups account for 8% and other minorities like Khmer, Cham, Nung, Rhade 2%.
According few studies the religious breakup in Ho chi Minh City stands at: Buddhism 50%, Roman Catholic 12%, Protestant 2%, others (Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Islam, Hinduism) 2%, and no religion or unknown at 34%.
