The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has officially passed a resolution regarding the reorganization of administrative units in 2025, including several updates from earlier drafts.

According to the resolution, for commune-level administrative units (CLUs) after the reorganization, mountain and highland communes must have a natural area of at least 200% and a population size of at least 100% compared to the standards for equivalent communes set in the Standing Committee’s resolution on administrative unit classification.

For other communes that do not fall into this category and are not island-based CLUs, the population must reach at least 200% and the natural area must meet at least 100% of the required standard for their commune type.

Wards formed after the merger must have a minimum natural area of 5.5 square kilometers. In centrally governed cities, newly formed wards must have a population of at least 45,000 people. In provinces located in mountainous, highland, or border regions, the population requirement for wards is at least 15,000. In other areas, the minimum population is set at 21,000.

If a new ward is formed by merging three or more CLUs, these population and area standards may be waived.

If a commune-level administrative unit after the reorganization cannot meet the outlined standards, the Government must report the case to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for review and decision.

The population and land area data used to determine the reorganization will be based on figures recorded as of December 31, 2024.

Regarding naming conventions for provincial-level administrative units after the reorganization, the resolution recommends naming them after one of the existing units prior to the merger.

The names of commune-level administrative units must be easy to read, memorable, short, and consistent with systematic, scientific naming practices. They should reflect the local area's historical and cultural identity and must be broadly supported by local residents.

The resolution encourages naming commune-level units using numerical order or incorporating the names of former district-level units with numerical identifiers. This approach is intended to facilitate digitization and data management.

Names of commune-level units must not duplicate those of other units at the same level within the same province or within the projected merged administrative area.

This resolution will take effect starting April 15.

Nguyen Thao