Huế (provincial city)

Huế (Vietnamese: [hwě] ^ⓘ) is a former provincial city of Vietnam. The city was the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam, located near the center of Vietnam. The original site was a Cham city known as Kandarpapura and later as Amarendrapura and was the capital of the Champa Kingdom from 192 to 605. On 1 January 2025, Thừa Thiên Huế province was upgraded to become Vietnam's sixth centrally-governed municipality, named Huế. The former provincial city was dissolved to establish two new urban districts: Phú Xuân district and Thuận Hóa district.

Following the conquest of the city in 1307 by Vietnam, it was renamed to Huế. Huế (Thuận Hóa) was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and administrative capital for the Nguyễn dynasty and later functioned as the administrative capital of the protectorate of Annam during the French Indochina period. It contains a UNESCO-designated site, the Complex of Huế Monuments, which is a popular tourist attraction. Alongside its moat and thick stone walls the complex encompasses the Imperial City of Huế, with palaces and shrines; the Forbidden Purple City, once the emperor's home; and a replica of the Royal Theater.

Nearly 4.2 million visitors had visited the city in 2019 and many of its historic landmarks are still undergoing restoration.