Quang Tri is a north central coast province of Vietnam, located on the geographical coordinates of 16018N to 17010N, 106032E to 107034E; bordered by Quang Binh Province on the North; Hue Province to the South; Lao PDR on the West with 206-kilometer borderline and on the East is the East Sea and a coastline of 75 kilometers.
In 1954, after the Geneva Agreement, the Ben Hai River was chosen as a temporary line of demarcation between the Northern and Southern parts of Vietnam. As the U.S. began to pour troops and supplies into the South, Quang Tri Province and the Demilitarized Zone (or DMZ) soon became the scene of some of the fiercest ground fighting of the Vietnam War, especially from 1966 to the end of the war in 1975. It was subjected to the heaviest bombing campaign in the history of the world.
After the war, an estimated 800,000 tons out of the 7,8 million tons of munition dropped by U.S forces on Vietnam, failed to detonate, contaminating around 20% of the country. On top of that, is a smaller but unknown amount of unexploded ordnance and weapons used by the both sides on battlefields. The most heavily contaminated province is Quảng Trị, where fighting between U.S. and Vietnamese forces was at its fiercest. Over three decades after the war ended, Quảng Trị province is still affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW), which have killed and injured more than 8,000 people (1.4% of its total population 2011) since 1975. There are a lot of the incidents caused by poor peoples uneducated handling of the explosives to sell for scrap metal. Children under the age of 16 take a high rate, 31% of the total number of victims.
Recently released was a final report of ERW and landmine contamination, based on results of an impact assessment and rapid technical response project known as the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), conducted by the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN) of the Ministry of Defense, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF). The survey results indicated that out of six provinces in central Vietnam, Quảng Trị province has the highest levels of ERW contamination: approximately 83.8% of the total land area is affected by ERW. These and many other findings indicate, that more than three decades after the war ended, ERW still remain a major threat to the safety of local people in their daily activities, and an obstacle to socio-economic development.
Area: 4,747 km2 (474,700 ha)
Population: 600.7 thousand people (2001)
City: Dong Ha
Ethnicitíe: Kinh, Bru-Van Kieu, Hoa, Ta Oi.
Administrative Division:
REPORT LANDMINE