The coastal city of Nha Trang has been ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. As the capital city of Khánh Hòa province, Nha Trang has become a top destination for domestic and international travelers. Stretched with miles and miles of pristine beaches along the coast, many investors have chosen this city to develop it into a world-class coastal resort town. Despite the hustle and bustle of its tourist arena, Nha Trang still maintains a quiet environment among its locals.
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Nha Trang has a population of more than 300,000 inhabitants and rapidly increasing due to many economic developments in the area attracting Vietnamese, as well as foreigners, to relocate and reside here. The touring industry is a primary contributor to the city's economic growth. In addition, many other professions and trades such as fishing, shrimp farming, and salt production continue to boost Nha Trang's economy.
With an advantageous location, Nha Trang is surrounded by islands along its coastline, thus preventing major damage to the main part of town in case a sea catastrophe were to occur. The average temperature is 25-26oC and the water is warm year round making it ideal to swim in any season (except in months with heavy rain). Islands in Nha Trang are very popular with scuba divers, as well as marine biologists and other research scientists. Hon Mun is a protected marine area admitted by IUCN. Nha Trang's rich marine life was an attractant for the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, who established the Indochina Pasteur Institution, which is now referred to simply as Nha Trang Pasteur Institution. Science fanatics have the opportunity to visit Yersin's home, which is now Yersin Museum, or stroll down the street that was named after Yersin and browse through the open market nearby.
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The origin of the name Nha Trang has a few theories behind it. Under the Champa Nha Trang was knwon as Kauthara, in which the native Champa people called it Eatran or Yjatan (Ea=river; tran=reed). The story that I heard growing up revolved around a foreign man, probably a Frenchman, who saw a large white house belonging to Yersin and called it Nha Trang (direct translation of "white house"). However, because the foreigner's phonetic pronunciation of the name did not include accent, he charted the city as Nha Trang. Whichever theory you choose to accept there origin remains mysterious to most as it is one of the cities (or the only city) in Vietnam without accent marks. Champa remnants still stand tall in Nha Trang and neighboring cities. One of which is the Po Nagar Tower (Thap Ba) where it idolizes the wife of the Hindu God Shiva. The locals find this place to be mystical and often come to make offerings to Ba and asking for support. Po Nagar Tower is a special architectural feat that still remains a mystery to many researchers. No one really knows how the Champa built their towers with unique bricks and stacking techniques without any obvious marks of cement in between. The materials used in the massive construction are also indeterminants.
Source: Wikipedia