Kon Tum lies between latitudes 13’’53’’B and 15016’B and longitudes 1070 20D and 108033D. It borders Quang Nam province to the north, Gia Lai province to the south, Quang Ngai province to the east, Apapew to province of Laos and Ratanakiri province of Cambodia to the west

Area: 961,450 ha
Population: 375,000.

Kon Tum province is a mountainous area of Central Highlands region of Vietnam, lies in the boundary of Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia. Most of its territory belongs to West of Truong Son Range. Its topography is a combination of hills, mountains, highlands and valleys, with sloping mountains dominating north and east. Ngoc Linh Mountain lies in the north of the province with 2,598 meters high. The average height of mountains in the province is 800-1,200 meters in the north and 500-550 meters in the south.

Many rivers in central coastal region are originated from Kon Tum where a huge watershed is a source of importance to Yali Hydroelectric Plant. Kon Tum plays a significant role in environment protection of central coastal region, Cuu Long Delta, Southern Laos and Cambodia.

- Kon Tum has the population of 375,000, over which 53% is ethnic minority. Intellectual standard of people is low, backward customs are seen in many areas. Poor infrastructure. Segmented topography.

- Starting point for economy is low, resulting in slow speed of economy development.

- Industry has not developed yet.

Located at the tri-border region of Indochina, converged by National Highway No.40, No.14, No.24, 200-300 kilometers far from Central Development Zone, Kon Tum is sited on the area embracing the government strategy on central region and seaport development (Lien Chieu and Dung Quat Industrial Zone, Chu Lai open economics district). After Bo Y – Ngoc Hoi border gate is upgraded to international one, and the national high ways No. 40, No.14, No.24 are improved, Kon Tum will act as a vital bridge on international commercial route from Myanmar-Northeast Thailand-Southern Laos to Vietnam Central highlands, Central Coastal region and southeast area.

Climate:

Located on mountainous and hilly monsoon tropical region, Kon Tum has an average annual temperature of 22-230C, humidity of 78-87%. Average annual rainfall is 1,730-1,880mm with changes due to time and space.

- North and north east mountainous area: 2,500-3,000 mm.

- Valleys: 1,600-1,800 mm.

There are 2 seasons: rainy and dry. Rainy season usually lasts from April or May to October or November with 85-90% of annual rainfall. Temperature difference between daytimes and nights is considerable, especially in the dry season.

Water resources:

Hydrographic net in Kon Tum is derived from Sesan valley, including 3 large rivers: DakBla, KrongPoko and Sa Thay. Streams and brooks are condensed but largely distributed. Total annual water flow is 10-11 billion m3. Kon Tum has a big potential in hydroelectricity and irrigation.

Land resources.

Kon Tum has an area of 961.450 hectares. There are 4 kinds of land:

- Grey soil: 93.44% of total area.
- Red soil: 3.36%.
- Alluvial soil: 0.88%.
- Alit humus: 0.71%.

The soils are unequally distributed, poor in nutrition, low in acidity and base. Only grey soil and alluvial soil bear potential in agriculture development.

Mineral resources:

There are 214 ore and mineral mines, 40 kinds of minerals in Kon Tum. Several minerals are of potentiality and importance to socio-economic development. Some has big reserves such as limestone, biocide, dolomite, felpat, clay, soil, pebble, etc.

Forest resources and biological diversity:

Of 629,942 hectares of the province’s forest land (make up about 64% of total land), natural forest covers 597,328 hectares in which 93,226 hectares is occupied by specialized forest, consisting of National Garden ChưMomRay (50,734 hectares), Specialized Forest Đăk Uy (700 hectares), Reservation Forest Ngoc Linh (41,420 hectares), plantation area (372.4 hectares). Total wood reserves are more than 60 million m3 and about 950 million bamboos.

Kon Tum is diversified in forest ecosystem. There are some popular kinds of forests such as closed needle forest, mixed broadleaf evergreen tropical rainy closed forest, semi-deciduous broadleaf tropical moist forest, subtropical rainy evergreen closed forest, and fuel wood sparse trees dry forest (Dipterocarpaceae).

According to the initial survey, Kon Tum has 1,610 species constituted from 734 botanical genus and 175 families. Many of them are recorded in Red Data List such as Ngoc Linh ginseng, Coscinium usitatum, Pomu, Aquilaria crassna Pierre, etc.

Fauna.

The province’s fauna are diversified and bounteous with some rare and valuable species such as Bos Gaurus, Bos sauveli, Panthera tigris, Bubalus bubalis, Trachypithecus, deer, gibbon, monkey, hornbill, etc.

Flora.

According to the initial survey, Kon Tum has 1,610 species constituted from 734 botanical genuses and 175 families. Many of them are recorded in Red Data List such as Ngoc Linh ginseng, Coscinium usitatum, Pomu, Aquilaria crassna Pierre, etc.

Forests were so heavily damaged by many kinds of chemical toxics in the war that some parts of the woods are not able to recover and even to replant.

Quota of timber cutting set from 1976 to 1988 was much higher than the annual capacity of reforestation and development while plantation was carried out in small scope. Furthermore, deforestation for farming and illegal timber logging in protected forests and nature preservation zones, resulting in fast reduction in forest area and forest quality.

However, plantation in Kon Tum has good signals since 1992, resulting from investment in forest localization, natural forest recovery and forestation, the implementation of the “close the gate” policy, reduction in annual quota of timber cutting (from 70,000 m3 in 1992 to 25,000-30,000m3. Many a forestation yards become plantation centers with their key operation on forest restoration.