Tan Chau

an Chau (Vietnamese: Tân Châu), is a district (huyện) of An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 159,719. The district covers an area of 159 km². The district capital lies at Tan Chau. It is famous for Tân Châu silk with the famous product lãnh Mỹ A which black is dyed by Diospyros mollis’s fruit (Vietnamese: Mặc nưa). Tan Chau was formed in 1757. Tan Chau District was the largest province of Chau Doc, but divided by the separation (in 1929 separated Hong Ngự District), 1968 (split up from part of Tan Phu district), and the Tan Chau district now is part of An Giang Province.

It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country, sharing a border with Cambodia to the northwest. An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hau Giang and Tien Giang branches of the Mekong are the dominant geographical features of the province. With the exception of the west, most of An Giang is fairly flat, and is criss-crossed by many canals and small rivers. This terrain has led to An Giang being a significant agricultural centre, producing significant quantities of rice.

Politically, An Giang is divided into nine districts:
An Phú, Châu Phú, Châu Thành, Chợ Mới, Phú Tân, Tân Châu, Thoại Sơn, Tịnh Biên, Tri Tôn. The cities of Long Xuyen (the provincial capital) and Châu Đốc, both of which are located on the Hau Giang branch of the Mekong, exist as independent municipalities.

An Giang first became a province in 1832, having been settled by ethnically Vietnamese migrants moving southwards in search of new land. It is believed that An Giang was once an important centre of the vanished Óc Eo culture, presumably owing to its position on the river. Traditionally, An Giang has been known for its silk industry.

An Giang is home to a sizable number of people from Vietnam’s ethnic minorities. Due to the province’s proximity to Cambodia, the Khmer Krom are the largest non-Vietnamese group. Other groups, such as the Cham and ethnic Chinese (Hoa), are also found in An Giang. The Ba Chuc massacre of April 1978, in that border province with Cambodia. On the day the Khmer Rouge began its series of border raids, April 15, 1978, Ba Chuc was a quiet little village of about 3,500 people. For two weeks, ending April 30, 1978, the Khmer Rouge tore through Ba Chuc slicing to bits anything that breathed, literally ripping apart young children limb from limb and hacking the adults to pieces with machetes. When the raids ceased the population of Ba Chuc had been reduced by half.