Long An has history of creation and development over 300 years. With upheavals of time and history, from the first migrant people conquering the southern area, overcoming harshnesses of natural disaster and war, to date Long An inhabitant communities have been developing approximately 1,5 million people. The natives of Long An have always given prominence to tradition of ''loyalty and courageousness and steadfastness of the whole population to fight the enemy'' in battle and industriousness and creativeness in labor. The whole community has been actively in building happy and prosperous family with small scale, making contribution to protecting and building a richer and prosperous Long An province.
According to '' Long An Monography '' (Thach Phuong and Luu Quang Tuyen as chief editors, published by Long An and Science - Society Publishing House in 1989), so far, Long An inhabitant communities with a history of population creation and development have occurred with the following important milestones:
In 1698, Nguyen Huu Canh obeyed orders of The Nguyen Phuc Chu lord to go to Gia Dinh. He set up Nong Nai land as Gia Dinh district, dividing into two districts: Phuoc Long on Dong Nai land with chief town as Tran Bien palace and Tan Binh on Sai Con land with chief town as Phien Tran palace. Tan Binh district had 4 cantons: Binh Duong, Tan Long, Phuoc Loc and Thuan An, in which Phuoc Loc and Thuan An cantons is under Long An today.
Phuoc Loc and Thuan An cantons are in basin of Vam Co river and Rach Cat river with fertile land for easy cultivation, convenient waterways system, and abundant fresh water source to attract many Vietnameses to conquer and live there. At that time, the population of Gia Dinh was 40 thousand households with about 200.000 persons.
In 70’s of the XVIIIth century, Thuan An and Phuoc Loc cantons (Long An today) had about 350 hamlets with the number of village inhabitant of 15.000 persons, total population of about 75.000 persons. Meanwhile, Tay Son - Nguyen Anh war (1777-1802) had also caused disorders of population in Sai Gon and adjacent areas, including Long An. With effort to fight over the throne of the Nguyen, Nguyen Anh had strived to develop economy, to stabilize social order, at the same time, to store foods for a fight against Tay Son. Since 1790 Nguyen Anh had ordered the troops to break up of land for tillage, set up some plantations along riversides of Vam Co river to produce food. Therefore, residentail zones were formed, in which Cai Yen (Khanh Hau) was one of early settlement place of Long An migrant people.
In 1802 of the XIXth century, Tay Son - Nguyen Anh war was finished. The Nguyen had policies of reclaimation, migration to found the hamlet, attracting to streams of new migrant people from North Vietnam to supplement to Long An inhabitant communities.
In 1868, The Nguyen developed Thuan An canton as Thuan An district (Ben Luc, Thu Thua), developed Phuoc Loc canton as Phuoc Loc district (Can Duoc, Can Giuoc). In 1841 set up Tan Thanh district (Vam Co and Township). The establishment of administrative units reflected the new requirement on social management, which were not sufficient for the old government apparatus as population had been increasing, therefore population of Long An had increased faster in this period.
As being in strategic position, during the course of development, Long An has had many development of border, administration and population.
According to population statistics in Long An between 1900 and 1930 showed that within 30 years, the number of people in Long An had increased from 265.000 to 355.000 persons. The average annual growth was 3.000 persons.
In the period of the last 15 years of French colonialism (1930-1945), population of Long An had increased 12.000 persons by average every year, 4 fold higher than the previous period. In this period, there also remained severe issues in population allocation in province, and colonial government also had many solutions but it did not work. That was the great difference of population in regions. According to ''the report'' of Chief Tan An province (16-8-1934), population density in Southern districts was 170 persons/km2 at that time, meanwhile, in Nothern district, it was only 7 persons/km2, 24 fold higher. The report stated clearly: ''It should be warned that the population of the whole province has increased 3.000 persons every year, if the exploitation of new land is not developed at that rate, in the next decades, we will fall into the same situation of fertile plain of Tonkin, that rice production is just enough for people''.
In the period of America – Diem at end of the year 1956, with intrigue of dividing into each small areas to destroy revolution, government Ngo Dinh Diem divided Tan An into Long An and Kien Tuong provinces. In the period of 1955-1956, Ngo Dinh Diem had policies to emigrate 100.000 Catholic persons to the hinterland in Moc Hoa, Tan Thanh, Vinh Hung with the intention of establishing 16 ''land development centers'' and 5 new communes along Cambodia - Vietnam border, at the same time, Diem also emigrated from the Central to Dong Thap Muoi, contributing to increasing population of this region.
After the date of the country’s reunification, Long An border was formed markedly as today. According to the first general census at 0h on 01-10-1979, population of Long An was 949.200 persons, accounting for 1,8% and ranking eighth of The Mekong River Delta in comparison with population of the whole country at that time.
Resolution of the IIIrd provincial congress of party chapters of Long An (1983) gave prominence to commitments of developing potentials of Dong Thap Muoi, including ''filling up'' plan of Dong Thap Muoi by rice crops and cajuput; at the same time, raised specific methods of labor co-ordination, emigration from the Southern districts to the Nothern districts, Tien Giang, Ben Tre provinces and the Nothern provinces to build Dong Thap Muoi. These efforst helped to adjust population between regions in province, building new residentail zones, attracting people to live.
At 0h on 01-4-1989, Long An conducted the second general census. The population of the whole province was 1.120.204 persons at that time.
To date, in term of administration, Long An has 14 districts, townships and 190 communes, wards. The result of the third general census at 0h on 01-4-1999, the population of Long An increased to 1.306.202 persons. Between 2 general censuses (1989-1999), the population of Long An had increased to 185.998 persons in the last 10 years (accounting for 16,6%), increased by average 1,55% every year.
From 01-10-1979 to 01-4-1989, the population of Long An had increased 1,75% by average. From 01-4-1989 to 01-4-1999, the population of Long An had increased 1,55% by average. In comparison with the previous decade, in 1990’s the province had reduced by average 2% every year. This has affirmed the active contribution of population-family planning program in recent years.
In 1999, with efforts in population-family planning, Vietnam was awarded by the United Nations for the population – the first prize for the only unit, who had the outstanding achievement in population program organized one time per year. Long An was awarded the third long-service medal by the State for achievement in the field of population. In the 1999- 2000 period, Long An had basicly reached the replacement fertility rate (in the whole society, each married couple had 1 or 2 children by average).
Implementation of Population strategy of the 2001- 2010 period and works on population have been experienced changes in accessing from family planning to reproductive health in the spirit of Cairo meeting (Egypt) in 1994. In addition to maintaining the objective of birth reduction, the program has started to focus on the quality of population, of which the reproductive health care campaign is the important solution. In this period, the changes on organization (the consolidation of Committee for Population and Family Planning and Committee for the Protection, Care and Education of Children as Committee for Population, Family and Children); with unproper awareness of the Ordinance on population; and satisfactory and subjective tendencies of a segment of officials to initial results of works on population... have adversely influenced to the result of program. In two consecutive years (2002 – 2003), the childbirth rate and the third childbirth rate had increased again and influenced the result of works on population in general and the socio-economic development of province in particular.
After more than one decade of implementation of population policy, Long An had constrained nearly 100.000 cases of birth in comparison with expectation. It is very important for agricultural province during the course of industrialization - modernization. In 2006, population was 1.426.497 persons by average, the third childbirth rate was 9,9%, the development growth rate was 0,96%. The situation of increasing childbirth was controlled. At present, the whole province has 6 communes, 300 hamlets satisfying the standard of not the third childbirth. Many models of reproductive health care and the increase of population quality in community have been developed effectively. Works on population are integrated into socio-economic development programs; model of family with 1 or 2 children has been accepted in Society as the new standard of marriage and reproductive culture …The above results have made the very important contribution to socio-economic development strategy, increasing the annual income per capita, facilitating the poverty reduction and increasing the material and cultural life of people.