Bu Gia Map is a district in Binh Phuoc Province established on August 11, 2009, according to Resolution No. 35-NQ/CP. It officially commenced operations on November 1, 2009 (with 18 communes), based on the remaining part of the former Phuoc Long district after the establishment of Phuoc Long Town. On August 1, 2015, Bu Gia Map district was once again divided into two districts: Bù Gia Mập (with 8 communes) and Phu Rieng district (with 10 communes), according to Resolution No. 931/NQ-UBTVQH13 dated May 15, 2015, by the National Assembly Standing Committee.
Geographical location, area, and population:
Bu Gia Map District is almost surrounded by Phuoc Long Town, with national highways running through it. It is situated 65 km from Dong Xoai Town. The district has a relatively complete road network connecting the district center to the communes, all of which are paved and linked to other districts within the province. Among the important transportation routes is provincial highway DT741, connecting to the provincial capital center.
- To the East, it borders Tuy Duc district, Dak Nong province, and Bu Dang district, Binh Phuoc province;
- To the West, it borders Hon Quan district, Loc Ninh district, and Bu Dop district; - To the South, it borders Phu Rieng district and Phuoc Long town;
- To the North, it borders Cambodia with a border length of over 60km.
- The district has a natural area of 106,428.15 hectares and an average population (in 2015) of 75,208 people (including 27,122 people from ethnic minority groups) and has 08 administrative units, including the communes: Dak O, Bu Gia Map, Binh Thang, Duc Hanh, Phu Van, Phu Nghia, Da Kia, and Phuoc Minh.
Bu Gia Map district is located in the transitional area between the high plateau and the plain, with a strategically important position in terms of economy, politics, and national security and defense.
Natural conditions:
Binh Phuoc province in general and Bu Gia Map district in particular are located in a region characterized by a tropical monsoon climate with two distinct seasons: rainy season and dry season. Air temperature: The average annual air temperature is relatively high and stable from 25.8 - 26.2°C.
Overall, the temperature change between months is not significant, but the temperature difference between day and night is quite large, around 7 - 9°C, especially during the dry months.
- Average temperature: 26.1°C/year
- Highest monthly temperature: 27.4°C (May)
- Lowest monthly temperature: 24.7°C (November)
- Absolute highest temperature: 35.2°C
- Absolute lowest temperature: 17.9°C.
The soil in Bù Gia Mập district is mainly nutrient-rich red Basalt soil, capable of adapting to various types of crops, especially industrial crops such as rubber, coffee, cashew, and pepper, with rubber being the largest plantation crop in Bình Phước province.
Bù Gia Mập district houses Bù Gia Mập National Park with a considerable area of forests and forest land, around 26,032 hectares (with 21,376 hectares of natural forests), thus having a diverse and abundant flora and fauna, serving as a conservation area for wild animals and plants, with rare and valuable medicinal resources (724 plant species, 278 medicinal plant varieties, 437 wild animal species). The rare gene sources of the animal and plant systems, the standard samples of the intact evergreen tropical rain forest ecosystem - the moist tropical forest, the low mountains with a height of under 1,000m characteristic of the transition from the Central Highlands down to the Southern Plain. Protecting the forest reserves for the headwaters of water reservoirs for hydroelectric projects such as Thac Mo, Can Don. Also serving for scientific research, environmental education, and the development of eco-tourism. In the district there flows the River Be in the North-South direction, with a basin area of about 4,000 km2. With 3 main tributaries: Dak Huyt Stream 80 km long, Dak Lung Stream 50 km long, Dak Lap Stream 9 km long, and an average flow rate of about 100m3/s. On the River Be, 4 large water conservancy and hydroelectric projects are planned in 4 stages: Thac Mo Hydropower, Can Don, Soc Phu Mieng, and Phu Hoa.
Ethnic groups, religions:
Bu Gia Map has many different ethnic groups living together with 23 brotherly ethnic groups.
The minority ethnic people account for about 36%, mostly S'tiêng, with a few Hoa, Khmer, Nùng, Tày, so Bù Gia Mập has many cultural features of the Xtiêng ethnic group. Particularly for the S'tiêng people, the indigenous ethnic group in the district has its own unique cultural characteristics and still retains many traditional cultural features. Within the S'tiêng community, they often differentiate each other based on local resident groups, previously divided into 4 main groups: Bulơ, Budek, Bulap, and Bu biet, later consolidated into 2 groups: Bulơ and Budek. The main residential areas of the S'tiêng people in Bù Gia Mập district are the communes of Đắk Ơ, Bù Gia Mập, Phú Nghĩa, Phước Minh, Đa Kia… Previously, the majority of S'tiêng people in Bù Gia Mập faced difficult living conditions, with food supplies only sufficient for 6 to 8 months, and a scarcity of food, sometimes having only a simple dish of wild gourd soup for meals in the family. The cause of food scarcity is due to crops being poorly cared for with lack of fertilizers and pest control, arbitrary changes in crop structure, low levels of cultural practices, production, and intelligence... The attention from the Party, government at all levels in the locality through supportive policies, and awareness-raising campaigns are gradually addressing these reasons. Currently, the living standards of ethnic minority people have been significantly improved step by step. Many ethnic minority households have developed production, built stable family economies with food, clothing, housing, purchased cars, machinery, equipment for production and family life, invested in their children's education, accumulated assets... However, there are still very poor households (poor households are ethnic minority households, accounting for 38.2% of the total poor households in the district, accounting for 52% of the total ethnic minority households in the district). There is still a situation of hunger due to crop failures from September to December. Therefore, solving the poverty issue remains a difficult and long-term problem that requires the collective effort of the entire Party, military, and people in the district.
There are about 30 religious establishments in the district, with the three main religions being Catholicism, Buddhism, and Protestantism. In addition, there are a few followers of other religions such as Caodaism, Hoa Hao, and Islam./.