120 year old land

 For the convenience of administration, in the year of Ky Hoi, the 11th year of Thanh Thai's reign (1899), in line with the general development trend and governance requirements of the Nguyen Dynasty, administrative units at the prefecture and district levels throughout the country were once again changed to suit reality.

Phu Yen province also had important changes, which were: "Establishing the position of district chief - Dong Xuan district, making it dependent on Tuy An prefecture; making Tuy Hoa district a prefecture. Separating the 3 upper region prefectures and districts, Tuy An, Tuy Hoa, Dong Xuan, and establishing Son Hoa district.

The district capital is located in Cung Son village, with a perimeter of 260 meters and 4 communes: Son Binh, Son Xuan, Son Lac, Son Tuong; there are 47 villages and 1,114 men (according to statistics in 1910 during the reign of King Duy Tan).

Regarding administrative boundaries, at that time, Son Hoa district bordered Tuy An and Tuy Hoa prefectures to the east, Gia Lai province and Dak Lak province to the west, Dong Xuan district to the north, and Khanh Hoa province to the south.

Located in an important strategic position, Son Hoa under the Nguyen Lords and the Nguyen Dynasty was both a “fence” and a gateway for trade with Thuy Xa and Hoa Xa. When the French colonialists invaded our country, many uprisings took place in Son Hoa under the leadership of patriotic scholars, clan chiefs, and village elders, which had a great influence throughout the Central Highlands.

In the late 19th century, Son Hoa people responded to participate in the Can Vuong movement, in which: Van Hoa land was the defensive rear base of Xuan Vinh army, directly commanded by Le Thanh Phuong - the movement leader.

When Nguyen Hao Su succeeded Le Thanh Phuong's unfinished career, Hon Ong, Phu Hoi village (now Tong Binh, Son Hoi commune) became a place to store military provisions and forge weapons. Therefore, Son Hoa people soon fostered a tradition of patriotism, steadfastly and indomitably fighting against foreign invaders.

During the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, Son Hoa was a revolutionary base area. Each land and village name was associated with the glorious feats of arms of the army and people of Phu Yen province, making an important contribution to the cause of fighting, building and defending the Fatherland.

The Party and the State have recognized the merits and achievements of the army and people of Son Hoa in the resistance war against the colonialists and imperialists; Son Hoa district and 7 communes: Ca Lui, Phuoc Tan, Son Xuan, Son Long, Son Dinh, Son Hoi, Suoi Trai have been awarded the noble title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. The army and people of Son Hoa have written brilliant lines into the heroic history of their homeland Phu Yen.

 During the 120 years, Son Hoa land has changed many times in terms of place name and administrative boundaries, such as: Son Hoa (merging Tay Nam and Son Hoa districts), Tay Son (merging Son Hoa and Mien Tay districts) and on December 27, 1984, the Council of Ministers (now the Government) issued Decree 179/HDBT dividing Tay Son district into two districts, Son Hoa and Song Hinh.

Next step up

After 1975, Son Hoa people returned to their old villages and rebuilt their new lives. The Party Committee, army and people of the entire district urgently overcame the consequences of war; promoted production and focused on stabilizing life. Starting from scratch, the district had to face numerous difficulties; a low economic base, primitive means of production, wasteland, seriously damaged and degraded infrastructure, a weak and insufficient production force; production activities were mainly manual...

However, with determination and strong will, the Party Committee and people in the district have united and strived to compete in labor production to build their homeland, since then the face of the mountainous countryside has had many remarkable changes in all areas of social life.

With an important position in the East-West economic corridor, being an important area in terms of national defense and security strategy of Phu Yen province, in recent years, with the attention of the Government and the province, along with the efforts of the locality, the infrastructure of transportation, irrigation, national grid, and telecommunications has been constantly developed to meet the requirements of development and serve the people and businesses.

Investment in medical, cultural and educational facilities has been gradually increased to serve well and contribute significantly to improving people's lives, taking care of their health, and developing local human resources.

Adhering to the viewpoint of the District Party Committee, in recent years, Son Hoa district has always focused on leading and directing the comprehensive implementation of tasks in construction and development. Specifically, in terms of politics and ideology, it has always created solidarity and high consensus of the entire political system in the leadership and direction of the implementation of local political tasks and created trust and consensus of the people.

In terms of economy, the district focuses on effectively promoting potentials and advantages for investment and development, attracting the participation of economic sectors. In the social field, people's lives have changed positively, the face of mountainous rural areas has changed significantly. National defense and security are always ensured to maintain stability.

Thanks to timely and appropriate policies, the lives of people in the district have gradually stabilized. The income of ethnic minority households has been constantly improved; policies and regimes for ethnic minorities have been implemented promptly and in accordance with regulations.

Accordingly, the poverty rate at the end of 2018 decreased to 15.31%, a sharp decrease compared to 2000 at 40%. Average income per capita reached 37.7 million VND/person, an increase of more than 19 times compared to 1989. The economic structure of the district has shifted positively, the proportion of agriculture - forestry accounts for about 1/3 of the economic structure; the proportion of industry - handicrafts and trade - services accounts for nearly 70%. The total cultivated area at the beginning of 2019 increased 2.6 times compared