Da Lat formally became a Grade-1 city at a ceremony held at the city’s Peace Square on April 29.
To achieve the status, a city should meet such criteria as having a population of at least 500,000, a density of 12,000 people a square kilometer, and 85 percent of the workforce involved in non-agricultural activities.
At the ceremony, which also celebrated Liberation Day, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung announced the decision in front of Da Lat leaders.
He said it was their mission to develop Da Lat into a major cultural, economic, and tourist center.
The function also saw cultural events like Peach blossom City and Da Lat, a City of the Flower Festival, featuring more than 1,000 actors and actresses, 20 flower-decked bicycles, and fireworks.
Da Lat, stretching more than 400 square kilometers on the Lang Biang highlands, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
It is a major producer of vegetables and flowers, annually turning out around 170,000 tonnes of vegetables, of which 35,000 tonnes are exported.
It also produces around 540 million flower stems annually, including 33.3 million for export.
