Bình Phước () is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Southeast region of the country, to the north of Hồ Chí Minh City (formerly Saigon). It shares a border with Cambodia. History Bình Phước province is the result of a merger of two former provinces: Phước Long province and Bình Long province, which existed before reunification. Both Phước Long and Bình Long then became part of Sông Bé province in 1976, which also included Bình Dương province. Sông Bé province was dissolved in 1997 and Bình Phước again became a separate province. Several significant battles were fought in what is now Bình Phước province. These include the Battle of Sông Bé in May 1965, the Battle of Đồng Xoài in June 1965, the Battle of Lộc Ninh in April 1972, and the Battle of Phước Long from December 1974 to January 1975. Geography Bình Phước province is relatively flat with an elevation of between and throughout most of the province. The elevation is gradually higher towards the east of the province and reach around near parts of the border with Đắk Nông province of the Central Highlands. The highest elevation is Bà Rá mountain () in the centre of the province. There are several hills around the province with heights of up to around in the west and in the southeast. Most of the rivers in the province are tributaries of the Bé River, which in turn is a tributary of the Đồng Nai River. Thác Mơ lake is a large artificial lake in the east of the province. Several rivers originating in the Central Highlands flow into it, including Đak G'lun, Đăk Nhau, Đắk R'lấp, and Dak Oa (from north to south). It is the point of origin of the Bé River, which flows through much of central and western Bình Phước. Forestry land takes up or 49 percent of the province's total area. Forests are located mostly in the northeast and southeast of the province as well as along the northern border with Cambodia and the western border with Tây Ninh province. Much of the rest of the area is used to grow perennial cash crops. The total agricultural area is . There are of specially used land and of residential land. Demography Bình Phước's population in 2007 was 823,600. This is a significant increase from 684,600 in 2000. In contrast to many other provinces,