Four of the northernmost provinces of the north central coast region, fell within the communist-ruled North Vietnam (DRVN, controlled territory above 17th parallel according to Geneva accords), were hostile to the United States and ARVN forces throughout the Vietnam War as it was a NLF (Viet Cong) stronghold and patron.

This region features three out of UNESCO's seven World Heritage Sites in Vietnam, namely: Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park (2003) under Natural, and Complex of Huế Monuments (1993) and Citadel of the Hồ Dynasty (2011) under Cultural.

[4] The Bắc Trung Bộ region has the second lowest GDP per capita in the country, while the Northwest (Tây Bắc) region ranks the lowest GDP per capita.

[5] The percentage of households with permanent housing for the North Central Coast is 75.6% compared with the whole country of 49.2% (2010).

[7] The percentage of the population aged 15 years old and over obtained the following education in the North Central Coast: Never go to school 5.2%; Primary 19.3%; Lower secondary 33.1%; Upper secondary 17.3%; College, University 5.2%; Postgraduate 0.1% (2010).