Phú Yên formerly belonged to Champa territory as Ayaru, a part of Kauthara polity.

Champa failed and Nguyen Hoang annexed Ayaru into Dang Trong and he named it Phú Yên, which means a prosperous and peaceful land.

The province's topography consists of hilly regions in the west (70%) and the fertile plain of Tuy Hòa in the east.

[4] The highest peaks are at 1,592 m on the border of Khánh Hòa province in the south and at 1,331 m in the northwest (Đồng Xuân District).

The beautiful nature of Phú Yên has been used for the movie Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass, which is adapted from the same novel by Nguyễn Nhật Ánh.

With 174 people per square kilometer, it is also one of the least densely populated provinces of the South Central Coast.

[8] With a GDP per capita of 8.43 million VND[7] in 2007 and a relatively small industrial sector, Phú Yên is one of the less developed provinces of the South Central Coast.

[6] The main agricultural regions of the province are the plains around Tuy Hòa and the lowlands along the Đà Rằng River.

[6] Industrial parks are located in the north of Tuy Hòa and Sông Cầu, near Qui Nhơn.

[5] National Road 25 connects Tuy Hòa to Chư Sê in Gia Lai province, mostly along the Đà Rằng River.

[9] A hydropower plant is located in Sông Hinh District in the southwest of Phú Yên.