city, located about 75 miles (120 km) west and slightly south of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), southwestern Vietnam. Cao Lanh is on the left bank of the Mekong River, on the southern edge of the Dong Thap Muoi (“Plain of Reeds”). The city is a rice-trading centre, has a hospital, and is linked by road with Hong Ngu on the Cambodian border. Pop. (1989) 54,349.