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VN2000 CAD to KML: pick the right province or central meridian

Cadastral, survey and planning drawings in Vietnam are usually in VN2000. Pick the right zone and central meridian and the drawing lines up with the ground on Google Earth.

What is VN2000?

VN2000 is Vietnam's national datum and coordinate system. Cadastral maps, survey drawings and many planning drawings are made in it, with projected coordinates in metres on a zone that has its own central meridian.

When converting to KML the tool converts from VN2000 to WGS84 with the 7-parameter transformation of Circular 973/2001/TT-TCĐC.

3° and 6° zones

  • 3° zone (VN2000 TM-3, scale factor 0.9999): each province has its own central meridian. Commonly used for large-scale drawings such as cadastre and detailed planning. This is what the tool's VN2000 option uses.
  • 6° zone (VN2000 UTM, factor 0.9996): zones 48 and 49 cover the country. The tool has no dedicated option; choose EPSG and enter 3405 (zone 48) or 3406 (zone 49).

If the drawing says "3° zone" or "central meridian 105°45′" use the VN2000 option. If it says "UTM" or "6° zone" use EPSG.

Central meridian by province

This table is taken straight from the tool's list, following Circular 973/2001/TT-TCĐC, and uses the 63 pre-2025 province names.

Central meridianProvinces
103.0 103°00′Lai Châu, Điện Biên
104.0 104°00′Sơn La
104.5 104°30′Cà Mau, Kiên Giang
104.75 104°45′An Giang, Lào Cai, Nghệ An, Phú Thọ, Yên Bái
105.0 105°00′Bạc Liêu, Cần Thơ, Hà Nam, Hà Nội, Hậu Giang, Ninh Bình, Thanh Hóa, Vĩnh Phúc, Đồng Tháp
105.5 105°30′Bắc Ninh, Hà Giang, Hà Tĩnh, Hưng Yên, Hải Dương, Nam Định, Sóc Trăng, Thái Bình, Trà Vinh, Tây Ninh, Vĩnh Long
105.75 105°45′Bình Dương, Bến Tre, Cao Bằng, Hải Phòng, Hồ Chí Minh, Long An, Tiền Giang
106.0 106°00′Hòa Bình, Quảng Bình, Tuyên Quang
106.25 106°15′Bình Phước, Quảng Trị
106.5 106°30′Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên
107.0 107°00′Bắc Giang, Thừa Thiên Huế
107.25 107°15′Lạng Sơn
107.5 107°30′Kon Tum
107.75 107°45′Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, Lâm Đồng, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ninh, Đà Nẵng, Đồng Nai
108.0 108°00′Quảng Ngãi
108.25 108°15′Bình Định, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận
108.5 108°30′Bình Thuận, Gia Lai, Phú Yên, Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông

After the 2025 province mergers

In 2025 many provinces were merged, so administrative names and boundaries changed. The tool's list still uses the pre-merger province names, because the central meridians were defined for the old provinces.

A new province can combine old provinces with different central meridians (in the table above Ninh Bình is 105.0 and Nam Định is 105.5). So if you are unsure, do not guess from the province name: choose "VN2000 – meridian" and enter the meridian written in the drawing's title block or report, or pick the old province where the project lies.

How to choose in the tool

  1. Pick your DWG or DXF and the output (KML or KMZ to view in Google Earth).
  2. In Coordinate system choose "VN2000 – by province" and pick the province; or "VN2000 – meridian" and type the meridian in decimal degrees.
  3. Press Convert, open the result in Google Earth and compare it with familiar roads and parcels.
  4. If it is off, try a neighbouring central meridian (0.25° or 0.5° apart).

The meridian is entered as decimal degrees. Convert from degrees and minutes like this.

Degrees, minutesType in the field
104°45′104.75
105°00′105.0
105°30′105.5
105°45′105.75
107°45′107.75

Try it

Pick an output and convert your drawing.

DWG → KML

Opens straight in Google Earth, Google My Maps and map apps.

 DWG → KMZ

A zipped KML in a single compact file, easy to send by email or Zalo.

 DWG → SHP

A Shapefile ZIP (points, lines, polygons) for QGIS, ArcGIS and other GIS software.

 DWG → DXF

Turn DWG into an open DXF that many CAD and GIS programs can read.