Back to Hung King Era founding the country, Lao Cai belonged to Tan Hung province, which was one of the 15 provinces of Van Lang State, and was a major political and economic center in the upstream of the Red River. In the reign of Dinh, Ly, Tran, Le, there were many changes in name of places ... Under the reign of Nguyen, Lao Cai mainly belonged to Thuy Vu district, Van Ban district, and a part of Chieu Tan and a small part of Luc Yen in Quy Hoa district. Up to this time, the name of Lao Cai had not been formed.

There was a market in the old Lao Cai town, gradually followed by the open of a market street afterwards. Therefore, the first market street in the local dialect was called Lao Nhai (meant Old Street). Later, another market was opened namely Tan Nhai (it’s Pho Moi now). According to the late Professor Dao Duy Anh, Lao Nhai words were transformed into Lao Cai and was called for quite a long time. When making maps, the French wrote Lao Cai into Lao Kay. Lao Kay was used by the French in documents and seals, but in daily conversations, people still called Lao Cai. After the liberation of Lao Cai (in November, 1950), it has been called Lao Cai until now. After having invaded Lao Cai (in March, 1886) and completed the military pacification, the French colonized and ruled Lao Cai district under the military regime. On 7 January 1899, the IV Army were formed including Yen Bai and Lao Cai Sub-units. Lao Cai was the capital of IV Army. In order to easily control and exploit this land, the French colonized the administrative region and changed the regime. On 12 July 1907, the Indochinese government issued a decree abolishing the Army IV in Lao Cai, changing from the military regime to the civilian rule, establishing Lao Cai province. The name of Lao Cai province has been determined on the map of Vietnam since then.

Experiencing the ups and downs of the history, Lao Cai's geography has many changes. About the administrative places, it has been through several times of being separated and merged, as follows: 

 - Establishment of Lao Cai civilian province (on 12 July 1907), the land of Thuy Vy district on the right bank of the Red River was merged into Chieu Tan, still was named as Thuy Vy. Since then Chieu Tan no longer existed. The part of Thuy Vy district on the left bank of the Red River was separated to form Bao Thang district. Lao Cai province then was comprised of two districts of Thuy Vy, Bao Thang and Muong Khuong, Phong Tho, Bat Xat, Bac Ha (Pa Kha) and Lao Cai town, including 855 villages, 6,812 households, 39,099 people, with 11 main ethnic groups such as Hmong, Dao, Tay, Giay ... of which H'mong occupied 26.56%, Dao 22.41%, Tay, Giay 20.77%, Kinh 4.52%, Nung 7.33%, Thai 9.25%, U Ni 2.48% , Chinese 4.44%, and other ethnic groups.

- After Lao Cai had been liberated for the first time, Lao Cai was divided into 8 districts: Bac Ha, Muong Khuong, Ban Lau, Bao Thang, Sa Pa, Bat Xat, Phong Tho and Lao Cai town.

- On 7 May 1955, Thai Meo Autonomous Region was established, Phong Tho district of Lao Cai province was moved to Thai Meo Autonomous Region. It later belonged to Lai Chau province.

- On 27 March 1975, at the second session of the 5^th National Assembly, three provinces of Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Nghia Lo were merged into Hoang Lien Son province.

- On 17 April 1979, the Government Council issued a decision to merge Lao Cai and Cam Duong into Lao Cai town of Hoang Lien Son province.

- On 12 August 1991, the ninth session of the 8^th National Assembly issued the Resolution to divide Hoang Lien Son province into Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces.

- On 1 October 1991, Lao Cai was reestablished, based on the land of Lao Cai (the old land) and the extra land of three districts including Bao Yen, Van Ban (the formerYen Bai ), Than Uyen (the former Nghia Lo), that finally consisted of 8 districts and two towns.

- On 9 June 1992, the Council of Ministers decided to divide Lao Cai town into Lao Cai town and Cam Duong town.

- On 30 December 2000, Bac Ha district was divided into Si Ma Cai and Bac Ha districts.

- On 31 January, 2002, the Prime Minister issued a Decree to merge Lao Cai town and Cam Duong town into Lao Cai provincial capital.

- On 1 January 2004, Than Uyen district was separated from Lao Cai province to belong to Lai Chau province (new).

- On 30 November 2004, the Prime Minister issued thhe Decree No.195/2004/NĐ-CP on the establishment of Lao Cai city of Lao Cai province.

Currently, Lao Cai province consists of Lao Cai city and 8 districts: Bao Thang, Bao Yen, Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai, Muong Khuong, Sa Pa, Bat Xat and Van Ban with a natural area of 6,383.88 km², population of 674,530 people (2016), and an average population density of 106 people per km².

(Source: History of Lao Cai provincial Party)