Modern-day Vinh Long was part of Long Hồ dinh established by the Nguyễn Lords in 1732, comprising the provinces of Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, and parts of Cần Thơ. The area saw some of the heaviest fighting between the Tây Sơn brothers and the Nguyễn Lords in the late 18th century; in 1784 Nguyễn Huệ defeated Siamese forces aidingNguyễn Ánh at the Mang Thít River.
In 1951, the Southern Resistance Administrative Committee of the newly-declared Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) merged Vinh Long and Tra Vinh provinces into Vinh Tra province. Vinh Tra existed until 1954 (however, as North Vietnam never administered the area for a significant period of time, this arrangement was not enforced). In 1957, the government of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) formed Vinh Long province, consisting of six districts: Châu Thành, Chợ Lách (now part of Ben Tre province), Tam Bình, Bình Minh, Sa Đéc, and Lấp Vò. In 1961, Cái Nhum District was split from Chợ Lách. Đức Tôn and Đức Thành Districts were added in 1962, but joined the newly-formed Sa Dec Province in 1966. As of 1975, the province had 7 districts: Châu Thành, Chợ Lách, Tam Bình, Bình Minh, Minh Đức, Trà Ôn, and Vũng Liêm.
After the fall of Saigon and South Vietnam was reunited with North Vietnam, the new government merged Vinh Long with Tra Vinh province, forming Cuu Long province in 1976. In 1991, Cửu Long was again split into Vinh Long and Tra Vinh. At the time of the split, Vĩnh Long Province consisted of one city (Vĩnh Long) and 5 districts: Long Hồ, Vũng Liêm, Bình Minh, Tam Bình, and Trà Ôn.
In 1992, Mang Thít District was re-split from Long Hồ District. In 2007, Bình Tân District was created
