Hạ Long Bay
Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type: Natural Criteria: vii, viii Reference: 672
Inscription: 1994 (18th
Session) Extensions: 2000
Hạ Long Bay (The
name Hạ Long is
derived from the Sino-Vietnamese, meaning "descending dragon") is a
popular travel destination, in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cam Pha
town, and part of Vân Đồn District.
The bay features thousands of limestone
karsts, which has gone through 500
million years of formation in different conditions and environments and isles
in various sizes and shapes. Ha Long Bay is a
center of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long
bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà islands to the southwest.
Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2,
including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay
has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets. The evolution of the karst in this bay has
taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate. The geo-diversity of the environment in the
area has created biodiversity,
including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore
biosystem. Hạ Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species and
60 endemic faunal species.
Historical
research surveys have shown the presence of prehistorical human beings in this
area tens of thousands years ago. The successive ancient cultures are the Soi
Nhụ culture around 18,000–7000 BC, the Cái Bèo culture
7000–5000 BC and the Hạ Long
culture 5,000–3,500 years ago. Hạ Long
Bay also marked important events in the history
of Vietnam with many artifacts found in Bài Thơ Mount, Đầu
Gỗ Cave, Bãi Cháy.
500 years ago,
Nguyễn Trãi praised the beauty of Hạ
Long Bay in his verse Lộ
nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the
sky". In 1962, the
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Hạ Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes
publication. In 1994, the
core zone of Hạ Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage
Site.
In 2012, New 7 Wonders Foundation officially named
Halong Bay as one of New Seven Natural Wonders of the world.
Hạ Long Bay is also a member of the Club of the Most
Beautiful Bays of the World.
