Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng

Ninh Province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay
belongs to Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả city, and is a part of Vân Đồn district. The bay features thousands of
limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Hạ Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which
includes Bai Tu Long Bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà Island to the southwest. These larger zones share
a similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climate, and cultural characters. Hạ Long Bay has
an area of around including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an
area of with a high density of 775 islets. The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of
formation in different conditions and environments. 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 prehistoric human beings in this area tens of thousands
years ago. The successive ancient cultures are the Soi Nhụ culture around 18,000–7,000 BC, the Cái Bèo
culture 7,000–5,000 BC and the Hạ Long culture 5,000–3,500 years ago. Hạ Long Bay also marked some
important events in Vietnamese history, with many artifacts found in Bài Thơ mountain, Đầu Gỗ cave,
and Bãi Cháy. 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 as a
World Heritage Site under Criterion VII, and was listed for a second time under Criterion VIII. Historical
research surveys have shown the presence of prehistoric human beings in this area tens of thousands
years ago.

Etymology

The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Before the 19th century, the name Hạ Long Bay had
not been recorded in the old books of the country. It has been called An Bang, Lục Thủy, Vân Đồn... In
the late 19th century, the name Hạ Long Bay appeared on the Maritime Map of France. The French-
language Hai Phong News reported "Dragon appears on Hạ Long Bay".According to local legend, when
Vietnam had just started to develop into a country, they had to fight against invaders. To assist the
Vietnamese in defending their country, the gods sent a family of dragons as protectors. This family of
dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the
bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. Under magics, numerous rock mountains
abruptly appeared on the sea, ahead of invaders' ships; the forward ships struck the rocks and each
other. After winning the battle, the dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth, and
then decided to live in this bay. The place where the mother dragon descended was named Hạ Long, the
place where the dragon's children attended upon their mother was called Bái Tử Long island, and the
place where the dragon's children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vĩ island, present-
day Tra Co peninsula, Móng Cái.