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Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The name Halong means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Halong City, Cam Pha City, and is part of Van Don District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and islets in various shapes and sizes. Halong Bay is part of a larger zone that includes Bai Tu Long Bay to the northeast and Cat Ba Island to the southwest. These larger zones share similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climatic, and cultural characteristics.
Halong Bay has an area of around 1,553 sq km, including 1,969 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 sq km with a high density of 775 islets. The limestone in this bay has undergone 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 humid climate. The geodiversity of the environment has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen ecosystem and a coastal ecosystem. Halong Bay is home to 14 endemic plant species and 60 endemic animal species.
Historical research has shown the presence of prehistoric human beings in this area tens of thousands of years ago. The successive ancient cultures include the Soi Nhu culture (around 18,000-7,000 BC), the Cai Beo culture (7,000-5,000 BC), and the Halong culture (5,000-3,500 years ago). Halong Bay also marked important events in Vietnamese history, with many artifacts found in Bai Tho Mountain, Dau Go Cave, and Bai Chay.
Nguyen Trai praised the beauty of Halong Bay 500 years ago in his verse "Lo nhap Van Don", in which he called it "a rock wonder in the sky". In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Halong Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication. In 1994, the core zone of Halong Bay was listed as a World Heritage Site under Criteria VII and VIII.
