Interesting and Amazing Facts about Ha Long Bay, One of the Seven New Natural Wonders in the World

Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, renowned for its more than a thousand limestone islands rising out of the ocean, is the subject of today’s Google animated Doodle. One of the world’s seven new natural wonders, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, is the subject of this Doodle. Situated in the Gulf of Tonkin, Ha Long Bay formed approximately 3 million years ago. Vinh Ha Long, its Vietnamese name, translates to “where the dragon descends to the sea.” Ha Long Bay was officially inducted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on December 17, 1994. Here are some interesting and amazing facts about Halong Bay.

30 Interesting Facts about Hạ Long Bay

1. In Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam, Hạ Long Bay, also known as Halong Bay (Vịnh Hạ Long), is a popular tourist destination and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. Hạ Long is a name that means “descending dragon”. Administratively, the bay is a part of Vân Đồn district and belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả City.
3. Thousands of limestone islets and karsts in a variety of sizes and shapes can be found in the bay. Bai Tu Long Bay to the northeast and Cát Bà Island to the southwest form a larger zone around Hạ Long Bay. 
4. Around 1,553 km2 (600 sq mi) make up Hạ Long Bay, which is home to 1969 islets, the majority of which are made of limestone. There are 775 islets densely packed within the 334 km2 (129 sq mi) bay’s core.
5. There are 60 endemic species of fauna and 14 endemic species of flowers in Hạ Long Bay.
6. Along with commemorating significant moments in Vietnamese history, Hạ Long Bay is home to numerous artifacts from the Đầu Gỗ cave, Bãi Cháy, and Bài Thơ mountain.
7. Five hundred years ago, Nguyễn Trãi wrote a verse titled Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, praising the beauty of Hạ Long Bay and referring to it as “a rock wonder in the sky”.
8. In 1962, Hạ Long Bay was included in the National Relics and Landscapes publication by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of North Vietnam.
9. Criterion VII was used to list the core zone of Hạ Long Bay as a World Heritage Site in 1994. Criterion VIII was used to list the area a second time.
10. “Descending dragon” is the meaning of the name Hạ Long (chữ Hán: 下龍).
11. The name Hạ Long Bay had not been mentioned in the country’s old books before the 19th century. It has gone by the names An Bang, Lục Thủy, and Vân Đồn. The name Hạ Long Bay first surfaced on the Maritime Map of France in the late 1800s. “Dragon appears on Hạ Long Bay” was reported by the French-language Hai Phong News.
12. Northeastern Vietnam, from E106°55′ to E107°37′ and from N20°43′ to N21°09′, is home to Hạ Long Bay. The bay is bounded to the south and southeast by Lan Ha Bay, to the north by Hạ Long City, and to the west by Bai Tu Long Bay. It extends from Quang Yen town, past Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả City, and finally to Vân Đồn District. The bay is around 1,553 km2 (600 sq mi) in size with about 2,000 islets and a 120 km long (75 mi) coastline.
13. The 434 km2 (168 sq mi) area with 775 islets that make up the UNESCO-designated World Natural Heritage Site is divided into 69 core zones, with Dau Go island on the west, Ba Ham Lake on the south, and Cong Tay island on the east. The Cái Dăm petrol store to Quang Hanh ward, Cẩm Phả city, and the surrounding area comprise the protected zone.
14. About 1,540 population live in Hạ Long Bay, mostly in the fishing villages of Cửa Vạn, Ba Hang, and Cặp Dè (Hùng Thẩng Ward, Hạ Long City).
15. The lives of those who live in Hạ Long Bay nowadays are significantly better because of new travel businesses. Today, visitors can rent bedrooms, take boat tours, and enjoy meals made with fresh seafood from the residents of the floating villages that surround Hạ Long Bay. Compared to people living on other Hạ Long Bay islands, residents of floating villages are regarded as wealthy, despite leading a solitary and back-breaking lifestyle.
16. The Halong Bay Agreements (Accords de la baie d’Along), signed by President Nguyễn Văn Xuân and High Commissioner Emile Bollaert on June 5, 1948, marked the first raising of the new national flag of the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam in history.
17. Hạ Long Bay’s original limestone karstic geomorphologic features and outstanding examples representing significant stages of Earth’s history led to its induction into the World Heritage List by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in 2000.
18. At least 500 million years of orogeny, marine transgression, and marine regression have occurred in Hạ Long Bay’s geological history. Hạ Long Bay was a deep sea between 500 and 410 million years ago, during the Ordovician and Silurian periods. Hạ Long Bay was at shallow sea level between 340 and 250 million years ago, during the Carboniferous and Permian periods.
19. The last 1,000 years have seen some of the most amazing geological occurrences in the history of Hạ Long Bay, such as the sea’s advance, the bay area’s elevation, intense erosion that produced coral, and the water’s pure blue and highly salted state. The stone’s remarkable beauty is a result of the deep engravings caused by the seawater erosion process. The result of this lengthy process of geological evolution, which has been influenced by numerous factors, is Hạ Long Bay as it is today.
20. Because of all these things, visitors to Hạ Long Bay get to see not just one of the world’s natural wonders but also an invaluable geological museum that has been left to survive in the open air for the past 300 million years.
21. Ha Long Bay is home to two distinct ecosystems: a marine and coastal ecosystem and a tropical, moist, evergreen rainforest ecosystem. The bay is home to seven endemic species: Paraboea halongensis, Alpinia calcicola, Impatiens halongensis, Livistona halongensis, Chirita modesta, Hiepii, and Chirita modesta. Additionally, there is some bioluminescent plankton.
22. Hạ Long Bay was named a ‘Renowned National Landscape Monument’ by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism in 1962.
23. Hạ Long Bay’s outstanding universal aesthetic value led to its initial designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Hạ Long Bay’s World Heritage Listing was updated in 2000 after the World Heritage Committee recognized its exceptional geological and geomorphological value.
24. The bay was added to the 2012 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund in October 2011, citing threats to the site that needed to be addressed due to pressure from tourism and related developments.
25. Hạ Long Bay was officially honored as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2012 by the New 7 Wonders Foundation.
26. Hạ Long Bay is also a part of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club.
27. Situated in the Quang Ninh province’s Gulf of Tonkin, Ha Long Bay was formed approximately 3 million years ago. According to legend, a legendary dragon trampled deeply into the ground, forming enormous water-filled valleys and leaving only a few angular mountain peaks intact above the surface. Currently made up of nearly 2,000 islands and islets, the magnificent marine environment is home to hundreds of different species, including fish, monkeys, hawks, and frogs.
28. It is one of Vietnam’s national treasures, drawing millions of dream-seekers each year with its emerald-green waters and limestone pillars. While some choose to go deeper into Sung Sot Cave, the biggest cave in the bay, others prefer to engage in more water-based activities like kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, and fishing.
29. Ha Long Bay was named a World Wonder of the New Millennium and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a priceless cultural phenomenon that has greatly aided scientific understanding of the history of global climate change and the movement of geologic plates.
30. On December 17, 2023, Google featured an animated Doodle on its homepage to celebrate Ha Long Bay.