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Ha Long Bay is
located in the northeastern part of Vietnam
and constitutes part of the western bank of
Bac Bo Gulf, including the sea area of Ha
Long City and Cam Pha Town and part of Vân
Don island district. It abuts Cat Ba Island
in the southwest. Toward the west is the
shore with a 120 km-long coastline. It is
located within 106o58’-107o22’ east
longitude and within 20o45’- 20o50’ north
latitude. The site is 1553 sq. km with 1969
islands of various sizes, of which 989 have
been named.
The islands in Ha Long Bay are mainly
limestone and schist islands most lying in
the two main areas: the southeastern part of
Bái Tử Long Bay and southwestern part of Hạ
Long Bay. These islands represent the most
ancient images of a geographical site having
a tectonic age of from 250 million to 280
million years. They are the result of many
times of rising and lowering processes of
the continent to form a karst. The process
of nearly full erosion and weathering of the
karst created the unique Hạ Long Bay in the
world. In a not very large area, thousands
of islands with different forms look like
glittering emeralds attached to the blue
scarf of a virgin. The area where many stone
islands concentrate has spectacular scenes
and world-famous caves and is the center of
Ha Long Bay Natural Heritage, including
HaLong Bay and a part of Bái Tu Long Bay.
The area is recognized as the World Natural
Heritage that is the area of 434 sq. km with
775 islands. It looks like a giant triangle
with Ðầu Gỗ Island (in the west), Ba Hầm
Lake (in the south) and Cống Tây Island (in
the east) as its three angle points. The
nearby area is the buffer area and areas
classified as national beauty spots in 1962
by the Ministry of Culture and Information. |
