Hanoi

Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has a population of 6,232,940. The town lies on the fertile delta of the Red River (Song Hong), located about 100km from the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin. The climate is a subtropical monsoon with hot humid summers and warm dry winters. The annual total precipitation is 1682mm, eight months of the year are humid and four are arid.

History

Hanoi is the oldest existing capital of Southeast Asia. In the year 866 the Chinese Tang Dynasty, established to consolidate their occupation on the west bank of the Red River a citadel named Dai La, the King Ly Thai To, founder of the Ly Dynasty in the year 1010 had chose this for his residence city and it was given the name “Thang Long” (ascending dragon).

Numerous myths and legend surrounds Hanoi’s history. According to legend, King Ly Thai To believed in his search for a fertile plain that from the mists of the Red River a golden dragon was seen rising into the sky (hence the reason it was named ascending dragon.

Over the centuries, Hanoi has been repeatedly conquered by invaders, temporarily losing its function as the capital and was renamed several times. During the Ho Dynasty (1400-1407) it was known as Hanoi Dong Do (Eastern Capital), while the cast was called by the Chinese Ming Dynasty, the city Dong Quan (Eastern Gate), the Le kings named it in 1430 the Dong Kinh (Eastern Capital). During the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) it lost its status as the capital and the capital was given to Hue, but however, it still remained the administrative center of the north.

The dragon was then a symbol of imperial power and was reserved for the capital Hue. The city was then renamed again. The Nguyen emperors Minh Mang (1820-1841) gave it its present name in 1831. Ha Noi – the “city within the rivers,” means nothing more than a geographic location. In 1873 Hanoi was conquered by the French. From 1883 to 1945 the city was the administrative center of the colony of French Indochina.

The French built south of Old Hanoi, a modern administrative town, laid broad and lying perpendicular to each other. It had tree-lined avenues with Opera, churches, public buildings and luxury villas, but also a large part of the city was destroyed, filling lakes and canals, or reducing them. Imperial palaces such as the Citadel and had to give way as well.

From 1940 to 1945 Hanoi was occupied by people from Japan, French Indochina and Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese National Assembly decided in January 1946, that Hanoi would be the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Between 1946 and 1954, the city was the scene of fierce fighting between the French and the Viet Minh (Indochina war). During the Vietnam War, Hanoi was bombed by the Americans. The first American bombing raids on Hanoi took place in 1966, the last ended in 1972.

At Christmas 1972 they were hit by 40,000 tons of explosives and 25% of the city was destroyed. On 1st August 2008 Hanoi was expanded. They took over the whole province of Ha Tay and the Me Linh district of the province as well as the provincial district Vinh Phuc Part Dong Xuan, Xuan Tien, and Yen Binh Yen Trung Luong Son district of the province (Province Hoa Binh). After this extension, Hanoi became one of the largest cities in the world.