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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. |
