New
7 Natural Wonders of the World
New Seven Wonders of Nature-One
of 28 nominees. Winners will be announced in 2011.
Halong
Bay |
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Viet
Nam |
New
Seven Wonders of Nature |
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The bay consists
of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone
monolithic islands, each topped
with thick jungle vegetation,
which rise spectacularly from
the ocean. Several of the islands
are hollow, with enormous caves.
Hang Ðau Go (Wooden stakes
Cave) is the largest grotto in
the Ha Long area. French tourists
visited in the late 19th century,
and named the cave Grotte des
Merveilles. |
Halong
Bay Slideshow |
|
Ha Long Bay (literally:
Descending Dragon bay; is a UNESCO
World Heritage site located in Quang
Ninh province, Vietnam. The bay features
thousands of limestone karsts and
isles in various sizes and shapes.
Geographical
Location
Ha Long Bay is located in northeastern
Vietnam, from E106°56' to E107°37'
and from N20°43' to N21°09'.
The bay stretches from Yên Hung
district, past Ha Long city, Cam Pha
town to Vân Ðon district,
bordered on the south and southeast
by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north
by China and on the west and southwest
by Cát Bà island. The
bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline
and is approximately 1,553 square
kilometres in size with about 2000
islets. The area designated by UNESCO
as the World Natural Heritage Site
includes 434 km² with 775 islets,
of which the core zone is delimited
by 69 points: Ð?u G? island on
the west, Ba H?m lake on the south
and C?ng Tây island on the east.
The protected area is from the Cái
Dam petrol store to Quang Hanh commune,
C?m Ph? town and the surrounding giants
zone.
Climate
The bay is a sea islands in tropical
wet with 2 seasons: hot and moist
summer, dry and cold winter. Average
temperature is from 15°C- 25°C.
Annual rainfall is between 2000mm
and 2200mm. Ha Long Bay has the typical
diurnal tide system (tide amplitude
ranges from 3.5-4m). The salinity
is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season
and lower in rainy season.
System of isles
and caves
Thien Cung grottoThe bay consists
of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone
monolithic islands, each topped with
thick jungle vegetation, which rise
spectacularly from the ocean. Several
of the islands are hollow, with enormous
caves. Hang Ðau Go (Wooden stakes
Cave) is the largest grotto in the
Ha Long area. French tourists visited
in the late 19th century, and named
the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its
three large chambers contain large
numerous stalactites and stalagmites
(as well as 19th century French graffiti).
There are two bigger islands, Tuan
Châu and Cat Ba, that have permanent
inhabitants. Both of them have tourist
facilities, including hotels and beaches.
There are a number of wonderful beaches
on the smaller islands.
Some of the islands
support floating villages of fishermen,
who ply the shallow waters for 200
species of fish and 450 different
kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands
have acquired their names as a result
of interpretation of their unusual
shapes: such names include Voi Islet
(elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting
cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989
of the islands have been given names.
Birds and animals including bantams,
antelopes, monkeys, and lizards also
live on some of the islands.
Almost these islands
are individual towers in a classic
fenglin lanscape which height is from
50m to 100m and height/width ratios
up to about 6.
Another specific feature
of Halong Bay is the abundance of
lakes inside the limestone islands,
for example, Dau Be island has six
enclosed lakes. All these island lakes
occupy drowned dolines within fengcong
karst.[2]
The bay was World's
Natural Heritage listed by UNESCO at
the 18th meeting of the Committee of
the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Phuket,
Thailand on December 17th, 1994) for
its outstanding universal aesthetic
value according to the criteria explained
in the Operational Guidelines for the
Implementation of the World Heritage
Convention.