Hanoi

Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. It covers an area of 3,358.6 km2 (1,296.8 sq mi).The second largest city in Vietnam, it consists of 12 urban districts, 1 district-leveled town and 17 rural districts, with over eight million residents within the city proper and an estimated population of 20 million within the metropolitan area. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is the cultural and political centre of Northern Vietnam. With an estimated nominal GDP of US$42.04 billion as of 2019, it is the second most productive economic area of Vietnam (after Ho Chi Minh City). It is a major transport hub with a large network of national routes, expressways, railways, and being the home to Noi Bai International Airport, the busiest airport in Vietnam.

Hanoi traced its history back to the third century BCE, when a portion of the modern-day city served as the capital of the historic Vietnamese nation of Au Lạc. Following the collapse of Au Lạc, the city was part of colonial China. In 1010, Vietnamese emperor Ly Thai To established the capital of the imperial Vietnamese nation Dại Viet in modern-day central Hanoi, naming the city Thang Long (literally “Ascending Dragon”). Thang Long remained Dại Viet’s political centre until 1802, when the Nguyen dynasty, the last imperial Vietnamese dynasty, moved the capital to Hue.