Northern Vietnam (Vietnamese: Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng). It has a total area of about 109,942.9 km2. Tonkin is a historical exonym for this region plus the Thanh-Nghệ region.
Of the three geographical regions, the oldest is Northern Vietnam, where the Vietnamese culture originated in the Red River Delta, though Vietnamese people eventually spread south into the Mekong Delta.
Northern Vietnam includes three administrative regions, which in turn comprises 25 First Tier units.
| Administrative Region | First Tier Administrative Units | Area (km2)[1][2] | Population (2022)[1] | Population Density (people/ km2) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast (Đông Bắc Bộ) |
Bắc Giang |
50,826.38 | 9,474,710 | 186.41 | contains most of the mountainous provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Four of them are along Vietnam's border with China. |
| Northwest (Tây Bắc Bộ) | 50,565.71 | 4,911,370 | 97.13 | contains inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern part. Three of them are along Vietnam's border with Laos, and two border China (Dien Bien borders both China and Laos). | |
| Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng) |
Bắc Ninh |
15,070.70 | 22,091,250 | 1,465.84 | contains the small but populous provinces along the mouth of the Red River. The Red River Delta has the smallest area but highest population and population density of all regions. It is also the only region without any land borders with neighboring countries. |
^† Municipality (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương)
Of all 25 First Tier units, two are municipalities and 23 are provinces.
