HALONG BAY - CAT BA ARCHIPELAGO RECOGNIZED AS WORLD GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE

Halong Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago has been recognized as a World Geological Heritage Site by The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), together with 99 others in 53 countries in the world.

The site is included on the IUGS's list thanks to its outstanding global values of geological history and karst geomorphology. Halong Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago includes all stages of the marine submergence of tropical karst as well as three main types of caves - ancient marine frog-jaw caves, ancient karst caves, and frog-jaw caves. Halong Bay represents the later stages of the marine subduction while Cat Ba Archipelago adds important geological values to the heritage through its patterns of the terrestrial and intertidal stages. The appearance of Halong Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago and its unique and famous geological and geomorphological values today are the result of a regional tectonic movement that lasted more than 500 million years.

In 2023, at the 45th Session of the World Natural Heritage Committee, the UNESCO also recognized Halong Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago as the first Vietnamese inter-provincial World Natural Heritage Site.