Bắc Kạn () is the capital of Bắc Kạn Province,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. The province's only city, it is bordered by Bạch Thông District to the north, north-east and west and Chợ Mới District to the south-east and south-west. Bắc Kạn is 160 kilometers away from

Ha Noi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. As of 2019 it had a population of 45,036 people. The town traces its origins to a fort established in 1880 and upgraded to city on 11 March 2015. It is divided into six wards:

Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (1 November 1910 in Vinh, Annam – 28 August 1941 in Hóc Môn, Cochinchina) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and a leader of the Indochinese Communist Party during the 1930s. Early life and education Nguyễn Thị Minh ...

, Đức Xuân,

Sông Cầu Sông Cầu is a town (''thị xã'') of Phú Yên province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. After the Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1 ...

, Phùng Chí Kiên, Huyền Tụng and Xuất Hóa and 2 communes: Dương Quang, Nông Thượng.

History

Bắc Kạn (

chữ nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...

: 北𣴓) was established as a fort in 1880 for troops of the

Nguyễn Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese name, Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. wiktionary:nguyên, Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 perc ...

government during the 1878 revolt of Li Yung Choï (Vietnamese: Lý Dương Tài) coincident with the

Black Flag Army The Black Flag Army (; , chữ Nôm: 軍旗𬹙) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, then during the Nguy ...

. Following Li's capture and decapitation, the remains of his group reformed under Liu Zhiping (Vietnamese: Lục Chi Bình) and with 5,000 men attacked the fort defended by 300 Annamite soldiers in 1881. The town of Bắc Kạn was one of the early headquarters of the

Việt Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

in the war against the French.

Jean-Étienne Valluy Jean-Étienne is a French given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Étienne Antoinette (born 1966), French Guianan politician * Jean-Étienne Championnet (1762–1800), French general * Jean-Étienne Despréaux (1748–1820), Frenc ...

aimed to surround the area and capture the town in

Operation Léa Operation Léa was a French Union military operation between 7 October and 8 November 1947 during the First Indochina War. It is also known as the Việt Bắc Campaign (''Chiến Dịch Việt Bắc'') by the Viet Minh. It was an attempt by the ...

between 7 October and 22 December 1947. A parachute drop caught the Việt Minh by surprise and seized letters left on the desk of

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...

.Davidson, Philip,
Vietnam at War: The History, 1946-1975
', pp. 47-48. Both Ho and

Võ Nguyên Giáp Võ Nguyên Giáp (; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general and communist politician who is regarded as having been one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He served as interior minister in President H ...

escaped only by hiding in camouflaged holes nearby. It was also an area of fighting between the communists and

Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (; chữ Hán: ; ), abbreviated VNQDĐ or Việt Quốc, was a nationalist and democratic socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century ...

armed forces.Van Dao Hoang, ''Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang: A Contemporary History'' Page 407 2008 "Meanwhile, the Communists mobilized their troops from Bắc Giang, Bắc Kạn, and Thái Nguyên (a total of 5,000 troops) to attack the VQAF in Ban Hoc

Climate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bac Kan Provincial capitals in Vietnam Districts of Bắc Kạn province Populated places in Bắc Kạn province Cities in Vietnam tg:Бак Кан