Lạng Sơn () is a city in far northern

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 ...

, which is the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from

Hanoi 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 ...

, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1.

History

Due to its geography as Vietnam's gateway to China, Lạng Sơn and its ancient citadel have been in the path of many invasions, and were the site of three French defeats during the colonial era. Occupied by Qing forces during the military buildup that preceded the

Sino-French War The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...

, the city was occupied by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

after the two-week Lạng Sơn Campaign in February 1885. However, the brigade there conducted a hasty retreat after a failed attack at the

Battle of Bang Bo The Battle of Bang Bo, known in China as the Battle of Zhennan Pass ( zh, 鎮南關之役), was a major Chinese victory during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). The battle, fought on 23 and 24 March 1885 on the Tonkin-Guangxi bor ...

into

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

; the "

retreat from Lạng Sơn The Retreat from Lạng Sơn (french: retraite de Lang-Son) was a controversial French strategic withdrawal in Tonkin at the end of March 1885 that brought down the government of the French premier Jules Ferry and brought the Sino-French War (Au ...

" became the most controversial aspect of the war and led to the fall of

Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...

's ministry. Outnumbered French colonial forces clashed with the Japanese 5th Division in the Battle of Lạng Sơn during the Japanese

Vietnam Expedition The was a short undeclared military confrontation between Japan and France in northern French Indochina. Fighting lasted from 22 to 26 September 1940; the same time as the Battle of South Guangxi in the Sino-Japanese War, which was the mai ...

on 22 September 1940. The French were again compelled to retreat hastily. In 1945 it was again the scene of heavy fighting during the

Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina The Japanese ''coup d'état'' in French Indochina, known as , was a Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allied invasion of Indochina imm ...

. After the end of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the French colonial army established a permanent garrison there, which served as the logistics hub for the French border fortresses. It was evacuated in 1950 during

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 ...

's offensive against the French border forts, considered a turning point in the

Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. The city was the center of fighting during the

Sino-Vietnamese War The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by #Names, other names) was a border war fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. China launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's Cambodian–Vietnamese War, actions against the Khmer Rouge in 1 ...

of 1979, and sustained extensive damage.

Geology and climate

The surface rocks in the area are a

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

limestone, overlain by the early

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Lang Son Formation, consisting of

flyschoid Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building e ...

beds with interbedded sandstones, siltstones and clay shales and some

felsic In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, whi ...

volcanics.''Journal of Geology'' - Issues 15-20 2000 - Page 8 "Lang Sơn Formation of Induan age, lying unconformably upon Upper Permian limestone in the vicinities of Lạng Sơn Town, Bản Thí, Đông Mỏ, Chợ Bãi and Hữu Lũng, includes medium-grained sandstone rhythmically interbedded with .." This place even can experience snow in the coldest moments of winter although Vietnam is basically snow free, it and the whole of

Northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, 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 S ...

is in an area of the

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang Son Provincial capitals in Vietnam Districts of Lạng Sơn province Populated places in Lạng Sơn province Cities in Vietnam Lạng Sơn province

History

Geology and climate

See also

References