The Ngang Pass ( vi, Đèo Ngang, , literally "Transverse Mountain Pass") is a mountain pass on the border of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Quảng Bình and Hà Tĩnh, in the

North Central Coast Bắc Trung Bộ (literally North Central Region, and often translated as North Central Coast) is one of the regions of Vietnam. It consists of six provinces: Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên–Hu ...

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 ...

. National Route 1 crosses it as it traverses the Hoành Sơn, a side-spur of the larger

Annamite Range The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Viet ...

. The pass is 2,560 m long, ascending to the height of 250 m (750 ft). Historical French texts refer to the pass as ''Porte d'Annam''.

History

It marked the former boundary of Champa and

Dai Viet Dai may refer to: Names * Dai (given name), a Welsh or Japanese masculine given name * Dai (surname) (戴), a Chinese surname Places and regimes * Dai Commandery, a commandery of the state of Zhao and in early imperial China * Dai County, in X ...

until the 15th century when the

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

pushed south and conquered the Cham lands piecemeal. Controlling the strategic pass was a priority through the ages as the narrow neck of land could be choked off. At the summit of Ngang Pass remains the Hoành Sơn Quan (''Transverse Mountain Gate''), a masonry gateway built by Vietnam's last dynasty, the

Nguyễn Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...

to regulate the foot traffic across the mountain. The scenic pass is also well known in

Vietnamese literature Vietnamese literature ( vi, Văn học Việt Nam; chữ Nôm: 文學越南) is the literature, both oral and written, created largely by the Vietnamese. Early Vietnamese literature has been greatly influenced by Chinese literature. As Literary Chin ...

, its beauty having been sung by many writers, perhaps the most well-known is the poem by Bà Huyện Thanh Quan.

20th century

The pass was once a major hindrance to land transportation with its winding and steep grade. A modern tunnel has since bypassed the climb, shortening the driving time through the pass as well as making it safer for drivers. The serpentine road ascending the pass is now used by sightseers only.

History

20th century

See also