The Cấm River (
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 ...
: Sông Cấm) is a river in 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 it ...
. It is one of the shorter
distributaries
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary ...
of the
Thái Bình River
Thái Bình river (Vietnamese: Sông Thái Bình) is the name of the Thái Bình river system's main river in Northern Vietnam. This river system joins with the Red River system and brings alluvium to create Red River Delta.
Thái Bình river sta ...
but geographically important as
Hai Phong
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong w ...
, Vietnam's second largest port is located on the banks of this river.

Geography and hydrology
The start of the Cấm River is the confluence of the
Kinh Môn River and a smaller stream, the Hàn, in
Hải Dương Province. From there it flows southeasterly, turning more easterly at
Hai Phong
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong w ...
before entering the
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northe ...
as a wide
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
farther downstream.
The entire length of the river is .
The Cấm is subject to frequent
silting
Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...
, requiring regular
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
to accommodate ships of greater than 5,000 tons.
References
*''Vietnam Administrative Atlas'', NXB Bản Đồ, 2004.
External links
Cục đường sông Việt NamSông Cấm trên Website Hải Phòng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cam River (Vietnam)
Rivers of Haiphong
Rivers of Hải Dương province
Gulf of Tonkin
Rivers of Vietnam