The Gulf of Tonkin is a

gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

at the northwestern portion of the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern coastline of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

down to the Cồn Cỏ district, in the north by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and to the east by the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island. English sources from the People's Republic of China refer to the Gulf of Tonkin as Beibu Wan.

Description and etymology

The name ''Tonkin'', written "" in

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

characters and in the

Vietnamese alphabet The Vietnamese alphabet (, ) is the modern writing script for the Vietnamese language. It uses the Latin script based on Romance languages like French language, French, originally developed by Francisco de Pina (1585–1625), a missionary from P ...

, means "eastern capital", and is the former

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

for

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, the present capital of Vietnam. It is not to be confused with

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, which is also written "" and also means "eastern capital". During the French colonial era, the northern region of today’s Vietnam was called ''Tonkin''. ''Bắc Bộ'' is the native Vietnamese name of Tonkin, which is the nowadays region of Northern Vietnam. The bay's Vietnamese and Chinese names – and , respectively – both mean "Northern Bay". The Gulf of Tonkin is a relatively shallow portion of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

; the majority of the gulf's ocean floor is less than in depth, and no part of the gulf is submerged in more than of water.

History

Gulf of Tonkin incident

On 4 August 1964, United States President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

claimed that North Vietnamese forces had twice attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Known today as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, this event spawned the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 7 August 1964, ultimately leading to open war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. It furthermore foreshadowed the major escalation of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in South Vietnam, which began with the landing of US regular combat troops at Da Nang in 1965. Bach Long Vi

Maritime border issue in the Gulf of Tonkin

On December 25, 2000, Vietnam and China signed ''an Agreement on the Delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin''. An Agreement took effect on June 30, 2004, officially defining the maritime border between the two countries in the Gulf of Tonkin. Vietnamese determination of the baseline and territorial water in the Gulf of Tonkin - 2025 declaration

Vietnamese determination of the baseline and territorial water in the Gulf of Tonkin - 2025 declaration

On March 1, 2024, China issued a “Declaration on the baselines of the territorial waters in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin”. Vietnam calls on China to respect international law. One year later, in February 2025, Vietnam also announced baseline for determining its territorial waters width in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Description and etymology

History

Gulf of Tonkin incident

Maritime border issue in the Gulf of Tonkin

See also

References

Further reading