Titles of Ha Long bay
National titles
Renowned National Landscape Monument: In 1962, Ha Long bay was ranked as a Renowned National Landscape Monument by the Ministry of Culture and Information (present the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) with the total area of 1.553 km2.
Special National Monument: On August 12, 2009, Ha Long bay was ranked as a Special National Monument by Vietnam Government (in the first round of 2009).
Ceremony to receive the Special National Monument certificate (Source: Ha Long bay Management Department)
Vietnam Tourism Award 2017: On July 08, 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism gave the title of Vietnam Tourism Award 2017 for Halong Bay.
Representative of leaders of Ha Long bay Management Department received the award
International titles
World Natural Heritage Site
Ha Long bay was twice recognized as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The first time: On December 17, 1994, at the 18th session in Phuket, Thailand, the World Heritage Committee inscribed Ha Long bay on the World Heritage List for its outstanding aesthetic values according to criterion (vii) of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Ceremony to receive the UNESCO certificate (Source: Ha Long bay Management Department)
TThe second time: On December 02, 2000, at the 24th plenary session in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, the World Heritage Committee recognized Ha Long bay as a World Natural Heritage Site for the second time according to criterion (viii) on geological and geomorphological values.
Ceremony to receive the UNESCO certificate for the second time (Source: Ha Long bay Management Department)
World’s most beautiful bay
In July 2003, the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World Ha Long bay ranked, recognized and admitted Ha Long bay as a member.
Ceremony to to receive the certificate of the World Natural Wonder (Source: Ha Long bay Management Department)
World New Natural Wonder
On April 27, 2012, at My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi, Vietnam), the New Open World organization awarded the title “World New Natural Wonder” to Ha Long bay.
Extending the boundary of World Natural Heritage
At 17:39 local time (21:39 Hanoi time) on September 16th, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the boundary of Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province was approved for expansion by the World Heritage Committee during its 45th session to include the Cat Ba Archipelago in Hai Phong City.
This event has made Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago become the first World Heritage Site in Vietnam to have its boundaries extend across the two provinces.