Gulf of Tonkin

Gulf in the northwestern South China Sea

This article is about the body of water. For the 1964 military incident, see Gulf of Tonkin incident. For the American political resolution, see Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. For the economic zone, see Gulf of Tonkin Economic Belt.

Gulf of Tonkin

True color satellite image of the Gulf of Tonkin

Geographic location

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese| 北部灣
東京灣
Simplified Chinese| 北部湾
东京湾
Literal meaning| Northern Gulf
Gulf of Tonkin
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Běibù Wān
Dōngjīng Wān
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping| Bak1 bou6 waan1
Dung1 ging1 waan1
Southern Min
Hainanese Romanization| Pak-pōe oân
Tang-kiann oân
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet| Vịnh Bắc Bộ
Vịnh Bắc Phần
Vịnh Đông Kinh
Vịnh Bắc Việt
Chữ Hán| 泳北部
泳北份
泳東京
泳北越

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 126,250 km2 (48,750 sq mi). It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern coastline of Vietnam down to the Cồn Cỏ district,[1] in the north by China'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.[2][3]

## Description and etymology

[edit]

The name Tonkin, written "東京" in chữ Hán characters and Đông Kinh in the Vietnamese alphabet, means "eastern capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the present capital of Vietnam. It is not to be confused with Tokyo, which is also written "東京" 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 – Vịnh Bắc Bộ and Běibù Wān, respectively – both mean "Northern Bay".

The Gulf of Tonkin is a relatively shallow portion of the Pacific Ocean; the majority of the gulf's ocean floor is less than 75 metres (246 ft) in depth, and no part of the gulf is submerged in more than 100 metres (330 ft) of water.[4]

## History

[edit]

### Gulf of Tonkin incident

[edit]

Main article: Gulf of Tonkin incident

On 4 August 1964, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese forces had twice attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.[5] 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 in South Vietnam, which began with the landing of US regular combat troops at Da Nang in 1965.

Map of the maritime border between Vietnam and China in the Gulf of Tonkin. The red dot is Bach Long Vi Island

### Maritime border issue in the Gulf of Tonkin

[edit]

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.[1][6]

The 2025 Vietnamese declaration on the baselines and width of territorial waters, which was made as a response to the parallel 2024 declaration from China. This map is wholly labeled in Vietnamese language and transcription.

On March 1, 2024, China issued a “Declaration on the baselines of the territorial waters in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin”.[7][8][9][10] Vietnam calls on China to respect international law.[7][10] One year later, in February 2025, Vietnam also announced baseline for determining its territorial waters width in the Gulf of Tonkin.[11]

## See also

[edit]

* Port of Beibu Gulf
* Geography of China
* Geography of Vietnam
* Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b thông, Bộ Thông tin và Truyền. "Quá trình phân định biển trong Vịnh Bắc Bộ". Cổng Thông tin điện tử Bộ Thông tin và Truyền thông (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2024-10-15.
2. ^ "Report on Typhoon Cempaka (2107)".
3. ^ "Hong Kong cancels No 1 typhoon signal as tropical Prapiroon moves away from city". 22 July 2024.
4. ^ Sterling, Eleanor; Hurley, Martha (2005-07-01). "Conserving Biodiversity in Vietnam: Applying Biogeography to Conservation Research Conserving Biodiversity in Vietnam: Applying Biogeography to Conservation Research". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
5. ^ Fletcher, Martin (1 December 2001). "LBJ tape 'confirms Vietnam war error'". The Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2001.
6. ^ Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus) (2021-01-11). "Vietnam - China Boundary Delimitation Agreement in the Gulf of Tonkin". Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus). Retrieved 2024-10-15.
7. ^ a b Camarena, Joaquin (2024-04-09). "China Unveils New Baseline for Territorial Waters in Gulf of Tonkin". Atlas. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
8. ^ "中国政府就北部湾北部领海基线发表声明-新华网". 2024-03-04. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
9. ^ "China's new territorial sea baseline declaration in northern Beibu Gulf". Gard. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
10. ^ a b Trí, Dân (2024-03-14). "Bộ Ngoại giao nói về đường cơ sở Trung Quốc tuyên bố ở vịnh Bắc Bộ". Báo điện tử Dân Trí (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2024-11-20.
11. ^ "Việt Nam announces baseline for determining territorial sea width in the Gulf of Tonkin". Viet Nam News. Vietnam News Agency. Retrieved 2025-02-21.

## Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gulf of Tonkin.

* Cooke, Nola; Li, Tana; Anderson, James A., eds. (2011). The Tongking Gulf Through History. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812243369.
* Churchman, Catherine (2016). The People Between the Rivers: The Rise and Fall of a Bronze Drum Culture, 200–750 CE. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442258600.

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19°45′N 107°45′E﻿ / ﻿19.750°N 107.750°E﻿ / 19.750; 107.750

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