Northern Vietnam

Northern Vietnam or Tonkin is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest, the Northeast, and the Red [River Delta]. It is near China. Unlike tropical Central and Southern Vietnam, Northern Vietnam has a subtropical climate.
It has a total area of about 109,942.9 km². The region's largest city, Hanoi, serves as the country's capital. Among the three geographical regions, the oldest is Northern Vietnam. Vietnamese culture originated in the Red River Delta and the Kinh Vietnamese eventually spread south into the Mekong Delta.

Administration

Northern Vietnam includes three administrative regions, which in turn comprises 25 First Tier units.

Administrative Region	First Tier Administrative Units	Area	Population	Population Density	Notes
Northeast	Bắc Giang Bắc Kạn Cao Bằng Hà Giang Lạng [Sơn Province\|Lạng Sơn] Phú Thọ Quảng Ninh Thái Nguyên Tuyên Quang	50,826.38	9,474,710	186.41	contains most of the mountainous provinces that lie to north of the highly populated Red River lowlands. Four of them are along Vietnam's border with China.
Northwest	Điện Biên Hòa Bình Lai Châu Lào Cai Sơn La Yên [Bái Province\|Yên Bái]	50,565.71	4,911,370	97.13	contains inland provinces in the west of Vietnam's northern part. Three of them are along Vietnam's border with Laos, and two border China.
Red River Delta	Bắc Ninh Hà Nam Hà Nội Hải [Dương Province\|Hải Dương] Hải Phòng Hưng Yên Nam Định Ninh Bình Thái Bình Vĩnh Phúc	15,070.70	22,091,250	1,465.84	contains the small but populous provinces along the mouth of the Red River. The Red River Delta has the smallest area but highest population and population density of all regions. It is also the only region without any land borders with neighboring countries.

Municipality
Of all 25 First Tier units, two are municipalities and 23 are provinces.