Da Nang


Da Nang or Danang is the fourth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population and the largest by geographical area. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important port cities. As one of the country's six direct-controlled municipalities, it falls under the administration of the central government.
The city was known as Cửa Hàn during early Đại Việt settlement, and as Tourane during French colonial rule. Before 1997, the city was part of Quang Nam–Da Nang Province. On 1 January 1997, Da Nang was separated from Quảng Nam Province to become one of the centrally controlled municipalities. Da Nang is designated as a first class city, and has a higher urbanization ratio than any of Vietnam's other provinces or centrally governed cities.
Da Nang is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam and is the largest city in the region. It has a well-sheltered, easily accessible port, and its location on National Route 1 and the North–South Railway makes it a transport hub. It is within of several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Imperial City of Huế, the Old Town of Hội An, and the Mỹ Sơn ruins. APEC 2017 was hosted in Da Nang. Da Nang has a Human Development Index of 0.800, ranking fifth among all municipalities and provinces of Vietnam. In a proposal announced in April 2025, which came into force starting 1 July that year, the new Da Nang City was formed by incorporating the neighbouring Quảng Nam Province whilst maintaining its political and administrative centres.

Names of Da Nang in different languages

Most of the names by which Da Nang has been known make reference to its position at the Hàn River estuary. The city's present name is generally agreed to be a Vietnamese adaptation of the Cham word da nak, which is translated as 'opening of a large river'.
File:Old map of Vietnam.jpg|thumb|A map of Annam drafted by Alexandre de Rhodes. "Cua han" appears along the coast.
Other Chamic sources, with similar definitions, have been proposed. Inrasara, a researcher specializing in Champa, suggests Da Nang is a variation of the Cham word daknan ; Sakaya, another Champa researcher, claims a connection with the Raglai word danang, meaning 'river source'.
Another name given to Da Nang was Cửa Hàn. The name used by the French, Tourane, is said to derive from this name, by way of a rough transliteration. Notably, this name appears on maps of the area drafted by Alexandre de Rhodes in 1650. The name Kean was another name purportedly used during the 17th century to refer to the land at the foot of the Hải Vân Pass.
Other names referring to Da Nang include:
  • Vũng Thùng, a colloquial name which survives in folklore.
  • Trà Úc, Trà Áo, Trà Sơn and Đồng Long Loan, literary names used by Confucian scholars.
  • In Chinese, Danang is known as ), this is derived from the old name 蜆港.
  • In chữ Nôm, used until 1945, Đà Nẵng is written as 沱灢, a simplified form of.
  • Thái Phiên, a name used briefly after the 1945 August Revolution, commemorating Thái Phiên, the leader of popular revolts during the 1916 Duy Tân Resistance.

    History

Ancient Vietnam

The city's origins date back to the ancient kingdom of Champa, established in 192 AD. At its peak, the Chams' sphere of influence stretched from Huế to Vũng Tàu. The city of Indrapura, at the site of the modern village of Dong Duong in Quảng Nam Province, was the capital of Champa from about 875 to about 1000 AD. Also in the region of Da Nang were the ancient Cham city of Singhapura. the location of which has been identified with an archeological site in the modern village of Trà Kiệu, and the valley of Mỹ Sơn, where a number of ruined temples and towers can still be viewed.
In the latter half of the 10th century, the kings of Indrapura came into conflict with the Đại Việt, who were then based at Hoa Lư near modern Hanoi. As an independent kingdom, Champa found itself needing to defend its territory to contain the threat posed by the Khmer Empire in the west, and expand its territory to the north, hoping to conquer the Vietnamese nation. In Đại Việt, with the kingdom in turmoil following the assassination of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Champa made an unsuccessful attempt to invade Đại Việt in 979 possibly with diplomatic encouragement from China, but failed due to the strong defence of Vietnamese territory under the command of Lê Hoàn. In 982, escalating tensions led to Champa detaining three ambassadors sent by Emperor Lê Hoàn of the Đại Việt were detained in Indrapura. Lê Hoàn decided to go on the offensive, sacking Indrapura and killing the Cham King Parameshvaravarman I. As a result of these setbacks, the Cham eventually abandoned Indrapura around 1000 AD.
The Đại Việt campaign against Champa continued into the late 11th century, when the Cham were forced to cede their three northern provinces to the rulers of the Lý dynasty. By the early 11th century, Vietnamese farmers began moving into the untilled former Cham lands, turning them into rice fields and moving relentlessly southward, delta by delta, along the narrow coastal plain. The southward expansion of Đại Việt continued for several centuries, culminating in the annexation of most of the Cham territories by the end of the 15th century.
The Điện Hải Citadel was first built in 1813 as an earthen fortress located to the north of its present position, with An Hải citadel on the east bank built by Emperor Gia Long to protect the port, and by 1819, both Điện Hải and An Hải citadels had been rebuilt in brick. In 1823, Gia Long's son and successor Minh Mạng rebuilt the original Điện Hải fortress on a high mound at the current location, being upgraded from a fortress to a citadel in 1835.

Western contact

One of the first Europeans to visit Da Nang was Portuguese explorer António de Faria, who anchored in Da Nang in 1535. Faria was one of the first Westerners to write about the area and, through his influence, Portuguese ships began to call regularly at Hội An, which was then a much more important port than Da Nang. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, French and Spanish traders and missionaries regularly made landfall at Hội An, just south of Đà Nẵng. An American, John White, arrived at Da Nang on 18 June 1819 in the brig Franklin of Salem, Massachusetts, and was advised that the country was recovering from devastating wars, and that what little goods had been produced in the area was already allocated. Other American ships arriving shortly after were the Marmion of Boston, and the Aurora and Beverly of Salem.
Conditions were such due to the wars that they were unable to conduct trade, and the subsequent missions of East India Company agent John Crawfurd in 1823 and the two missions of Andrew Jackson's agent, American diplomat Edmund Roberts, in 1833 and 1836 were unable to secure trade agreements due to the exceptionally poor quality of the port. Following the edict of Emperor Minh Mạng in 1835, prohibiting European vessels from making landfall or pursuing trade except at Đà Nẵng, its port quickly superseded Hội An as the largest commercial port in the central region.

French Indochina

In 1847, French vessels dispatched by Admiral Cécille bombarded Đà Nẵng, ostensibly on the grounds of alleged persecution of Roman Catholic missionaries. In August 1858, once again ostensibly on the grounds of religious persecution, French troops, led by Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly, and under the orders of Napoleon III, landed in Đà Nẵng as part of the punitive Cochinchina Campaign.
The French overpowered the Vietnamese stationed in Da Nang, swiftly occupying the city and Tiên Sa peninsula. The occupying forces were quickly placed under siege by the Vietnamese army under the command of Nguyễn Tri Phương, and were eventually forced to retreat in March 1860. The French were able to invade the southern stronghold of Saigon and, in June 1862, several provinces of southern Vietnam were ceded to the French as Cochinchina with the signing of the Treaty of Saigon.
Through two more decades of conflict, the French gradually strengthened their hold on Vietnam, culminating in the establishment of French Indochina in October 1887. Two years later, in 1889, the French colonists renamed the city Tourane, placing it under the control of the governor general of French Indochina. It came to be considered one of Indochina's five major cities, among Hanoi, Saigon–Cholon, Haiphong, and Huế.
In 1903, the colonial government authorised Société des docks et houillères de Tourane to proceed with the tramway construction, with its preliminary 9.5-kilometre stretch being opened on 9 November 1905. Under the state management, “Tramway de l’Îlot de l’Observatoire” opened to the public on 1 October 1907, stretching to Faifo via Montagne de Marbre, operating until 31 December 1915.

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

During the Vietnam War, what is now the Da Nang International Airport was a major air base used by the South Vietnamese and United States Air Forces.
The base became one of the world's busiest aircraft hubs during the war, reaching an average of 2,595 aircraft traffic operations daily, more than any other airport and airbase in the world at that time. The final U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam concluded on 13 August 1972, when a residual force of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade was stood down in Đà Nẵng. B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment fired the last U.S. artillery round, and the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment completed its final patrols. This remaining contingent was designated "Operation Gimlet." Following the U.S. withdrawal and during the final phase of North Vietnam’s conquest of South Vietnam, Đà Nẵng fell to communist forces on 29–30 March 1975. To commemorate this event, Vietnam issued two special postage stamps as part of its "Total Liberation" series on 14 December 1976.
Marble Mountain Air Facility, constructed in 1965, was also located in Da Nang.