Every fact below names its source and the month we checked it. Local legends are labelled as legends. Spotted a mistake? Tell us through the contact page.
In 1010 Ly Thai To, ruler of the Ly dynasty, moved the capital of Dai Viet to the site of the old Dai La Citadel. The city that grew there was called Thang Long.
Thang Long means ascending dragon. Ly Thai To is said to have chosen the name after claiming to have seen a dragon rise from the Red River. The city stayed the capital until 1397, when the court moved to Thanh Hoa, and Thang Long was then renamed Dong Do, the Eastern Capital.
Source: Wikipedia, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
The name Hanoi dates from 1831, when the Nguyen king Minh Mang renamed the city Ha Noi.
The city has carried several names. Le Loi renamed it Dong Kinh, meaning eastern capital, in 1428, and that name lasted until 1789. When Gia Long moved the capital to Hue in 1802, Thang Long lost its status, and its written characters were changed to a homophone to reduce loyalty to the old Le dynasty.
Source: Wikipedia, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
Hanoi was the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1945.
The French made Hanoi their administrative centre for much of the colonial period, and their style still shapes the city. Tree-lined boulevards such as Phan Dinh Phung, Hoang Dieu and Tran Phu streets survive, along with villas and government buildings. Some buildings mix French and Vietnamese styles, including the National Museum of Vietnamese History.
Source: Wikipedia, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
The Temple of Literature was founded in 1070 under King Ly Thanh Tong. In 1076 an Imperial Academy, the Quoc Tu Giam, opened inside it.
The temple is dedicated to Confucius. The Imperial Academy inside it educated Vietnam's bureaucrats, nobles and royalty, and stayed open until 1779. After the Nguyen dynasty set up its capital in Hue, a new imperial academy was founded there, and the Hanoi academy lost its prominence and became a local school.
Source: Wikipedia, Temple of Literature, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
Long Bien Bridge was built from 1899 to 1902 to a design by the Paris firm Daydé & Pillé, and opened in 1903. It is 2.4 km (1.5 miles) long.
Until 1954 the bridge was called Paul Doumer Bridge, after the governor-general of French Indochina who later became French president. The colonial government saw it as strategically important for securing control of northern Vietnam. More than 3,000 Vietnamese workers took part in the construction between 1899 and 1902.
Source: Wikipedia, Long Bien Bridge. Checked October 2026.
Work on the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum began on 2 September 1973 and it was inaugurated on 29 August 1975. The building is 21.6 m (about 71 ft) high.
The mausoleum stands in Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945. It was inspired by Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow but has Vietnamese features such as a sloping roof, and the exterior is grey granite. The source lists morning opening except Monday and Friday, so check current hours.
Source: Wikipedia, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Checked October 2026.
The French built Hoa Lo Prison between 1896 and 1901 for 460 inmates. It was demolished in 1993 and 1994 apart from a section that is now a museum.
The French called it Maison Centrale, meaning Central House, and meant it for Vietnamese prisoners, especially political ones campaigning for independence. It was often overcrowded: a 1913 renovation raised capacity from 460 to 600, yet it held 730 prisoners on one day in 1916. Later, American prisoners of war held there called it the Hanoi Hilton.
Source: Wikipedia, Hoa Lo Prison. Checked October 2026.
The city of Hanoi covers 3,358.6 square km (1,296.8 square miles).
The figure covers the whole administrative area, which is much larger than the old centre. As of 2025 the city had a population of 8,807,523 and hosted 78 foreign embassies, because Hanoi is the national capital and home to the headquarters of the army, the national university system and many government bodies.
Source: Wikipedia, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
Eighty-two stone stelae still stand in the Temple of Literature. They record the names and birthplaces of 1,307 graduates of 82 royal exams.
The stelae stand on stone turtles. The exams were held every three years between 1442 and 1779: the Le dynasty held eighty-one and the Mac dynasty one. The engravings praise the monarch and name the mandarins who organised each exam. A fence now stops visitors from rubbing the turtles' heads, which used to be common.
Source: Wikipedia, Temple of Literature, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
The Temple of Literature appears on the back of the 100,000 dong banknote.
The temple was a place for offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Dai Viet. Just before the Tet New Year, calligraphers gather outside it and write wishes in Han characters, and the artworks are given away as gifts or used as home decorations.
Source: Wikipedia, Temple of Literature, Hanoi. Checked October 2026.
Trains, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians still cross the old Long Bien Bridge, while other traffic uses the newer bridges nearby.
Long Bien is a cantilever bridge over the Red River that links the Hoan Kiem and Long Bien districts. Wikipedia describes the old structure as dilapidated. Other traffic is diverted to the nearby Chuong Duong, Thanh Tri, Thang Long, Vinh Tuy and Nhat Tan bridges, so the old one is left to trains, mopeds, bicycles and walkers.
Source: Wikipedia, Long Bien Bridge. Checked October 2026.
Climate, airports and UNESCO status for Hanoi are on its destination page. More places are on the fun facts index.