| Bac Kan province Tỉnh Bắc Kạn |
|
|---|---|
| — Province — | |
| Ba Be Lake | |
| Location of Bắc Kạn within Vietnam | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Vietnam |
| Region | Northeast |
| Capital | Bắc Kạn |
| Government | |
| • People's Council Chair | Hà Sỹ Toàn |
| • People's Committee Chair | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,859.4 km2 (1,876.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 308,900 |
| • Density | 63.6/km2 (164.6/sq mi) |
| Demographics | |
| • Ethnicities | Vietnamese, Tày, Nùng, Dao |
| Time zone | ICT (UTC+7) |
| Calling code | 281 |
| ISO 3166 code | VN-53 |
| Website | www.backan.gov.vn |
Bắc Kạn, also spelt as Bắc Cạn, is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the northeastern part of the country, due north of the capital Hanoi. Bắc Kạn is the only town of the province which is the capital of the province and is a municipality. The province covers an area of 4859.4 square kilometres and as of 2008 it had a population of 308,900 people.[1]
Bac Kan is a mountainous terrain with rich natural resources of minerals and forests. It has numerous mountains, rivers and lakes which are very scenic; Ba Be National Park and the Ba Be Lake within its precincts are popular attractions.
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The name Bắc Kạn is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese Bắc, meaning north, and the native Vietnamese Kạn; Bắc Kạn is rendered in Hán-Nôm as 北𣴓.
The province is located in the Northeast Midland Mountainous province of Vietnam. Its terrain has the highest altitude among the 11 provinces of the region. Forest area dominates more than 95% of the province and the balance about 5% (of which about 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) is under agriculture) is available for agricultural and other uses. Due to this rugged and forested topography, development of water resources has been limited resulting in exploitation of its forest resources; this has caused degradation of the forests. The topography is highly variable, varying from 1,640 metres (5,380 ft) (highest point in the Khie Thiouing mountains in the province) to the lowest point of 40 metres (130 ft) in the Chợ Mới district. There are numerous rivers and streams flowing through the province, each with small catchment areas. However, most of them have steep slopes and short lengths. Out of the total population, 83% are dependent on agriculture.[2]
The climatic condition of the province is typically tropical monsoonal, which exhibits two distinct seasons namely, the rainy season from May to October accounting for about 88-90 % of the annual rainfall and dry climatic conditions between November and April. This results in water shortage conditions during the dry months.[2]
According to the General Statistics Office of the Government of Vietnam, the population of Bắc Kạn province, as on 2008, was 308900 with a density of 64 persons per km2 over a total land area of 4,859.4 square kilometres (1,876.2 sq mi) of the province. It is one of the least populated provinces in the Northern midlands and mountain areas of Vietnam.[3] The male population during this period was 152800 [4] with females accounting for 156,100.[5] The rural population was 262,000 against an urban population of 56,900 (about 5% of the rural population).[6][7] The main ethnic groups in the province in decreasing number, are ethnic Vietnamese, Tay, Nung and Dao.
Bắc Kạn is divided into: one town municipality (thị xã) Bắc Kạn and seven rural districts (huyện): Ba Bể District, Bạch Thông District, Chợ Đồn District, Chợ Mới District, Na Rì District, Ngân Sơn District, Pác Nặm District, four precincts,six towns under districts and 112 communes.[8]
Bắc Kạn's economy is centred on mining, forest products, agriculture and some degree of tourism offered by its mountains, lakes and the national park. Some statistics related to the economy of the province are the following.
In 2008, there were only 10 farms as against the national number of 120,699 farms.[10]
The province's agricultural output produce in 2008, at constant 1994 prices, was worth 406.3 billion dongs against the national value of 156,681.9 billion dongs.[11]
The province produced 151,800 tonnes of cereals as against the national production of 43.68 million tonnes, in 2008.[12]
The per capita production of cereals in the district was 491.4 kg as against the national figure of 501.8 kg, in 2007.[13]
In 2007, the industrial output of the province was a meagre 376.5 billion dongs against the national output of 1.47 million billion dongs.[14]
The limited water resources development in the province is managed by the communes through better water management practices (government supported initiatives) such as water users associations both for domestic water use and agricultural operations. The irrigation systems developed, though often of temporary nature, in many communes. The participatory management practices adopted since the 1990s has resulted in a greater realization by the farmers that they can play a positive role in the development of irrigation systems in their region for their own benefit. This system has ensured more efficient water delivery to the fields and is reported to have increased the cropping area by 15% and yield levels by 20%. This has resulted in improved economic and living conditions for the farmers.[2]
The province also generates a certain amount of tourism, with the mountains, rivers, and lakes of Bắc Kạn being considered quite scenic. Ba Bể Lake (part of Ba Bể National Park) is a particularly popular destination.
Ba Bể Lake located at an altitude of 178 metres (584 ft), in the midst of the Ba Bể National Park has a water spread area of 500 ha bounded within geographic coordinates of () and (). Lake's water stretch is over 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) (from north to south) with a width of 800 metres (2,600 ft)(average). Due to its long length the lake is also known as the "Ha Long Bay of the mountains." The depth of water in the lake varies from 20–25 metres (66–82 ft), with deepest depth of 35 metres (115 ft). The bed of the lake is uneven with submerged mounts and also limestone islets. The details of the lake have been submitted for UNESCO recognition under the Criteria: (viii)(ix), Category: Natural Submitted by the Ministry of Culture and Information - Government of Vietnam. It is the biggest natural lake in Vietnam, formed in the Cho Ra-Ba Be-Cho Don karstic or 'Karst' terrain, a low-lying terrain in North midlands. Its formation is attributed to the raising mass formation “from the destruction of South East Asia continental mass at the end of Cambrian era, around 200 million years ago.” Its special feature, as against similar karstic lakes in the world, is that it retains its full storage all through the year. The Government of Vietnam has also notified the lake as a forest preserve and a techno-economic study was instituted as part of the National Park Conservation programme.[15][16][17]
The lake and its environs have rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. Among the flora recorded are 417 species of trees, several species of orchids and species of medicinal plants; 179 species of phytoplankton belonging to Chorophyta, Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta, Euglenophyta, Pyrrophyta and Chrysophyta have also been observed in the lake. The faunal species recorded are of terrestrial, aquatic and flying varieties. These are 319 species of animals, out which 42 species are recorded in Vietnam’s Red Book with 3 endemic animal species; the endemic species are the gibbon (snub nose), Bamboo-Thread and Red Algae.[15][16] 106 species of fish recorded in the lake consist of 61 genera, 17 families and 5 orders.[17]
The three lakes, also called the Slam Pe in the local Tay ethnic language, that form the Ba Be lake are called the Pe Leng, Pe Lu, and Pe Lam; all linked as one waterbody. The lake’s central part is contracted while its outer two parts are wider. The lake’s hilly catchment drains 3 rivers into the lake, namely, the Ta Han, the Nam Cuong and the Cho Leng rivers from south and west and is drained by the Nang River flowing to the north. The lake water is very clear with blue colour, and it is a flowing lake with a velocity maintained by controls at 0.5 metres (1.6 ft)/s. The Lake also acts as a flood absorption reservoir during the high flow stages of the Nang river when reverse flow occurs from the river into the lake, preventing flooding in the Nang, Gam and Lo river deltas. The Nang river flows southwards, eventually joining the Lo river in southern Tuyen Quang province, before debouching in the Red River west of Hanoi.[15][16][17]
Ba Be National Park, established in 1992, covers an area of 100.48 square kilometres (38.80 sq mi), delimited within geographical coordinates of . It was set up to protect the Ba Bể Lake along with its surrounding limestone and lowland evergreen forests. The South-West valley of Phiabyior Range of the park has mountain peaks with an elevation range of 517–1,525 m.[15][16]
The reserve forest has two main types of forest vegetation namely the limestone and lowland evergreen forests. The limestone forest, the larger of the two types in the reserve has steep limestone slopes with shallow soil cover. The forest species recorded are mostly Burretiodendron hsienmu and Streblus tonkinensis. The other type is the lowland evergreen forest shallow slopes with a thicker mantle of soils. It has a rich ground flora with a higher diversity of tree species.[16]
There are 65 mammal species in the park. The prominent ones are the Owston's Civet Hemigalus owstoni (globally vulnerable), Francois's Leaf Monkey Trachypithecus francoisi and Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus avunculus (the globally critically endangered).[16] The other species include Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), Slow Loris (Nycticebus coucang), Rhesus Macaque, Stump-tailed Macaque, Francois' Langur, Asiatic Black Bear, European Otter, Asian Golden Cat, Mainland Serow, Red Giant Flying Squirrel, Particolored Flying Squirrel (Hylopetes alboniger), Hairy-footed Flying Squirrel as well as 27 bat species.[17]
About 330 species of butterfly have been recorded, of which 22 are said to be new.[16]
Facilities at the park include an information centre, guest houses, a lake management station, and an ecological research station opened in 2004. The park has 13 villages inhabited by five ethnic groups comprising more than 3,000 people of which the Tay people are the oldest group (over 2,000 years) and form the majority. The other ethnic groups are Dao, Mong, Nung and Kinh in the descending order of their population.[17]
Puong Cave is a large cave in the north of the Ba Be park through which the Nang River flows. The main cave is up to50 metres (160 ft) high and about 300 metres (980 ft) long, in limestone formation. The cave is inhabited by a large population of bats which belong to 18 species, out of which three species are identified for plant pollination and scattering seeds.[17]
The "Fairy Pond" is an isolated rock basin filled with clear water that seeps through the surrounding limestone rock. However, the water level in this pond is the same as the Ba Be Lake.[17]
The Dau Dang Waterfall is formed by the Nang River. It consist of a sequence of rapids which stretch over a length of almost one kilometre as the river flows into the Tuyen Quang Province.[17]
Widow Island is a small, cone-shaped islet near the centre of the southern part of the lake. According to local legend, the islet was once the home of an old widow who was spared from a flood through divine intervention.[17]
Other well known caves include Puông Cave, Nả Poỏng, Ba Cửa Cave, Sơn Dương Cave and Kim Hỷ Nature Reserve.
| Ha Giang province | Cao Bang province | |||
| Tuyen Quang province | Lang Son province | |||
| Bac Kan province | ||||
| Thai Nguyen province |
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