Pre-Thăng Long Vestiges of human habitation from the
Palaeolithic and
Mesolithic ages can be found in Hanoi. Between 1971 and 1972, archaeologists in Ba Vì and Đông Anh discovered pebbles with traces of carving and processing by human hands that are relics of
Sơn Vi Culture, dating from 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. In 1998–1999, the Museum of Vietnamese History (later is
National Museum of Vietnamese History) carried out the archaeological studies in the north of (
Sơn Tây, Hanoi), finding relics and objects belonging to the
Sơn Vi Culture dating back to the
Paleolithic age around 20,000 years ago. During the Holocene transgression, the sea level rose and immersed low-lying areas; geological data show the coastline was inundated and was located near Hanoi. Consequently, from about 10,000 to approximately 4,000 years ago, Hanoi in general was completely underwater. By the year 679, the
Tang dynasty changed the region's name to
Annan (), with
Songping as its capital. In the latter half of the eighth century, Zhang Boyi, a viceroy from the
Tang dynasty, built Luocheng () to suppress uprisings. Luocheng extended from Thu Le to Quan Ngua in what later was
Ba Đình district. Over time, in the first half of the ninth century, this fortification was expanded and renamed as Jincheng (). In 863, the kingdom of
Nanzhao, and local rebels, laid siege of Jincheng and defeated the Chinese armies of 150,000. In 866, Chinese
jiedushi Gao Pian recaptured the city and drove out the Nanzhao and rebels. He renamed the city to Daluocheng (). He built a wall around the city measuring 6,344 meters, with some sections reaching over eight meters in height. Đại La at the time had approximately 25,000 residents, including foreign communities of Persians, Arabs, Indian, Cham, Javanese, and
Nestorian Christians. It became a trading center of the
Tang dynasty due to the ransacking of
Guangzhou by the
Huang Chao Rebellion. In 1831, the Nguyễn king
Minh Mạng renamed it Hà Nội (河內). Hanoi was
conquered and occupied by the
French military in 1873 and passed to them
ten years later. As Hanoi, it was located in the
protectorate of Tonkin and became the capital of
French Indochina in 1902. Nominally it still belonged to the sovereignty of Vietnam (
Nguyễn dynasty) under French protectorate in Tonkin, and since 1888 it had been a French concession and had directly been ruled by the French like
Cochinchina.
WWII, First Indochina War, and Vietnam War cabinet, July 1952 French Indochina including Hanoi was occupied by the
Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in September 1940, after the
Japanese invasion of French Indochina. Japan
overthrew the French rule in Hanoi and formed the
Empire of Vietnam in March 1945. After the
fall of the Empire of Vietnam, it became the capital of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) when
Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam on 2 September 1945. The French returned and reoccupied the city in February 1947. After France recognized Vietnam's nominal and partial independence with the
Élysée Accords on 14 June 1949, Hanoi became under the control of the
State of Vietnam from 1949 to 1954, a unified
associated state within the
French Union. This state gained full independence with the Matignon Accords on 4 June 1954. In January 1953, Hanoi held the free municipal elections of the State of Vietnam. After eight years of fighting between the French and DRV forces, Hanoi became the capital of
North Vietnam when this territory became a
sovereign country and Vietnam became
divided at 17th parallel on 21 July 1954. The army of the French Union withdrew to the South that year and the
People's Army of Vietnam of the DRV and
International Control Commission occupied the city on 10 October the same year under the terms of the
1954 Geneva Conference. During the
Vietnam War between North and South (1955–1975), North Vietnam (including Hanoi) was attacked by the United States and
South Vietnamese Air Forces. Following the end of the war with the
fall of Saigon in 1975, Hanoi became the capital of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam when North and South Vietnam were reunited on 2 July 1976.
Socialist Republic building by
Hoàn Kiếm lake. After the
Đổi Mới economic policies were approved in 1986, the
Communist Party and national and municipal governments hoped to attract international investments for
urban development projects in Hanoi. High-rise commercial buildings did not begin to appear until ten years later due to the international investment community being skeptical of the security of their investments in Vietnam. Hanoi's total area then increased to 334,470 hectares in 29 subdivisions with the new population being 6,232,940. Public outcry in opposition to the redevelopment of culturally significant areas in Hanoi persuaded the national government to implement a low-rise policy surrounding
Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The
Ba Đình District is also protected from commercial redevelopment. == Demographics ==