The Con Dao Islands are an archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province

Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province

Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's southeastern region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast...

, in southeastern

Dong Nam Bo

Đông Nam Bộ is a region in Vietnam. This region includes one municipality, Ho Chi Minh City; and five provinces: Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh. This region is the most economically developed region in Vietnam...

 Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, and a district of this province.

Description

Situated at about 185 km (115 mi) from Vung Tau

Vung Tàu

Vũng Tàu is a city in southern Vietnam. Its population in 2005 was 240,000. The city area is including 13 urban wards and one village. It is the capital of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and is the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It is also known as one of the most beautiful cities of tourism...

 and 230 km (143 mi) from Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...

, the group includes 16 mountainous island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s and islet

Islet

An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....

s. The total land area reaches 75.15 km² and the local population is about 5,000.

The island group is served by Co Ong Airport

Co Ong Airport

Côn Đảo Airport or Cỏ Ống Airport is located on Côn Sơn Island, the largest island of Côn Đảo archipelago off the coast of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, Vietnam.- Airlines and destinations :-Statistics:...

.

History

On June 16, 1702, the English East India Company founded a settlement on the island of Pulo Condor (Poulo Condore) off the south coast of southern Vietnam, and on March 2, 1705, the garrison and settlement were destroyed.

The largest island is Côn Sơn Island (also known as Con Lon Island), famous for its prison built by the French colonial government

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

.

Côn Đảo National Park

Many of the islands were given protected status in 1984. In 1984, they became a national park, Côn Đảo National Park

Con Dao National Park

Con Dao National Park is a natural reserve area on Con Dao Island, in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in coastal southeastern Vietnam. The park includes a part of the island and the surrounding sea. The national park is characterized by a diverse ecosystem. Many species of corals and especially the sea...

, which was subsequently enlarged in 1998. Endangered species protected within the park include the hawksbill turtle

Hawksbill turtle

The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus. The species has a worldwide distribution, with Atlantic and Pacific subspecies. E. imbricata imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies, while E...

, the green turtle and the dugong

Dugong

The dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow , was hunted to extinction in the 18th century...

. Ecosystem

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

s represented in the park include seagrass meadow, mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 and coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s.

Côn Đảo National Park is working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Vietnam to further protection in the marine areas, with programs to establish a Marine Protected Area that protects coral reefs, seagrass beds and species, while also developing sustainable nature-based ecotourism. The island's management is strongly geared towards sustainable use, hoping to learn from previous experiences in Vietnam and the region to balance development with conservation.

External links

• Con Dao photos
• Con Dao guide and gallery
• Con Dao Island History and guide
• Visit Con Dao Facts and photos