The area around Hanoi鈥攖he name means 鈥榳ithin the waters'; a reference to the city's close relationship with the Song Hong; or 鈥楻ed River' and numerous surrounding lakes鈥攈as been the site of Vietnam's capital; on and off; for more than two millennia.

In the third century BC King Thuc Pan established the earliest Vietnamese capital at the citadel of Co Loa just north of the present-day city. Over a thousand years later; when the Chinese were driven out and independence restored; General Ngo Quyen symbolically chose Hanoi as the site of the reborn Vietnamese nation.

In 1802 the first Nguyen Emperor; Gia Long; transferred the capital to Hue鈥攂ut this proved to be a short-lived move. In 1902 France established Hanoi as the capital not just of Vietnam; but of all French Indochina.

In 1954 the city became the capital of the communist north; and in 1976; following the defeat of the non-communist south; it was proclaimed capital of the reunited Socialist Republic of Vietnam.