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Bà Lụa Islands (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Bà Lụa) is an archipelago located in the Gulf of Thailand. It constitutes Sơn Hải Commune of Kiên Lương District, Kiên Giang Province, Vietnam. The archipelago is known as "(Small) Ha Long of the South".

Bà Lụa Islands

Native name: Quần đảo Bà Lụa
An islet of Bà Lụa Islands
Bà Lụa Islands Position of Bà Lụa Islands
Geography
Location	Gulf of Thailand
Coordinates	10°09′N 104°32′E
Total islands	34 or 42
Major islands	Hòn Heo
Highest point	102[1] or 113 meters[2] (335 or 371 feet) on Hòn Heo
Administration
Vietnam
Province	Kiên Giang
District	Kiên Lương
Commune	Sơn Hải

Etymology

There are several different interpretations to the name of the islands. Some sources explain that Bà Lụa is the Chinese Vietnamese wife of an influential Frenchman coming here to exploit the area; since all of related legal papers were in her name, the islands was named Bà Lụa.[3][4] Anh Dong (2010) claims that Bà Lụa ("Lady Silk") is the name of a female general in charge of military logistics who established a silk mill on the islands in order to supply Nguyễn Trung Trực's militia force.[2] Another source says that around 1858, a feudal mandarin married a beautiful and gentle wife who wanted to stay away from the officialdom and eventually settled on the islands. Every day she raised silkworms and wove silk, so the islands has been called Bà Lụa ever since.[5]

Geography

The archipelago, formed from lower-mid Paleozoic sedimentary rocks,[1] consists of about 34[1] (or 42[2]) islands spreading out over a 70-square-kilometer water area,[1] among which Hòn Heo is the largest entity. Apart from Hòn Heo, none of the rest have a highest point exceeding 100 metres (330 ft). The most populous islands are Hòn Heo, Hòn Ngang and Hòn Nhum.[2] The sea area around the archipelago is shallow, and in many places, people can even walk from island to island during low tide.[4]

Hòn Heo (literally "Pig Island") is the largest island of Bà Lụa. It is approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) in circumference and has an area of 1.5 km² (0.6 sq mi).[6] Its name originates from the fact that the French built a piggery on the island in 1918 (Anh Dong, 2010).[7] Here lies the People's Committee Head Office of Son Hai Commune.

Incomplete list of islands[8]

Hòn Heo (largest island) Hòn Ba Rồ Hòn Bờ Đập Hòn Chướng Hòn Dê Hòn Dứa Hòn Đá Bạc Hòn Đầm Lớn Hòn Đầm Dương Hòn Đầm Giếng Hòn Đồi Mồi Hòn Đụng Hòn Đước Hòn Khô Cát Hòn Lò 1 Hòn Lò 2 Hòn Lò 3

Hòn Ngang Hòn Nhum Bà Hòn Nhum Giếng Hòn Nhum Ông Hòn Nhum Tròn Hòn Ông Triều 1 Hòn Ông Triều 2 Hòn Ông Triều 3 Hòn Sơn Tế 1 Hòn Sơn Tế 2 Hòn Thạch Mỏng Hòn Thơm 1 Hòn Thơm 2 Hòn Thơm 3

Administrative history

• On 14 January 1983, Kiên Hải District was formed with six communes including Bà Lụa Commune[9] that administered Bà Lụa Islands.
• On 27 September 1983, Bà Lụa Commune was renamed to Sơn Hải Commune (Kiên Hải District).[10]
• Since 17 August 2000, Sơn Hải Commune has been under the administration of Kiên Lương District.[11]

See also

• Nam Du Islands

References

Bibliography

• Anh Dong (2010), Sổ tay địa danh Kiên Giang, Hanoi National University Publishing House, ISBN 978-604-62-0291-2{{citation}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) (in Vietnamese)

External links

• Cruising Ba Lua Archipelago, 31 August 2011, Saigon Times Online
• Satellite image of Hòn Heo (Bà Lụa Islands), Google Maps

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