List of historical capitals of Vietnam

This list of historical capitals of Vietnam includes former capital cities as well as the current capital of Vietnam which is Hanoi in time order. The capitals in bold indicate those of independent periods while the capitals in italic indicate those of occupied or invaded periods.

Capital	Period	Nation	Era	Palace	Current location
Ngàn Hống	2879 – ? BC	Xích Quỷ	Hồng Bàng dynasty - Kinh Duong Vuong	unknown	Hà Tĩnh Province
Nghĩa Lĩnh	? – 2524 BC	Xích Quỷ	Hồng Bàng dynasty - Lac Long Quan	unknown	Phú Thọ Province
Phong Châu	2524–258 BC	Văn Lang	Hùng Kings	unknown	Phú Thọ Province
Cổ Loa	257–208 BC	Âu Lạc	Thục dynasty	Cổ Loa Citadel	Đông Anh District, Hanoi
Panyu	207–111 BC	Nanyue	Zhao Dynasty	Nanyue Palace	Guangdong Province, China
Leilou	111-106 BC	First Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	Bắc Ninh Province
Guangxin	106 BC-40 AD	First Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Mê Linh	40–43 AD	Lingnan	Trưng Sisters	unknown	Mê Linh District, Hanoi
Guangxin	43-210	Second Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Panyu	210-226?			Nanyue Palace	Guangdong Province, China
Longyuan	226?-544			Long Biên Palace	Bắc Ninh Province (uncertain)
Long Uyên	544–602	Vạn Xuân	Early Lý dynasty	Long Biên Palace	Bắc Ninh Province (uncertain)
Jiaozhi (district)	602-607?	Third Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	between Đuống River and Thái Bình River
Songping	607?-713	Third Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	Hanoi
Vạn An	713–722	Tang domination )	Mai Hắc Đế	unknown	Nghệ An Province
Songping	722-779	Third Era of Chinese Domination		unknown	Hanoi
Tống Bình	779-791	Tang domination )	Phùng Hưng	unknown
Songping	791-866	Third Era of Chinese Domination		unknown
Dalou	866-905	Third Era of Chinese Domination		Đại La Citadel	Ba Đình District, Hanoi
Đại La	905–938	Jinghai	Khúc clan and Dương clan	Đại La Citadel	Ba Đình District, Hanoi
Cổ Loa	939–968	Jinghai	Ngô dynasty	Cổ Loa Citadel	Đông Anh District, Hanoi
Hoa Lư	968–980	Đại Cồ Việt	Đinh dynasty	Hoa Lư Citadel	Ninh Bình Province
	980–1009		Early Lê dynasty
	1009 – 1010		Later Lý dynasty
Thăng Long	1010 – 1225	Đại Việt	Later Lý dynasty	Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long	Hanoi
Thăng Long	1226–1440	Đại Việt	Trần dynasty	Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long	Hanoi
Tây Đô	1400–1407	Đại Ngu	Hồ dynasty	Ho Citadel	Thanh Hóa Province
Mô Độ	1407–1409	Ming domination )	Later Trần dynasty	unknown	Ninh Bình Province
Dongguan	1407-1427	Fourth Era of Chinese Domination		Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long	Hanoi
Đông Kinh	1428–1527	Đại Việt	Later Lê dynasty – early period
Đông Kinh	1527–1592	Đại Việt	Mạc dynasty
Vạn Lại	1533–1597	Đại Việt – southern region	Later Lê dynasty – warlord period	Van Lai Citadel	Thanh Hóa Province
Cao Bình	1592–1677	Đại Việt – northern region	Mạc dynasty	Ban Phu Citadel	Cao Bằng Province
Đông Kinh	1597–1789	Đại Việt	Later Lê dynasty – warlord period	Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long	Hanoi
Đông Kinh	1597–1787	Đại Việt – Outer Region	Trịnh lords	Palace of Trịnh Lords	Hanoi
Phú Xuân	1678–1777	Đại Việt – Inner Region	Nguyễn lords	Palace of Nguyễn Lords	Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Qui Nhơn	1778–1793	Đại Việt	Tây Sơn dynasty	Emperor Citadel	Bình Định Province
Phú Xuân	1786–1802	Đại Việt	Tây Sơn dynasty	unknown	Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Huế	1802–1945	Dai Nam	Nguyễn dynasty	Imperial City of Huế	Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Saigon	1887–1901	French Colonial Era	Indochinese Federation	Governor-General Palace	Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi	1902–1954	French Colonial Era	Indochinese Federation	Indochinese Governor-General Palace	Hanoi
Saigon	1945	Indochina under Japanese Occupation		Governor-General Palace	Ho Chi Minh City
Huế	1945	Vietnam	Empire of Vietnam	Imperial City of Huế	Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Hanoi	1945–1976	Vietnam, later North Vietnam	Democratic Republic of Vietnam	Presidential Palace	Hanoi
Saigon	1945-1954	French Occupation	Indochinese Federation	Governor-General Palace	Ho Chi Minh City
	1946–1949	Cochinchina (under French Occupation)	Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina	Gia Long Palace
	1949–1955	South Vietnam	State of Vietnam under French military presence	Norodom Palace
	1955–1975	South Vietnam	U.S. military presence	Independence Palace
Tây Ninh	1969-1972	South Vietnam	Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam	none	Tây Ninh Province
Lộc Ninh	1972–1973			none	Bình Phước Province
Cam Lộ	1973-1975			none	Quảng Trị Province
Saigon	1975-1976			Independence Palace	Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi	1976 – present	Vietnam	Socialist Republic of Vietnam	Presidential Palace	current capital

Some secondary unofficial capitals also existed throughout Vietnamese history. These secondary capitals were established by dynasty founders merely as symbolic capitals to pay tribute to their ancestors.

Thăng Long
capital
Đông Kinh
capital
Đông Kinh
capital
Nghệ An Province during Tây Sơn dynasty, although only in planning and was never completed, existed along with Phú Xuân
capital

Lâm Đồng Province during French colonial era as summer capital of Indochinese Federation, existed along with Hanoi
capital

Democratic Republic of Vietnam, existed along with de jure Hanoi
capital

References