Hoàng Mai district, Hanoi

Hoàng Mai District

Quận Hoàng Mai
Hoàng Mai District Quận Hoàng Mai
Urban district
	An apartment complex in Hoàng Mai
Country	Vietnam
Province	Hanoi
Seat	Thịnh Liệt ward
Wards	14 wards
Area
• Total	40.32 km2 (15.57 sq mi)
Population (2019)
• Total	506,347
• Density	13,000/km2 (33,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Area code	24
Climate	Cwa
Website	Official website (in Vietnamese)

Hoàng Mai is an urban district (quận) of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.^[3]

History

Since the 18th century and earlier, the entire area of the modern Hoàng Mai District was a mudflat along the Red River with the terrain that could hardly reside. Until the middle of that century, an unknown small neighbor was founded by homeless people practicing on the rivers. According to some contemporary history as Phạm Đình Hổ and Bùi Dương Lịch's chronicles, some people called it as Hồng Mai Hamlet, but the origin and the exact meaning of this name so far have not been known.

Before the Nguyễn Dynasty, this area belonged to a big village called as Hồng Mai ("red apricot"). It was one of the three villages of Hanoi, where the Southern Gate sentenced of the royal citadel. Later, because abstaining from Hồng-nhậm in the childhood name of Tự Đức emperor, it must be changed to Hoàng Mai ("yellow apricot").

At the time of the newly established Indochina Federation, Hoàng Mai Village was still an area with most swamps with sparse population because of the long civil war. Because there is no arable land, people here developed freshwater fishing. Initially, the colonial government maintained this village as a part of Thọ Xương rural district under the Hanoi province. After the First World War, Hoàng Mai Village became the suburbs of Hanoi. This situation was almost unchanged until the early 2000s.

After that time, Hoàng Mai was founded as an urban district by Vietnamese government's Decree 132/2003/NĐ-CP on 6 November 2003 from 5 wards of Hai Bà Trưng (from Hanoi city) and 9 communes of Thanh Trì (from Hà Tây province).^[4]

Culture

Hoàng Mai is the urban district with the richest custom in Hanoi due to the geographical location of the boat trade where there was a very developed trade since the beginning of the 11th century.

According to some hand genealogy, the Lê Quang clan in this area belongs to the second branch of the Lê Duy royal family. Their settlement from any time is still unknown and legend, but at least since the end of the 19th century, many people from this clan have passed the imperial exams. According to their tradition, the chiefs of this clan must go to Bắc Ninh to prostrate at the temple of the Lê Duy emperors every year.

In the intense trend of urbanization since the beginning of the 21st century, Hoàng Mai District faced terrible dust pollution. The traditional village space was collapsed into some small wards, while most have been turned into unfinished or poor quality apartment projects. Until the early 2010s, this area is especially famous in Vietnam as a gathering place for usury loan service, which is still called "the black credit" (tin-dụng đen). It even there are streets that are only pledged or stolen goods.

Administration

Hoàng Mai district currently has 14 wards, covering a total area of 40.32 square kilometers.^[1] As of 2019,^[2] there were 506,347 people residing in the district, the highest of all districts in Hanoi. Its borders Thanh Trì District, Thanh Xuân District, Gia Lâm District, Long Biên District, Hai Bà Trưng District.

The district is divided into 14 wards : Đại Kim, Định Công, Giáp Bát, Hoàng Liệt, Hoàng Văn Thụ, Lĩnh Nam, Mai Động, Tân Mai, Thanh Trì, Thịnh Liệt, Trần Phú, Tương Mai, Vĩnh Hưng, Yên Sở.