Con Dao Island

Con Dao Island are an archipelago of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, in the Southeast region of Vietnam, and a district of this province.

Description
Situated about 185 km (115 mi) from Vung Tau and 230 km (143 mi) from Ho Chi Minh City, the group includes 16 mountainous islands and islets. The total land area reaches 75.15 km² and the local population is about 5,000.

 

Con Dao Island (Picture: Vietnamtravel-Packages.Com)

The island group is served by Con Dao Airport.

History
Formally a Khmer Empire territory known as Koh Tralach islands were settled by the Vietnamese by the 17th century.

On June 16, 1702, the English East India Company founded a settlement on the island of Pulo Condor (Poulo Condore) as an entrepot for ships plying between India and China. Three years later on March 2, 1705, the English agents were murdered, the factory destroyed, and the remaining settlers were expelled by the Vietnamese.

During the internecine wars for the Court of Hue, the Nguyen Prince Nguyen Phuc Anh ceded the islands to France in the 1787 Treaty of Versailles in return for military assistance. The treaty however was abrogated as France failed to provide the aid.

It was only under conquest that the islands came under French control in 1861. During the French colonial era, the island was made infamous for its penal facilities and the notorious "tiger cages". Vietnamese nationalists were sent here to serve their sentence for anti-French activities. Many Vietnamese Communist leaders were "schooled" on Con Dao Island as well.

Con Dao National Park

Many of the islands were given protected status in 1984 as part of Con Dao National Park. This natural preserve was subsequently enlarged in 1998. Endangered species protected within the park include the hawksbill turtle, the green turtle and the dugong. Ecosystems represented in the park include seagrass meadow, mangrove and coral reefs.

Con Dao 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.

See more: Con Dao Tour