List of historical capitals of Vietnam explained

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			unknown	Hồng Lĩnh mountain, Hà Tĩnh Province
Nghĩa Lĩnh	? – 2524 BC			unknown	Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain, Phú Thọ Province
Phong Châu	2524–258 BC			unknown	Phú Thọ Province
Cổ Loa	257–208 BC				Đông Anh District, Hanoi
Panyu	207–111 BC		Zhao Dynasty		Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China
Leilou	111-106 BC			unknown	Bắc Ninh Province
Guangxin	106 BC-40 AD			unknown	Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Mê Linh	40–43 AD			unknown	Mê Linh District, Hanoi
Guangxin	43-210			unknown	Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Panyu	210-226?				Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China
Longyuan	226?-544				Long Biên District, Hanoi or Bắc Ninh Province (uncertain)
Long Uyên	544–602		Early Lý dynasty
Jiaozhi (district)	602-607?			unknown	between Đuống River and Thái Bình River
Songping	607?-713			unknown	Hanoi
Vạn An	713–722	Annam (under Tang domination)		unknown	Nam Đàn District, Nghệ An Province
Songping	722-779			unknown	Hanoi
Tống Bình	779-791	Annam (under Tang domination)		unknown
Songping	791-866			unknown
Dalou	866-905				Ba Đình District, Hanoi
Đại La	905–938
Cổ Loa	939–968				Đông Anh District, Hanoi
Hoa Lư	968–980				Ninh Bình Province
	980–1009		Early Lê dynasty
	1009 – 1010		Later Lý dynasty
Thăng Long	1010 – 1225				Hanoi
	1226–1440
Tây Đô	1400–1407				Vĩnh Lộc District, Thanh Hóa Province
Mô Độ	1407–1409	Jiaozhi (under Ming domination)		unknown	Yên Mô District, Ninh Bình Province
Dongguan	1407-1427				Hanoi
Đông Kinh	1428–1527		Later Lê dynasty – early period
	1527–1592		Mạc dynasty
Vạn Lại	1533–1597	Đại Việt – southern region	Later Lê dynasty – warlord period		Thọ Xuân District, Thanh Hóa Province
Cao Bình	1592–1677	Đại Việt – northern region			Cao Bằng City, Cao Bằng Province
Đông Kinh	1597–1789		Later Lê dynasty – warlord period		Hanoi
	1597–1787			Palace of Trịnh Lords
Phú Xuân	1678–1777				Huế City, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Qui Nhơn	1778–1793				An Nhơn Town, Bình Định Province
Phú Xuân	1786–1802			unknown	Huế City, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Huế	1802–1945				Huế City, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Saigon	1887–1901				Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi	1902–1954				Hanoi
Saigon	1945				Ho Chi Minh City
Huế	1945				Huế City, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province
Hanoi	1945–1976				Hanoi
Saigon	1945-1954				Ho Chi Minh City
	1946–1949	Cochinchina (under French Occupation)
	1949–1955		State of Vietnam under French military presence
	1955–1975		Republic of Vietnam under U.S. military presence	Independence Palace
Tây Ninh	1969-1972			none	Tây Ninh Province
Lộc Ninh	1972–1973			none	Lộc Ninh District, Bình Phước Province
Cam Lộ	1973-1975			none	Cam Lộ District, Quảng Trị Province
Saigon	1975-1976				Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi	1976 – present				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.

• Thiên Trường at Nam Định Province during Trần dynasty, existed along with Thăng Long capital
• Lam Kinh at Thanh Hóa Province during Later Lê dynasty, existed along with Đông Kinh capital
• Dương Kinh at Hải Phòng City during Mạc dynasty, existed along with Đông Kinh capital
• Phượng Hoàng Trung Đô at Nghệ An Province during Tây Sơn dynasty, although only in planning and was never completed, existed along with Phú Xuân capital
• Đà Lạt at Lâm Đồng Province during French colonial era as summer capital of Indochinese Federation, existed along with Hanoi capital
• Việt Bắc at northern Vietnam during First Indochina War as Việt Minh's headquarter and de facto capital of Democratic Republic of Vietnam, existed along with de jure Hanoi capital