The People’s Committee of Hoang Sa District in the central coastal city of Da Nang on January 10 received a rare and valuable map featuring historical and legal value of sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Island.
The map, Partie De la Cochichin by Phillipe Vandermaelen dating from the 19th Century was donated by Vietnamese American Tran Thang, chairman of the Institute for Vietnamese Culture & Education (IVCE) in the U.S.A..
The map features the central coastline from the 12th parallel (the area equivalent to Khanh Hoa province today but then was called Bink-Kang (Binh Khang) on the map to the 16th parallel (the area equivalent to Quang Nam province but then named Champella (Cu Lao Cham) as an offshore area.
The offshore Paracels (Hoang Sa) was drawn quite accurately and in details in the range of latitude 14 to 17 and longitude 109 to 113.
The chairman of the People’s Committee of Hoang Sa District, Vo Ngoc Dong said that the map will be presented to the public after the Hoang Sa Exhibition House is put into operation.
