HÀ NỘI — Tràng An Tropical Karst has been named among the world’s top 100 geological heritage sites for the third time, in the 2026 list compiled by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

Located in northern Ninh Bình Province, Tràng An Tropical Karst is listed as site No. 283 in the category of geological heritage sites representing landforms and ongoing geological processes.

According to the scientific dossier, the IUGS describes Tràng An as “an ideal model of mature tropical karst that displays the full range of karst processes developed on land long before being repeatedly invaded and reworked by recent marine transgressions and remains at present an emerged-on-land landscape”.

Tectonic dissections resulted in arrays of inter-connected cones and isolated towers, intra-mountain cockpits and poljes and fault-controlled channels.

Sea level fluctuations are evidenced by erosion notches with associated caves, wave-cut platforms, beach deposits and sea-shell accumulations. The emergence on-land of Tràng An is due to the combined action of tectonic displacement, coastal sedimentation and human dyke construction in the last 1,000 years.

Although the area has been inhabited and used since ancient times, its scientific study began in the late 19th century. Research continues today, notably through joint Vietnamese-British projects.

Tràng An was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a mixed cultural and natural site in 2014, in recognition of its geological and aesthetic values and the interaction between people and nature.

Tràng An and Ninh Bình tourism have also received repeated international recognition, including accolades from Insider in 2018, Forbes in 2023, and Tripadvisor in 2025.

In the third edition of the IUGS 100 Geological Heritage Sites list in 2026, Tràng An is featured alongside renowned landmarks around the world, including Mount Fuji Volcano in Japan, silver wire-like minerals at the Kongsberg mines in Norway, the Andean Structure at Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina and the Karstic Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island in the Philippines. — VNS