Ha Tay Province: Encyclopedia II - Ha Tay Province - Geography

Ha Tay Province - Geography

Hà Tây Province is located in the Red River Delta surrounded by Hanoi municipality and Hưng Yên, Hà Nam, Hòa Bình, and Phú Thọ provinces. The Kinh account for 99% of the province's population; the remaining population is from the Muong and Dao ethnic groups.

The tropical monsoon climate is divided into three microclimates according to landscape: the plain zone, with a hot and humid climate affected by marine winds; the hilly zone, with a continental climate affected by western winds; and the Ba Vi mountainous zone, with a cool climate and an average temperature of 18°C.

Famous sites include Hương (Perfume) Pagoda, Tay Phuong Pagoda, and hundreds of caves, which were used as homes. Most festivals and activities in Hà Tây take place during the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd months after Tết. The most famous are the pilgrimage to Hương Pagoda, and the Thay Pagoda and Tay Phuong Pagoda Festivals

Hà Tây Province lies to the southwest of and at the entrance to the capital city of Hanoi. For this reason all the tourist attractions of province are around 50km from the centre of Hanoi and easily accessible by land.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki