Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội) is the capital of Vietnam. In 1010, Lý Thái Tổ, the first ruler of the Lý Dynasty, moved the capital of Đại Việt (the Great Viet, then the name of Vietnam) to the site of Hanoi today. Claiming to have seen a dragon ascending the Red River, he named it Thăng Long (Ascending dragon) - a name still used to this day. In 1831 the Nguyen Dynasty renamed it Hà Nội, can be translated as Between Rivers or River Interior).

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