Ancient maps of Europe clearly show Vietnamese sovereignty

The world famous Atlas set of geographer Philippe Vandermaelen published in 1827 clearly shows that the Paracel and Spratly Islands are Vietnam, just received and announced by the Ministry of Information and Communications on May 13th.

Partie de la Cochinchie is the first map that perfectly draws the exact location (longitude, latitude), geographical features, the western name of the largest and most important islands in the Paracel Islands. The map placed in the Cochinchie area is an inseparable part of the Annamian Empire, clearly and accurately demonstrating Vietnam's sovereignty at PARACELS internationally recognized.

The map is named Partie de la Cochinchie, which accurately draws the location of PARACELS (Hoang Sa) in latitudes 16 to 17 and longitude from 109 to 111. Next to is a brief introduction of An Nam Proposal.(Photo: Trung Nguyen)

According to Mr. Truong Minh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, this document is highly appreciated by world scientists like France and Belgium for its legal value, undisputed sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. of Vietnam.

Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, Vice President of Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences and his colleagues, was the one who had discovered and brought the Atlas on Vietnam. Earlier, this document was in the old bookstore Sanderus in Gent city, Belgium.

"In all respects, Philippe Vandermaelen's Atlas set can be considered an invaluable document, an eloquent, authentic, effective and internationally valid evidence for the struggle to defend sovereignty. The sacred island of the country of Vietnam " , Mr. Ngoc emphasized.

In the Atlas, there is a map of Partie de la Cochichine , which, according to Professor Ngoc, is the first map to accurately draw the location of longitude, latitude, geographical features, the largest and most important islands in Hoang Sa islands. It is a clear and accurate demonstration of Vietnam's sovereignty in PARACELS (Hoang Sa) internationally recognized

The map of Asian countries consists of 11 plates, which are classified primarily in the second volume of Atlas. Vietnam is introduced through maps 97, 105, 106 and 110. Partie de la Cochinchine is sheet 106, drawing the central coast line from parallel 12 to parallel 16.

On the offshore, PARACELS is drawn quite detailed and precise in the latitudes 16 to 17 and longitude from 109 to 111. Besides the area defined as PARACELS, the map has a brief introduction of the Empire. An Nam.

Next Partie de la Cochinchine is the No. 98 sheet Partie de la Chine representing China in the 18-21 latitude and longitude 106-114 drawing the area of ​​Guangdong and Hainan Island, indicating the southernmost border of China has not reached its latitude 18.

The map named Partie de la Chine in the 18-21 latitude and longitude 106-114 draws the area of ​​Guangdong and Hainan Island, indicating that China's southernmost border has not reached the latitude of 18. (Photo: Trung Nguyen)

According to Professor Ngoc, all Chinese maps from the first decade of the twentieth century and before were also completely in line with the Western map that did not draw China's southernmost territory beyond the 18th latitude. " This not only reflects the objectivity and accuracy of Atlas, but also contributes to increasing the value of Vietnam 's sovereign proof at PARACELS, " said the professor.

Professor Ngoc said, starting from the 16th century, there were a number of Western maps of the East Indies marked with the landmark PARACELS between the South China Sea and the west coast PARACELS. Entering the seventeenth century and especially the eighteenth century, many maps showed more clearly the location, geographical characteristics and sovereignty relations of the Dang Trong area. However, most of this map still places PARACELS in the East India area.

By the early nineteenth century, when the Nguyen Dynasty was established with the assertion of Vietnamese sovereignty fully, the Western map officially confirmed the islands of PARACELS within the territory of Vietnam and belonged to Vietnam. .

In 1827, Philippe Vandermaelen (1795-1869), an outstanding geographer, member of the Paris Geography Society published the world famous Atlas.

Atlas set includes 6 episodes with 7 common maps of 5 continents; 381 detailed maps, 40 statistics tables and lots of information on natural geography, politics, and minerals. It was completed on the basis of the world's best maps at the time, with information from astronomical observations or travels on many parts of the earth and was uniformly drawn at a scale of 1/1641836, click 53.5x37cm, and can be assembled into globes with a diameter of 7,755m.

This is a great milestone marking the remarkable development stage of modern drawing and printing technology in the early nineteenth century. For nearly 200 years, Atlas has become famous, exploited for use in many countries around the world.