TONGKING, a province of French Indo-China, and protec torate of France, situated between 20° and 231° N. and 102° and io81° E., and bounded by China, British Upper Burma, Laos, Annam, and the Gulf of Tongking. Area, 40,530 sq.m. The pop. (1934) is 8,669,949, including 10,590 Europeans. Tongking comprises two regions: (I) the delta of the Song-Koi (Red river), which, beginning at Son-Tay and coalescing with the delta of the Thai-Binh, widens out into the low-lying and fertile plain within which are situated the principal cities. The delta is joined to upper Tongking by undulating country becoming more and more elevated inland and called sometimes Middle Tongking; (2) upper Tongking, a mountainous forest clad country, deeply dis sected by the slot-valleys of the Taibinh, the Red River and their tributaries. The main geographical feature in the country is the Song-Koi, which, taking its rise in Yun-nan at more than 2,000 metres above sea level, enters Tongking at Lao-Kay, and flows thence in a south-easterly direction to the Gulf of Tongking. It was this river which mainly, in the first instance, attracted the French to Tongking, as it was believed that, forming the shortest route by water to Yi.in-nan, it would prove to be the most convenient and expeditious means of transporting the tin, copper, silver and gold which are known to abound there. This belief has proved fallacious because the upper course of the stream is constantly impeded by rapids, the lowest being about thirty miles above Hung-Hoa. Beyond Lao-Kay navigation is impracticable during the dry season, and at all other times of the year goods have to be there transferred into light junks. Near Son-Tay the Song-Koi receives the waters of the Song-Bo (Black river) and the Song-Ka (Clear river), and from that point divides into a network of waterways which empty themselves by countless out lets into the sea. The Song-Cau rises in north-eastern Tongking and below the town of Sept Pagodes, where it is joined by the Song-Thuong to form the Thai-Binh, divides into numerous branches, communicating with the Song-Koi by the Canal des Rapides and the Canal des Bambous.
The coast line of Tongking from Mon-Kay on the Chinese frontier to Thanh-Hoa, near that of Annam, has a length of 375 m.
From Mon-Kay as far as the estuary of the Song-Koi it is broken, rugged and fringed with islands and rocky islets. The bay of Tien-Hien, to the south of which lies the island of Ke-Bao, and the picturesque bay of Along, are the chief indentations. Beyond the island of Cac-Ba, south of the Bay of Along, the coast is low, flat and marshy.
Although under the monsoon regime, the climate of Tongking is less trying to Europeans than that of the rest of French Indo China. During the hot season the temperature ranges between 82° and ioo° F, but from October to May the weather is cool. The country is subject to typhoons in August and September.
In the wooded regions of the mountains the tiger, elephant and panther are found, and wild buffalo, deer and monkeys are com mon. The delta is the home of many varieties of aquatic birds. Tea, cardamom and mulberry grow wild, and in general the flora approximate to that of southern China.
The Annamese (see ANNAM), who form the bulk of the popula tion of Tongking, are of a somewhat better physique than that of the other Indochinese. Savage tribes inhabit the northern districts—the Muongs the mountains bordering the Black river, the Tilos the regions bordering the Clear river and the Thai-Binh.
The Muongs are bigger and stronger than the Annamesc. They have square foreheads, large faces and prominent cheek-bones, and their eyes are often almost straight.
Rice, which in some places furnishes two crops annually, is the most important product of the delta, and the exports of the latter were valued at 149,000,000 francs in 1926. Elsewhere there are plantations of coffee, tobacco, cotton, jute, sugar-cane, etc. The cultivation of silkworms is of growing importance. (Export of raw silk 79,400 kg. in 1926.) Gold, copper, tin, lead and other metals are found in the higher regions of Tongking. There is a large output of coal from Hon Gay on the bay of Along. (Output [1925] 1,363,00o metric tons.) The production of phosphates reaches 15,294 tons.