Northern Vietnam (Vietnamese: Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng). It has a total area of about 109,942.9 km2. Tonkin or "Bắc Kỳ" is a historical exonym for this region, originating during the French colonial period.
Among the three geographical regions, the oldest is Northern Vietnam, where the Vietnamese culture originated in the Red River Delta, though Vietnamese people eventually spread south into the Mekong Delta.