Gulf Of Tonkin

The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf located in the South China Sea, covering an area of 126,250 km2, and is defined by the northern coastline of Vietnam, China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Leizhou Peninsula, and Hainan Island. The gulf is relatively shallow, with most of its ocean floor less than 75 meters deep, and its name "Tonkin" refers to the former toponym for Hanoi, meaning "eastern capital". The Gulf of Tonkin is also known as Beibu Wan in Chinese sources. The gulf was the site of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964, in which the US claimed North Vietnamese forces attacked American destroyers, leading to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the escalation of the Vietnam War.learn more on wikipedia