Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

Project's information

Project's title	Restoring and building a database of ancient French maps of the Vietnamese Sea and the East Sea
Project’s code	NVKH17.00/23-23
Research hosting institution	Institute of Oceanography
Project leader’s name	Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao Viet Ha
Project duration	01/02/2023 - 31/12/2023
Project’s budget	1,500 Million VND
Classify	Grade A
Goal and objectives of the project	- General objective: Preserve the important materials having scientific and historical value in order to serve the diplomatic struggle and prove Vietnam's continuous exercise of sovereignty in the East Sea through the scientific research activities and communication work serving the fight to protect national island and sea sovereignty. - Specific objective: Overcome damage, degradation and improve the efficiency through digitizing the map set on Vietnamese Sea and the East Sea published in French time preserving at the Institute of Oceanography.
Main results	The project "Restoring and building a database of ancient French maps of the Vietnam Sea and the East Sea", Code: NVKH17.00/23-23 was approved in Decision No. 2393/QD-VHL dated December 26, 2022 of the President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, will be implemented from February 2023 to November 2023 by the Institute of Oceanography. This is a very necessary and urgent task to preserve the important scientific and historical materials, serving the diplomatic struggle and promoting the sovereignty over seas and islands through the scientific and historical evidence. The task has restored 415 maps of Vietnamese Sea and the East Sea published in the period of 1831-1948 by using the method of founding and reinforcing both sides of the map with Japanese Do paper and Vietnamese Do paper in accordance with the procedures of the Department of State Archives at National Archives Center IV in Da Lat. The task has digitized 739 maps and created an Excel database of 2,224 map sheets (of 739 maps) with 25 information fields (map name, year of publication, place of publication, scale, coordinate system, map type: geology or depth, storage cabinets, information recorded on maps...). A map display area with the theme: "Presence in the East Sea" at the Museum of Oceanography has been open since September 14, 2023 to welcome the visitors on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Oceanography in order to promote the sovereignty over islands and seas and serve the diplomatic struggle.
Products of the project	- 415 maps of Vietnamese Sea and the East Sea published in the period of 1831-1948 have been restored and preserved at the Department of Information and Communication of the Institute of Oceanography. - A set of 739 maps of Vietnamese Sea and the East Sea has been digitized and preserved at the Department of Information and Communication of the Institute of Oceanography. - 01 Excel database of 2,224 map sheets (of 739 maps) submitted and stored at the the Department of Information and Communication of the Institute of Oceanography. - 01 map display area with the theme "Presence in the East Sea" has been put into operation at the Museum of Oceanography.
Recommendations	Within the framework of the project, the project leader compiled a draft of the book "Vietnam's seas and islands in ancient map materials".
Images of project