Vietnam: Entrance to Phu Hai jail, one of the many prisons on Con Son Island in the Con Dao Archipelago, southern Vietnam

The Con Dao Islands (Vietnamese: Côn Đảo) are an archipelago of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, in southeastern Vietnam, and are a district of this province. Situated at about 185 km (115 mi) from Vũng Tàu and 230 km (143 mi) from Hồ Chí Minh City (Saigon), the group includes 16 mountainous islands and islets. The total land area is 75 sq km, and the local population is about 5,000. The island group is served by Cỏ Ống Airport.

The archipelago was formerly known as Poulo Condore, and it is mentioned under a variant of this Malay name by Marco Polo in the early 14th century. On June 16, 1702, the English East India Company founded a settlement on the island of 'Pulo Condor' off the south coast of southern Vietnam, and on March 2, 1705, but the garrison and settlement were later destroyed during a mutiny by the Malay mercenaries employed by the English.

The largest island is Côn Sơn Island (also known as Con Lon Island), infamous for its numerous prisons - eleven in all - built by the French colonial government. It was also used as a prison island after independence in 1954, by the pro-Western Republic of Vietnam regime, acquiring a fearsome reputation for isolation and brutality as well as - conversely - functiong as a de facto insurgent 'university', where many leading nationalist and communist Vietnamese were imprisoned.

In 1984, the archipelago became a protected area, Côn Đảo National Park, which was subsequently enlarged in 1998. Endangered species protected within the park include the hawksbill turtle, the green turtle and the dugong. Ecosystems represented in the park include seagrass meadow, mangrove and coral reefs.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia