Hanoi

American  

[ha-noi, huh-] / hæˈnɔɪ, hə- /

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Vietnam, in the N part, on the Songka River.

---

Hanoi British  

/ hæˈnɔɪ /

noun

1. the capital of Vietnam, on the Red River: became capital of Tonkin in 1802, of French Indochina in 1887, of Vietnam in 1945, and of North Vietnam (1954–75); university (1917); industrial centre. Pop: 4 147 000 (2005 est)

---

Hanoi Cultural  

1. Capital of Vietnam, located in the northern part of the country.

---

Discover More

It became the capital of North Vietnam in 1954, when the French evacuated the city.

During the Vietnam War, the city suffered heavy bombing by the United States.

It was the scene of heavy fighting between French and Vietnamese communist forces from 1946 to 1954.

Example Sentences

He lived in hiding for two years in Hanoi, but was eventually detained by Vietnamese police and deported back home.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

Hanoi banned gas-powered two-wheel vehicles in the city center and Paris closed a core part of the city to cars last year.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Vietnam's top leader To Lam hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Hanoi on Wednesday, announcing a dozen cooperative agreements including on tech innovation and development of nuclear power plants.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

Harry Summers, who’d won Bronze and Silver stars in that war as an operations officer, flew to Hanoi as chief of the U.S. delegation to resolve the status of missing American soldiers.

From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026

On the afternoon of May 8, Richard Nixon announced that American planes had begun striking industrial targets in and around Hanoi.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin