Some of the islands in Halong Bay support floating villages of fishermen who ply the shallow waters. The fishermen here are not only fishing for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks, but raising crabs and shrimps as well.
The surrounding land region of Halong City is also rich with high grade coal deposits. Most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by a human presence because of their precipitous nature.
Halong Bay, the best known natural wonder of Vietnam, was declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO on December 1994.