[2] with a density of 65 persons per km2 over a total land area of 4,859.4 square kilometres (1,876.2 sq mi).

[9] Chợ Mới, Quảng Chu, Yên Đĩnh, Như Cố, Bình Văn, Yên Hân, Yên Cư, Thanh Bình, Nông Hạ, Nông Thịnh, Cao Kỳ, Tân Sơn, Hòa Mục, Thanh Vận, Thanh Mai, Mai Lạp Bắc Kạn's economy is centred on mining, forest products, agriculture and some degree of tourism offered by its mountains, lakes and the national park.

Participatory management practices adopted since the 1990s have resulted in a greater realization by the farmers that they can play a positive role in the development of irrigation systems in their region for their own benefit.

This system has ensured more efficient water delivery to the fields and is reported to have increased the cropping area by 15% and yield levels by 20%.

The lake's water stretch is over 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) (from north to south) with a width of 800 metres (2,600 ft)(average).

It is the biggest natural lake in Vietnam, formed in the Chợ Rã-Ba Bể-Chợ Đồn karstic or "Karst" low-lying terrain in the northern midlands.

As opposed to similar karstic lakes in the world, it retains its full storage all through the year.

The Government of Vietnam has also notified the lake as a forest preserve and a techno-economic study was instituted as part of the National Park Conservation programme.

[16][17][18] Ba Bể National Park, established in 1992, covers an area of 100.48 square kilometres (38.80 sq mi), delimited within geographical coordinates of 22°24′19″N 105°36′55″E / 22.40528°N 105.61528°E / 22.40528; 105.61528.

It was set up to protect the Ba Bể Lake along with its surrounding limestone and lowland evergreen forests.

The other type is the lowland evergreen forest shallow slopes with a thicker mantle of soils.

[17] The other species include Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), rhesus macaque, stump-tailed macaque, François' langur, Asian black bear, European otter, Asian golden cat, mainland serow, red giant flying squirrel, particolored flying squirrel (Hylopetes alboniger), hairy-footed flying squirrel as well as 27 bat species.

The other ethnic groups are Dao, Mong, Nùng and Kinh in descending order by population.

The Dau Dang Waterfall (Vietnamese: Thác Đầu Đẳng) is formed by the Năng River.

It consist of a sequence of rapids which stretch over a length of almost 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) as the river flows into Tuyên Quang province.

According to local legend, the islet was once the home of an old widow who was spared from a flood through divine intervention.