Located near the Laos–Vietnam border, Hang Sơn Đoòng has an internal, fast-flowing subterranean river and the largest cross-section of any cave, worldwide, as of 2009, believed to be twice that of the next largest passage. It is the largest known cave passage in the world by volume.
Its name, Hang Sơn Đoòng, is variously translated from Vietnamese as cave of the mountain river or 'cave of mountains behind Đoòng
As a solutional cave, it was formed in soluble limestone and is believed to be between 2 and 5 million years old.
Hang Sơn Đoòng was found by a local man named Hồ Khanh in 1991. The whistling sound of wind and roar of a rushing stream in the cave heard through the entrance as well as the steep descent prevented the local people from entering the cave.
Only in 2009 did the cave become internationally known after a group of cavers from the British Cave Research Association, conducted a survey in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng from 10 to 14 April 2009.Their progress was stopped by a large, 60-metre (200 ft) high flowstone-coated wall,which was named the Great Wall of Vietnam. It was traversed in 2010 when the group reached the end of the cave passage.
It is the largest cave on Earth. A New York neighborhood with a 40-story building can fit inside. It has its virgin forest, its ecosystem, its microclimate, its clouds, its waterfall, and its river.
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