Thái Bình () is a coastal eastern province in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. Its name is Sino-Vietnamese (太平) for "great peace." It is about 18 km from Nam Định, 70 km from Haiphong, and 110 km from Hanoi. Administrative divisions Thái Bình is subdivided into eight district-level sub-divisions: 7 districts: Đông Hưng Hưng Hà Kiến Xương Quỳnh Phụ Thái Thụy Tiền Hải Vũ Thư 1 provincial city: Thái Bình (capital) They are further subdivided into nine commune-level towns (or townlets), 267 communes, and 10 wards. People and culture Although situated in the centre of the Red River Delta, in the past, Thái Bình was considered an island bounded by three larger rivers, and is the only province never to have been merged or separated. This position gives the people of Thái Bình a quite distinct culture. Thái Bình is the homeland of hát chèo opera (in Khuốc village, Phong Châu commune, Đông Hưng District) and water puppetry (in Nguyên Xá commune, Đông Hưng District). Thái Bình people are noted for their practical and clever character. Thái Bình is the homeland of the most prolific and famous Vietnamese savant in the Middle Ages: Lê Quý Đôn. Trần Thủ Độ, the founder of the Trần dynasty, was born in Hưng Hà District. Bùi Viện, the founder of Haiphong city, was a famous reformer in the 19th century. He was the first Vietnamese known to have visited the United States and also served as ambassador to the United States under the Nguyễn dynasty. The first Vietnamese to travel into outer space was the cosmonaut Phạm Tuân, a native of Thái Bình. Two other natives of Thái Bình are the ones who finalized the two famous wars in Vietnam: Tạ Quốc Luật, who captured Christian de Castries and raised the victory flag in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (the First Indochina War) and Bùi Quang Thận, who led a group of Northern tanks and entered the headquarters of South Vietnam's government to make president Dương Văn Minh unconditionally surrender (the second Indochina War). The Thái Bình born, first Chief of General Staff was Hoàng Văn Thái. Thái Bình is also the homeland of several famous Vietnamese political dissidents and humanitarians. Thích Quảng Độ is a Vietnamese Buddhist leader and critic of the Vietnamese government. In 2006, he was awarded the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize, and was also a nominee