Nam tiến (Vietnamese: [nam tǐən]; Hán tự: 南進; lit. "southward advance" or "march to the south") was the southward expansion of the territory of Vietnam from the 11th century to the mid-19th century. The Vietnamese domain was gradually expanded to the south from its original heartland in the Red River Delta. In a span of some 700 years, Vietnam tripled the area of its territory and more-or-less acquired its elongated shape of today.