Vietnam

Vietnam is a country in South East Asia, on the South China Sea, bounded north by China and west by Cambodia and Laos.

HISTORY

Vietnam was founded in 2879 BC following the political union of many tribes of the northern Red River Valley.

Under direct Chinese rule between 111 BC to 939 BC, Vietnam was thereafter at times nominally subject to China.

Triệu Thị Trinh was a 3rd-century female warrior who led Vietnam's army against the Chinese—legends claim she was 9 feet tall and rode an elephant.

Folk art depiction of Lady Trieu

The nation enjoyed a golden era under the Trần dynasty between 1225 and 1400. Vietnam annexed land to the south and defeated the forces of Kublai Khan in 1288.

After 175 years of rule, the Trần dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official on March 23, 1400.

From the 10th-20th century, Vietnam issued round coins with a square hole in the middle.

Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam in 1802,  He succeeded in reuniting Vietnam after centuries of feudal warfare with a greater landmass than ever before, stretching from China down to the Gulf of Siam.

Vietnam's kingdom independence was eroded by France which was aided by the Spanish and large Catholic militias in a series of military conquests from 1858. On February 17, 1859 the French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was manned by 1,000 Nguyễn dynasty soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Vietnam.

By 1884, the entire country had come under French rule, joining Cambodia, Laos, and Annam as the French colonial possessions of Indochina.

Between 1940 and 1945, the Japanese Empire was allowed to station its troops in French Indochina while permitting the pro-Vichy French colonial administration to continue.

Hanoi in the 1940s.

Ho Chi Minh, who had built up the Vietminh (Independence) league, overthrew the Japanese supported regime of Boa Dai, the former emperor of Annam in September 1945. Vietnam declared its independence on September 2, 1945, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The flag of Vietnam was designed in 1940. Red symbolizes the goals of social revolution behind the Vietnamese national uprising. The star represents the five main classes in Vietnamese society—intellectuals, farmers, workers, business people and military personnel. When Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent in 1945 he adopted the flag as the flag of the North Vietnam. The red flag of North Vietnam was later adopted as the flag of the unified Vietnam in 1976.

French attempts to regain control and restore Boa Dai led to bitter fighting between 1946 and 1954 and final defeat at Dien Bien Phu.

The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established at the Geneva Conference in 1954, partitioning Vietnam along the 17th parallel north into two zones: communist North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and pro-western South Vietnam under Ngô Đinh Diệm (the former premier to Bao Dai) and with its capital at Saigon.

The State of Vietnam referendum held on October 23, 1955 determined the future form of government of the State of Vietnam, the nation that was to become South Vietnam. It was contested by Prime Minister Ngô Đinh Diệm, who proposed a republic, and former emperor Bảo Đại, the head of state.

Diệm won the election, which was widely marred by electoral fraud, with 98.2% of the vote. In the capital Saigon, Diệm was credited with more than 600,000 votes, although only 450,000 people were on the electoral roll. He accumulated tallies in excess of 90% of the registered voters, even in rural regions where opposition groups prevented voting.

Ho Chi Minh died on Vietnam's National Day, September 2, 1969. His death was not announced until 48 hours later to avoid spoiling National Day festivities.

Ho Chi Minh's body is displayed for nine months a year at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi. It goes annually to Moscow for "maintenance".

Hồ Chí Minh 

The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955 - April 30, 1975, It was fought between the Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a South Vietnamese communist force helped by the North and the anti-communist forces in the South, The People's Army of Vietnam (also known as the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times putting large forces to battle.

North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China and North Korea, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines.

On April 30, 1975, the National Liberation Front with the help of the N.V.A. overtook Sàigòn and quickly renamed it Hồ Chí Minh City, which is the capital of Vietnam. The nation was fully reunified as Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.

Reunification parade following the fall of Saigon

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, the prime minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, moved to Orange County, California, after the war, where he opened and ran a liquor store.

More than a year after the end of the Vietnam War, North and South Vietnam officially united under communist rule in 1976 to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on July 2, 1976 and a program to integrate the south was launched. The new Republic encountered considerable problems. The economy was in ruins and the new communist administration faced opposition from the intelligentsia (many of whom were imprisoned) and from rural groups, who was used to cooperate in the drive to collectivize southern agriculture.

In December 1978 Vietnam was at war again, toppling the pro-Chinese Khmer Rouge government in Kampuchea led by Pol Pot and installing a puppet administration led by Heng Samson.

A year later, in response to accusations of maltreatment of ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, China mounted a brief but largely unsuccessful punitive invasion of North Vietnam between February and March 1979. These actions, coupled with the contemporary campaigns against private businesses in the south, induced the flight of about 700,000 Chinese and middle class Vietnamese from the country between 1978 to 79, often by sea (the boat people). Economic and diplomatic relations with China was severed as Vietnam became closer to the Soviet Union.

In 1986, the government launched a number of economic and political reforms that began Vietnam's path to integration into the world economy.

East Germany invested the machinery, housing, farm training, and infrastructure necessary to increase the coffee production in Vietnam, in exchange for 50% of the Vietnamese coffee harvest for 20 years. The first usable harvest occurred in 1990, one year after the Berlin Wall fell.

By 2000, Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with all nations.

Since 2000, Vietnam's economic growth has been among the highest in the world.

FUN VIETNAM FACTS

Vietnam extends across two climatic zones, with a moderate climate in the North, and a tropical climate in the South.

As of 2016, the population of Vietnam stood at approximately 94.6 million people.

The majority of Vietnamese people have the last names Nguyen (38%) or Tran (13%). Nguyen is pronounced as “win”.

For hundreds of years, Vietnamese was written in Nôm, which looks like Chinese, but few people today can read this script.

Gongs are used to call children to school in Vietnam.

Street food in Vietnam is so available, fast and cheap that international fast food chains like McDonald’s flopped after entering.

Vietnam is the world's leading exporter of cashew nuts and black pepper.

Vietnam is the world's second largest exporter of coffee, producing 16 %, a figure exceeded only by Brazil.

A popular dish in Vietnam is tiet canh, a sort of soup made from congealed duck blood.

Snake wine. ByDeror Avi

Vietnam is home to more ducks than any other country, an estimated 27 per cent of the world's duck population.

In 2011, police in Vietnam were banned from conversing with each other, smoking, putting their hands in their pockets or wearing black sunglasses on duty.

There are around 37 million motorcycles in Vietnam and only two million cars.

Sources Hutchinson Encyclopedia, Daily Express