Vietnam, officially the
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (
SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of
mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about 331,000 square kilometres (128,000 sq mi) and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's
fifteenth-most populous country. Vietnam shares land borders with
China to the north, and
Laos and
Cambodia to the west. It shares
maritime borders with
Thailand through the
Gulf of Thailand, and the
Philippines,
Indonesia, and
Malaysia through the
South China Sea. Its capital is
Hanoi and its largest city is
Ho Chi Minh City (commonly referred to by its former name, Saigon).
Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam. The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam under Chinese rule from 111 BC, until the first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism, and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta, conquering Champa. During most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was effectively divided into two domains of Đàng Trong and Đàng Ngoài. The Nguyễn—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. In 1887, its territory was integrated into French Indochina as three separate regions. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the nationalist coalition Viet Minh, led by the communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, launched the August Revolution and declared Vietnam's independence in 1945.
Vietnam went through prolonged warfare in the 20th century. After World War II, France returned to reclaim colonial power in the First Indochina War, from which Vietnam emerged victorious in 1954. As a result of the treaties signed between the Viet Minh and France, Vietnam was also separated into two parts. The Vietnam War began shortly after, between the communist North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union and China, and the anti-communist South Vietnam, supported by the United States. Upon the North Vietnamese victory in 1975, Vietnam reunified as a unitary socialist state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1976. An ineffective planned economy, a trade embargo by the West, and wars with Cambodia and China crippled the country further. In 1986, the CPV initiated economic and political reforms similar to the Chinese economic reform, transforming the country to a socialist-oriented market economy. The reforms facilitated Vietnamese reintegration into the global economy and politics.
Vietnam is a developing country with a lower-middle-income economy. It has high levels of corruption, censorship, environmental issues and a poor human rights record; the country ranks among the lowest in international measurements of civil liberties, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion and ethnic minorities. It is part of international and intergovernmental institutions including the ASEAN, the APEC, the CPTPP, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OIF, and the WTO. It has assumed a seat on the United Nations Security Council twice. (Full article...)
The Hue–Da Nang Campaign was a series of military actions conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War, also known in Vietnam as the American War. The campaign was centred on the cities of Huế (Thừa Thiên-Huế Province) and Da Nang (Quảng Nam Province), with secondary fronts in the provinces of Quảng Trị and Quảng Ngãi. The campaign began on March 5 and concluded on April 2, 1975.
During the spring season of 1975, the PAVN High Command in
Hanoi made the decision to seize the major South Vietnamese cities of Huế and Da Nang, and also destroy the various South Vietnamese units in
I Corps Tactical Zone, led by ARVN General
Ngô Quang Trưởng. Originally, the campaign was planned to take place over two phases; during the seasons of spring-summer and autumn. However, as the North Vietnamese forces rolled over South Vietnamese defences on the outskirts of Huế and Da Nang, President
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu ordered General Trưởng to abandon all territories under his control, and pull his forces back to the coastal areas of I Corps. The South Vietnamese withdrawal quickly turned into a rout, as the PAVN 2nd Army Corps picked off one South Vietnamese unit after another, until Huế and Da Nang were completely surrounded. By March 29, 1975, PAVN troops had full control of Huế and Da Nang, while South Vietnam lost all territories and most of the units belonging to I Corps. (
Full article...)
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Image 1A view of
Mường Thanh Valley from
Dien Bien Phu city, Vietnam
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Image 2Water puppetry, lit. "Making
puppets dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the
Red River Delta area of northern
Vietnam.
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Image 3The gate to Linh Ung Pagoda at
Sơn Trà District,
Da Nang, Vietnam
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Image 4Hanging fishing nets in the
Cu Đê River, just before it merges with Da Nang Bay
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Image 5Hồ Chí Minh attended French Communist Congress in Marseilles in 1921 under the name Nguyễn Ái Quốc.
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Image 6Imperial City of Huế, recognized as a UNESCO Heritage site in 1993, was the former capital of Vietnam under the
Nguyễn dynasty.
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Image 7Making salt by evaporation of sea water near
Ninh Hòa town,
Khánh Hòa Province Vietnam
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Image 8View of
Ho Chi Minh City from
Bitexco Financial Tower, Vietnam
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Image 9The painting depicts the retired emperor
Trần Nhân Tông who has now become a monk and returned to Hanoi from his hermitage in Vũ Lâm.
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Image 10Dong Ho painting is a line of Vietnamese folk painting originating in Đông Hồ village (Song Hồ commune,
Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province.
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Image 11The train station at
Da Lat
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Image 12Wooden doors in the Imperial palace in
Huế, Vietnam
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Image 13Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the
Buddhist crisis in Vietnam.
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Image 14The sunset over
Hanoi, after a rain