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
Battle of Ban Me Thuot was a decisive battle of the
Vietnam War which led to the complete destruction of
South Vietnam's
II Corps Tactical Zone. The battle was part of a larger
North Vietnamese military operation known as
Campaign 275 to capture the
Tay Nguyen region, known in the West as the Vietnamese
Central Highlands.
In March 1975 the
People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 4th Corps staged a large-scale offensive, known as Campaign 275, with the aim of capturing the Central Highlands from the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in order to kick-start the first stage of the
1975 spring offensive. Within ten days, the North Vietnamese destroyed most ARVN military formations in II Corps Tactical Zone, exposing the severe weaknesses of the South Vietnamese military. For South Vietnam, the defeat at Ban Me Thuot and the disastrous evacuation from the Central Highlands came about as a result of two major mistakes. Firstly, in the days leading up to the assault on Ban Me Thuot, II Corps commander Major General
Phạm Văn Phú repeatedly ignored intelligence which showed the presence of several PAVN divisions around the district. Secondly, President
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's strategy to withdraw from the Central Highlands was poorly planned and implemented. (
Full article...)
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Image 1Making salt by evaporation of sea water near
Ninh Hòa town,
Khánh Hòa Province Vietnam
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Image 2
Imperial 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 3A view of
Mường Thanh Valley from
Dien Bien Phu city, Vietnam
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Image 4The gate to Linh Ung Pagoda at
Sơn Trà District,
Da Nang, Vietnam
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Image 5
Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the
Buddhist crisis in Vietnam.
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Image 6
Hồ Chí Minh attended French Communist Congress in Marseilles in 1921 under the name Nguyễn Ái Quốc.
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Image 7The train station at
Da Lat
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Image 8Hanging fishing nets in the
Cu Đê River, just before it merges with Da Nang Bay
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Image 9View of
Ho Chi Minh City from
Bitexco Financial Tower, Vietnam
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Image 10The 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 11
Water 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 12Wooden doors in the Imperial palace in
Huế, Vietnam
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Image 13The sunset over
Hanoi, after a rain
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Image 14
Dong Ho painting is a line of Vietnamese folk painting originating in Đông Hồ village (Song Hồ commune,
Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province.