[vee-et-nahm, -nam, vyet-, vee-it-] 
| 1. | Official name, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. a country in SE Asia, comprising the former states of Annam, Tonkin, and Cochin-China: formerly part of French Indochina; divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War but now reunified. 75,123,880; 126,104 sq. mi. (326,609 sq. km). Capital: Hanoi. Compare North Vietnam, South Vietnam. |
| 2. | Vietnam War. |
Vi·et·nam (vē-ět'näm', -nām', vē'ĭt-, vyět'-)  (click for larger image in new window) A country of southeast Asia in eastern Indochina on the South China Sea. It comprises the historical regions of Tonkin, Annam, and Cochin China, much of which was under Chinese control from the 3rd century B.C. to the 15th century A.D. Portuguese traders arrived in 1535, and the area came under French influence in the mid-19th century as part of French Indochina. After the fall of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, it was partitioned into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The Vietnam War (1954-1975) grew out of the attempt by Communist Vietcong guerrillas backed by North Vietnam to overthrow the U.S.-supported regime in the south. The South Vietnamese government collapsed in 1975, and the country was reunited in 1976. Hanoi is the capital and Ho Chi Minh City the largest city. Population: 85,300,000. |
Republic in Southeast Asia, bordered by Cambodia and Laos to the west, China to the north, and the South China Sea (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) to the east and south.
Note: Vietnam was under the control of France from the second half of the nineteenth century until World War II, when it was occupied by the Japanese. The country became an autonomous state in 1946. France's attempts to reassert control resulted in the French Indochina War (1946–1954), in which the French were defeated.
Note: The Geneva Conference of 1954 divided Vietnam into North Vietnam, controlled by communists, and South Vietnam, controlled by noncommunists.
Note: In the Vietnam War of 1954–1975, South Vietnam, which was aided by the United States, fought communist insurgents, who were aided by North Vietnam. The war ended when the communists overran the south in 1975. The country was reunified in 1976.
Note: American involvement in the Vietnam War was strongly protested in the United States.
Note: Great numbers of Vietnamese refugees, known as boat people, fled the country in the aftermath of the war.
Note: Between 1978 and 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed a puppet government.
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