South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng Hòa) was a state governing the southern half of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. It received international recognition in 1949 as the "State of Vietnam" (1949–55), and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" (1955–75). Its capital was Saigon. The term "South Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts.

South Vietnam's origins can be traced to the French colony of Cochinchina, which consisted of the southern third of Vietnam and was a subdivision of French Indochina. After World War II, the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, proclaimed the establishment of a Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi in September, 1945. In 1949, anti-communist Vietnamese politicians formed a rival government in Saigon led by former emperor Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại was deposed by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm in 1955, who proclaimed himself president after a referendum. After Diệm was killed in a military coup led by general Dương Văn Minh in 1963, there was a series of short-lived military governments. General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu led the country from 1967 until 1975. The Vietnam War began in 1959 with an uprising by Viet Cong forces armed and controlled by Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Fighting climaxed during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when there were over 1.5 million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500,000 U.S. soldiers in South Vietnam. Despite a peace treaty concluded in January 1973, fighting continued until the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies overran Saigon on 30 April 1975, marking the end of the South Vietnamese state.

Coordinates: 16°10′N 107°50′E / 16.167°N 107.833°E / 16.167; 107.833

Vietnam (UK /ˌvjɛtˈnæm, -ˈnɑːm/, US ⁱ/ˌviːətˈnɑːm, -ˈnæm/;Vietnamese: Việt Nam [viət˨ næm˧]), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV; Vietnamese: Cộng Hòa Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam ( listen)), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants as of 2014, it is the world's 14th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "Southern Viet" (synonymous with the much older term Nam Viet); it was first officially adopted in 1802 by Emperor Gia Long, and was adopted again in 1945 with the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Malaysia across the South China Sea to the southeast. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1975.

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA), a governmental agency, is the official state news provider of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

As the only news agency of the whole country, the state-run VNA is responsible for publishing official information and documents of the party and state, providing information in service of the party leadership and state management, while collecting and providing news via various forms to the mass media agencies, the public and readers of all kinds, both at home and abroad.

The VNA is headquartered at 5 Lý Thường Kiệt Street, Hanoi, in the National News Centre. The organisation’s southern and central representative offices are located at 120 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street, Hồ Chí Minh City, and 28 Lê Thánh Tông Street, Đà Nẵng .

History

The VNA is a media complex consisting of 32 affiliates, including news units (five editorial departments and two source news centres), various publication and press bodies (one publishing house and nine newspapers), and multi-media units (a television channel and e-portal), together with five news support centres and two printing, trade and services companies.

Vietnam is the third studio album by Shockabilly, released in 1984 by Fundamental Records. It released on CD as Vietnam/Heaven in 1990.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the Vietnam liner notes.

Release history

References

External links