Outline of Vietnam
Vietnam was under Chinese control for a thousand years before becoming a nation-state in the 10th century. Successive dynasties flourished along with geographic and political expansion deeper into Southeast Asia, until it was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. Efforts to resist the French eventually led to their expulsion from the country in the mid-20th century, leaving a nation divided politically into two countries. Bitter fighting between the two sides continued during the Vietnam War, ending with a communist victory in 1975.
Cochinchina
During the French colonial period, the label moved further south, and came to refer exclusively to the southernmost part of Vietnam, controlled by Cambodia in prior centuries, and lying to its southeast. The capital of the French colony of Cochinchina was at Saigon. The two other parts of Vietnam at the time were known as Annam (Central Vietnam) and Tonkin (Northern Vietnam).