French Indochina was a region in Southeast Asia that belonged to the French colonial empire. It consisted of modern day Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. It was disestablished following the independence of the Kingdom of Laos and the 1st Kingdom of Cambodia in 1954, and the partition of Vietnam between the China backed Hanoi government in the North of Ho Chi Minh, and the American backed Saigon government in the South of Bao Dai, and later Ngo Dinh Diem, causing the outbreak of the Second Indochina War.
French Indochina Indochine Française (French)ឥណ្ឌាចិនបារំាង (Khmer)Ĕnduchĕn BareăngĐộng Đường thuộc Pháp (Vietnamese)東洋屬法ອິນດູຈີນຝຣັ່ງ (Lao)อินโดจีนของฝรั่งเศส (Thai) |
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Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" |
Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise")
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Capital | Hanoi (1902 - 1945) Saigon (1887 - 1902; 1945 - 1954) |
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Official languages | French |
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Other languages | Vietnamese, Khmer, Cham, Cantonese, Thai, Isan, Lao |
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Ethnic groups (1936) | 72% (Vietnamese) 13% (Khmer) 6% (Tai) 1.4% (Chinese, Cham, Hmong, Yao and Bahnar) 0.2% (Europeans) 7.3% (others) |
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Religion | Christianity Buddhism Vietnamese folk religion |
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Demonym(s) | Indochinese |
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Membership | Annam Tonkin Laos Cochinchina Cambodia |
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Governor-General | |
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• 1887–1888 (first) | Ernest Constans |
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• 1955–1956 (last) | Henri Hoppenot[a] |
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Historical era | New Imperialism World War 1 Interwar Period World War 2 First Indochina War |
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| 1858–1885 |
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| 17 October 1862 |
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| 19 April 1899 |
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| 5 January 1900 |
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| 22 September 1940 |
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| October 1940 – May 1941 |
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| 9 March 1945 |
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| 2 September 1945 |
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| 13 September 1945 |
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| 19 December 1946 |
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| 2 July 1949 |
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| 9 November 1953 |
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| 27 October 1954 |
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• Total | 737,000 km2 (285,000 sq mi) |
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Currency | French Indochinese piastre |
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Today part of | Cambodia Laos Vietnam |
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- ↑ As Commissioner-General
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