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Ho Chi Minh City

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Ho Chi Minh City formerly Saigon, city (1997 pop. 5,250,000), on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city, the greatest port, and the commercial and industrial center of Vietnam. It has an airport and is the focus of the country's highways, railroads, and Mekong delta waterways.

An ancient Khmer settlement (see Khmer Empire ), it passed (17th cent.) to the Annamese (see Annam ). It was captured by the French in 1859 and ceded to France in 1862. A small village at the time of the French conquest, Saigon became a modern city under French rule. It was laid out in rectilinear fashion with wide, tree-lined avenues and parks, and soon developed a reputation for its beauty and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The city was capital of Cochin China and from 1887 to 1902 was capital of the Union of Indochina. For administrative purposes Saigon and Cholon , on opposite banks of the Saigon River, were merged in 1932; in 1956 the two cities were included in the new prefecture of Saigon. Saigon became the capital of the newly created state of South Vietnam in 1954. In the Vietnam War it served as military headquarters for U.S. and South Vietnamese forces.

Saigon suffered considerable damage during the 1968 Tet offensive , and throughout the 1960s and early 70s at least a million refugees from the rural areas poured into the city, creating serious housing problems and overcrowding. In 1975 after Saigon surrendered and Vietnam was reunited under the prevailing Communist government, the city lost its status as capital and was renamed after the late North Vietnamese president.

The local economy of Ho Chi Minh City was disrupted during the early years of the new regime, which curtailed foreign investment and promoted collectivization. In the 1980s and 90s, conditions improved as the city gradually adapted to the new system and the government relaxed its economic policy. There is a growing industrial base, which includes the manufacture of home appliances, clothing, and shoes as well as automobile assembly, but since 1990 the city also has seen undistinguished high-rise construction that has diminished its well-known charm. The city is the seat of Ho Chi Minh Univ. and a national theater.

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Ho Chi Minh City

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Ho Chi Minh City (Thanh Pho H Chí Minh) Vietnam Dong Nai, Phan Yen, Gia Dinh, Saigon Renamed in 1976 after Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969), President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) (1946–69) and founder of the modern Vietnamese state; born as Nguyen Sing Cung, Ho Chi Minh was one of his many aliases. Within Cambodia for many centuries and built on the site of an ancient Khmer city, the Vietnamese only established a small trading settlement here, known as Gia Dinh, at the end of the 17th century. It was captured by the French in 1859 and renamed after the Sai Gon River on which it lies. Saigon, or Soai‐gon or Sai Con ‘kapok tree’, is said to come from the Khmer prei kor ‘forest of kapok trees’ or prei nokor ‘settlement in the forest’. The city also includes the Chinatown of Cho Lon ‘Big Market’, previously Ben Nghe ‘Landing of the Water Buffalo’, with which it became linked at the end of the 18th century. The name Ho Chi Minh has not really caught on with the public and most people still refer to the city as Saigon; the river is still called the Saigon River. It was the capital of the French Protectorate of Cochinchina in 1862–1954, of the State of Vietnam in 1949–54, and of South Vietnam in 1954–75.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Ho Chi Minh City." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Ho Chi Minh City." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-HoChiMinhCity.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Ho Chi Minh City." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-HoChiMinhCity.html

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Ho Chi Minh City

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) City at the mouth of the River Saigon in the Mekong delta, s Vietnam; the largest city in Vietnam. An ancient Khmer settlement, Saigon was seized by the French in 1859 and made capital of Cochin China, then French Indochina (1887–1902). In 1954 it became capital of independent South Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, it served as military headquarters for US and South Vietnamese forces. Taken by the North Vietnamese in 1975, it was later renamed Ho Chi Minh City. It is the commercial, industrial and transport centre of Vietnam. Industries: shipbuilding, textiles, pharmaceuticals. Pop. (2002 est.) 3,378,500.

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Saigon

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military | 2001 | Copyright

Saigon sīˈgän; ˈsīgän a city and port on the south coast of Vietnam. It was the capital of the French colony established in Vietnam in the 19th century, becoming capital of South Vietnam in the partition of 1954. The official name (since 1975) is Ho Chi Minh City.

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"Saigon." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Saigon

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Saigon see Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam.

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Saigon

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Saigon, Vietnam See Ho Chi Minh City.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saigon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saigon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Saigon.html

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Saigon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Saigon.html

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Saigon

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Saigon See Ho Chi Minh City

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Saigon

Saigon •aide-de-camp, aides-de-camp, anon, Asunción, au courant, begone, Bonn, bon vivant, Caen, Canton, Carcassonne, Ceylon, chaconne, chateaubriand, ci-devant, Colón, colon, Concepción, con (US conn), cretonne, don, Duchamp, Evonne, foregone, fromage blanc, Gabon, Garonne, gone, guenon, hereupon, Inchon, Jean, john, Jon, Le Mans, León, Luzon, Mont Blanc, Narbonne, odds-on, on, outgone, outshone, Perón, phon, piñon, Pinot Blanc, plafond, Ramón, Saigon, Saint-Saëns, Sand, Schwann, scone, shone, side-on, sine qua non, Sorbonne, spot-on, swan, thereon, thereupon, ton, Toulon, undergone, upon, Villon, wan, whereon, whereupon, won, wonton, yon, Yvonne •crayon, rayon •Leon, Lyons, neon, prion •Ceredigion • Mabinogion • nucleon •Amiens • dupion • parathion •Laocoon •gluon, Rouen •bon-bon • Audubon

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"Saigon." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Saigon." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Saigon.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Ho Chi Minh's journey for national salvation marked. News Wire article from: Vietnamese News Agency; 6/5/2011
	Ho Chi Minh's birthday celebrated abroad. News Wire article from: Vietnamese News Agency; 5/15/2010
	President Ho Chi Minh's birthday celebrated abroad. News Wire article from: Vietnamese News Agency; 5/17/2010