Vietnam

American  

[vee-et-nahm, -nam, vyet-, vee-it-] / viˌɛtˈnɑm, -ˈnæm, ˌvjɛt-, ˌvi ɪt- /

Or Viet Nam

noun

1. Official Name Socialist Republic of Vietnam.  a country in Southeast Asia, comprising the former states of Annam, Tonkin, and Cochinchina: formerly part of French Indochina; divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War but now reunified. 126,104 sq. mi. (326,609 sq. km). Hanoi.

2. Vietnam War.

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Vietnam British  

/ ˌvjɛtˈnæm /

noun

1. Official name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam.  a republic in SE Asia: an ancient empire, conquered by France in the 19th century; occupied by Japan (1940–45) when the Communist-led Vietminh began resistance operations that were continued against restored French rule after 1945. In 1954 the country was divided along the 17th parallel, establishing North Vietnam (under the Vietminh) and South Vietnam (under French control), the latter becoming the independent Republic of Vietnam in 1955. From 1959 the country was dominated by war between the Communist Vietcong, supported by North Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese government; increasing numbers of US forces were brought to the aid of the South Vietnamese army until a peace agreement (1973) led to the withdrawal of US troops; further fighting led to the eventual defeat of the South Vietnamese government in March 1975 and in 1976 an elected National Assembly proclaimed the reunification of the country. Official language: Vietnamese. Religion: Buddhist majority. Currency: dong. Capital: Hanoi. Pop: 92 477 857 (2013 est). Area: 331 041 sq km (127 816 sq miles)

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Vietnam Cultural  

1. 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.

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Discover More

The Geneva Conference of 1954 divided Vietnam into North Vietnam, controlled by communists, and South Vietnam, controlled by noncommunists.

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.

American involvement in the Vietnam War was strongly protested in the United States.

Between 1978 and 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed a puppet government.

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.

Great numbers of Vietnamese refugees, known as boat people, fled the country in the aftermath of the war.

Example Sentences

When the prospective client, a 75-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran, said he was investing not only for himself but also for an elderly friend with Alzheimer’s, Regan said that was “something that’s sacred.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026

“Americans are falling in love with Vietnam and its dual communist–capitalist system of government and economics,” some guy in Hanoi could have said after I gushed to him about how much fun I was having.

From Slate • Jun. 25, 2026

It connects the Lincoln Memorial to its west, the World War II Memorial to its east, the Vietnam War memorial to its north, and the Korean War memorial to its south.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

Commentators have noted how different the occasion feels from America's bicentennial celebrations in 1976, which appeared to unify the country in patriotism after a difficult few years of Vietnam, Nixon and the oil crisis.

From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026

Over the following hours and days, reading classified cables in his Pentagon office, Ellsberg learned the truth about the South Vietnamese attacks on North Vietnam.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin