French Indochina

American  

[french in-doh-chahy-nuh] / ˈfrɛntʃ ˌɪn doʊˈtʃaɪ nə /

noun

1. a former French colonial federation in Southeast Asia comprising principally what are now the independent states of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Hanoi.

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French Indochina British  

noun

1. the territories of SE Asia that were colonized by France and held mostly until 1954: included Cochin China, Annam, and Tonkin (now largely Vietnam), Cambodia, Laos, and Kuang-Chou Wan (returned to China in 1945, now Zhanjiang)

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Example Sentences

He harangued the conservative navy into accepting a drive toward French Indochina and the Dutch oil fields.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

France, humiliated by its rapid capitulation to the Germans in 1940, fought to reclaim wealth and glory in "French" Indochina, only to be severely humbled at Dien Bien Phu.

From Salon • Jun. 7, 2023

In 1891 a French archaeological team uncovered a stone stele near the village of Sambor on the banks of the Mekong River, in what was then French Indochina, later to become Cambodia/Kampuchea.

From Scientific American • Jul. 28, 2022

The piece emerged from Yang’s fascination with the novelist Marguerite Duras and her “childhood naïveté towards the colonialism that she lived through” in French Indochina, said Joo, who met Yang in 2004.

From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2022

In the late 1800s, long before the start of the Cold War, France took control of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, ruling the three countries as a colony known as French Indochina.

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