Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Viet Nam, Annam(noun)

a communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea; achieved independence from France in 1945

Vietnam War, Vietnam(noun)

a prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States

Vietnam(Noun)

A long war, unwinnable by a dominating foreign occupier.

Vietnam(ProperNoun)

A country in Southeast Asia, on the east coast of the Indochina Peninsula, officially named Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Vietnam(ProperNoun)

The Vietnam War.

Vietnam

Vietnam officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 90.3 million inhabitants as of 2012, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976. The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. The First Indochina War eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy foreign intervention, during the Vietnam War, which ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.