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Vietnam: South Vietnam
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As a temporary expedient after the Vietnamese defeat of French forces, Vietnam was divided into two parts along a line approximating the 17th parallel (lat. 17°N). North Vietnam, where the Viet Minh were the strongest, went to the Communist government of Ho Chi Minh, while South Vietnam was placed under the control of the French-backed government of Bao Dai. Freedom of movement between the two areas was to be permitted for a period of 300 days, thereby facilitating the regroupment of Communist forces in the north and non-Communist forces in the south. During this period some 900,000 people, many of whom were Catholics or individuals fleeing the land reform program initiated by the Ho Chi Minh government, migrated south. The unification of the country under one government was to be effected through general elections, later scheduled for July, 1956.
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Geographically, Vietnam is shaped like a long S, and it stretches the length of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. Vietnam has a surface area of 128,000 square miles - making it about the size of Italy. China lies to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east.
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Vietnam shares borders with Cambodia, Laos and China, and features 3,200 km of coastline bordering the Eastern Sea. With an area of 332,000 square km, Vietnam’s topography varies from coastal plains to mountain ranges. Vietnam stretches over 1,800 km from north to south ; therefore weather patterns in the principle cities are very different. The North : Winter lasts from November to April , with temperatures averaging 16oC but little rainfall. Summer begins in May and lasts until October, with temperature of 30oC, heavy rainfall and the occasional Violent typhoon. The Center : Central Vietnam experiences a transitional climate, halfway between those of the north and south.
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When it became clear that Ngo Dinh Diem had no intention of holding elections for a united Vietnam, his political opponents began to consider alternative ways of obtaining their objectives. Some came to the conclusion that violence was the only way to persuade Diem to agree to the terms of the 1954 Geneva Conference. The year following the cancelled elections saw a large increase in the number of people leaving their homes to form armed groups in the forests of Vietnam. At first they were not in a position to take on the South Vietnamese Army and instead concentrated on what became known as 'soft targets'. In 1959, an estimated 1,200 of Diem's government officials were murdered.
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Topographically, Vietnam is a museum of towering mountains, beautiful beaches and waterfalls, deltas, and tropical forests being home to countless animals and plants. In the north there are alpine peaks, the Red River Delta; the plains consists of Cao Bang and Vinh Yen, the city of Hanoi and the charming Halong Bay. The Central Vietnam hosts ethnic minorities, along with plateaus full of volcanic soil and breath taking beaches and backwaters. The south's tourist attraction would be Ho Chi Minh City, delta of Mekong River. Many hidden islands and coastal forests are ... there.
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Vietnam has exerted itself to be a favorite destination of more and more tourists. There’s a Hanoi elegant with friendly people, a Sapa with colourful-dressed minorities, a Halong Bay with amazing caves listed on UNESCO World Heritage. There’s a Hue romantic with palace and rain, a tranquil Hoi An where you can have clothes made in one day, a Danang dynamic by Han river. There’s a Nha Trang with best bays of the world, a Saigon busy and modern like Newyork, a Mekong-delta with fascinating floating market. The North, Centre, and South of Vietnam all bear a deep cultural trace, which remains in tourists’ memories for years. With everything from mountains to seas, from cold to hot weather, from city to countryside, Vietnam has everything you may come up with!
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