Annam

Annam, French-governed Vietnam or, more strictly, its central region, known in precolonial times as Trung Ky (Central Administrative Division). The term Annam (Chinese: “Pacified South”) was never officially used by the Vietnamese to describe their country, even during the French colonial period.

The central section of Vietnam known to the French as Annam is largely a highland region extending from the Ma River southward to Ba Kiem Cape, which lies 47 miles (76 km) east-southeast of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The former imperial capital Hue has remained the chief cultural centre in the region.

Much of central Vietnam was under the control of the Cham empire until the expanding Vietnamese state defeated the Cham rulers in 1471, opening the way for steady Vietnamese movement toward the Mekong River delta. With the de facto division of Vietnam under the seigneurial Nguyen and Trinh families in the 16th century, Hue became the seat of the Nguyen. When Nguyen Anh, as the emperor Gia Long, united the whole of Vietnam in 1802, Hue became the imperial capital.

Central Vietnam came under French “protection” in 1883–85, leaving the court at Hue with only nominal power. In the confused immediate post-World War II period, Vietnam was temporarily divided at 16° N latitude, leaving parts of central Vietnam under different occupying authorities. Following the end of the first Indochina War in 1954, the temporary dividing line determined at the Geneva Conference again ran through central Vietnam, this time at the 17th parallel.

The predominant hills and plateaus of central Vietnam are occupied by a variety of hill peoples, some speaking variants of the Cham language, others using Mon-Khmer languages. The narrow, fertile coastal plain of central Vietnam is occupied by the majority Vietnamese and is devoted largely to rice culture. The largest city in central Vietnam is Da Nang (q.v.), and its best anchorage is Cam Ranh Bay.