SOUTH VIETNAM

South Vietnam refers to an internationally recognized state which governed Vietnam south of the 17th parallel until 1975. Its capital was Saigon. The Bao Dai government received international recognition in 1950. Communists led by Ho Chi Minh gained control of North Vietnam and set up a communist government based in Hanoi following the Geneva Conference in 1954.

The Vietnam War, in which the U.S. and South Vietnam fought North Vietnamese / Vietcong, began in 1958. In April 1975, North Vietnam forces overran Saigon. South Vietnam was then united with communist North Vietnam to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.