South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War.
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18 Facts About South Vietnam
2.
South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
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3.
The term "South Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts.
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4.
In July 1954, France and the Viet Minh agreed at the Geneva Conference that the Vietnam would be temporarily divided at 17th parallel north and State of Vietnam would rule the territory south of the 17th parallel, pending unification on the basis of supervised elections in 1956.
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5.
South Vietnam claimed the communist government in the North created conditions that made a fair election impossible in that region.
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6.
South Vietnam asked voters to approve a republic, thus removing Bao Ðai as head of state.
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7.
South Vietnam, which had not signed the Geneva Accords, did not believe the Communists in North Vietnam would allow a fair election.
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8.
South Vietnam launched an anti-communist denunciation campaign against the Viet Cong.
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9.
Thieu requested aid from US President Gerald Ford, but the US Senate would not release extra money to provide aid to South Vietnam, and had already passed laws to prevent further involvement in Vietnam.
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10.
South Vietnam nominated his Vice President Tran Van Huong as his successor.
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11.
South Vietnam went through many political changes during its short life.
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12.
South Vietnam was unpopular however, largely because monarchical leaders were considered collaborators during French rule and because he had spent his reign absent in France.
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13.
Radio South Vietnam started its operation in 1955 under then President Ngo Dinh Diem, and ceased operation on 30 April 1975, with the broadcast of surrender by Duong Van Minh.
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14.
The radio stations across the former South Vietnam were later reused by the communist regime to broadcast their state-run radio service.
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15.
South Vietnam was divided into coastal lowlands, the mountainous Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta.
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16.
Apart from the mainland, the Republic of South Vietnam administered parts of the Paracels and Spratly Islands.
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17.
South Vietnam maintained a capitalist free-market economy with ties to the West.
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18.
South Vietnam was a member of accT, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the IMF, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, Interpol, the IOC, the ITU, the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNESCO and the Universal Postal Union .
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