The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

established as a dividing line between

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state 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 th ...

from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

(1955-1975) it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North from South Vietnamese territories. The zone ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam on July 2, 1976, though the area remains dangerous due to the numerous undetonated explosives it contains.

Geography

The border between North and South Vietnam was in length and ran from east to west near the middle of present-day Vietnam within Quảng Trị Province. Beginning in the west at the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

with Laos, it ran east in a straight line until reaching the village of Bo Ho Su on the Bến Hải River. The line then followed this river as it flowed in a broadly northeastwards direction out to the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern c ...

. Either side of the line was a Demilitarized Zone, forming a buffer of about in width. Although it was nominally described as being at "the 17th parallel," the border never actually followed that line, only straddling the general area of that line of latitude.

History

The

(also called the French Indochina War) was fought in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

from 1946 to 1954 between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the French-controlled

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

on the one side, and the Communist-dominated independence movement the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

(aided by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

) on the other. The Viet Minh won the war, gaining effective control of all northern Vietnam except an enclave around

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...

. On July 21, 1954, the Republic of France gave up its control of Vietnam, and the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

was recognized as the government of northern Vietnam by

while "recognizing" the

as the government of southern Vietnam at the same time. The postcolonial conditions of Vietnam were set at the

Geneva Conference of 1954 The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The par ...

and an agreement was finalized on July 21, 1954. The agreement reflected the military situation on the ground: the northern part of Vietnam, which was almost entirely controlled by the Viet Minh, became the

, under

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

leader

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

; the southern part of Vietnam, where the Viet Minh controlled only relatively small and remote areas, became the independent State of Vietnam under

Bảo Đại Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was em ...

, the last scion of the old Vietnamese imperial house. The State of Vietnam later became the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state 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 t ...

. A temporary boundary running primarily along the Bến Hải River was established pending elections, with the area on either side of the border declared a demilitarized zone - troops of both governments were barred from this area. After war between North and South Vietnam broke out in 1950s, the DMZ hardened into a de facto international boundary. The war itself evolved into a proxy conflict of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

and thousands of American troops being sent to the country. Despite the DMZ's supposed status, 3rd Marine Division intelligence estimated that the combat strength of NVA and

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

forces in the DMZ area in January 1968 was 40,943 troops. The north was ultimately victorious in the war in 1975, and the DMZ ceased to exist following the reunification of Vietnam on 2 July 1976.

Tourism

Exploring the Demilitarized Zone can today be comfortably achieved by joining one of various tours starting daily from

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

Đà Nẵng Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

. Together with a local guide the most famous war settings, such as Khe Sanh Combat Base,

The Rockpile The Rockpile (also known as Elliot Combat Base) and known in Vietnamese as Thon Khe Tri, is a solitary karst rock outcropping north of Route 9 and south of the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Its relatively inaccessible location, rea ...

, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Doc-Mieu-Station or the Vinh Moc tunnels, are visited on a full-day trip. Although the Vietnam War ended decades ago, walking outside marked tracks can still be dangerous because of numerous unexploded ordnance devices.Lonely Planet, .

Gallery

File:Vietnam DMZ II.jpg, Map of the DMZ from 1957 File:Vietnam DMZ 2.jpg, Map of the DMZ from 1966

References

External links

Archive.org: Blurry Travel Guide to the DMZ
— ''with photos''.
Honan.ne: Photos of DMZ
{{Authority control North Vietnam South Vietnam Borders of Vietnam International borders Demilitarized zones North Central Coast Quảng Bình province Quảng Trị province First Indochina War Vietnam War sites 1950s in Vietnam 1960s in Vietnam 1970s in Vietnam 1954 establishments in Vietnam 1975 disestablishments in Vietnam Regions of Vietnam