The 17th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 17 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. The parallel is particularly significant in the history of Vietnam (see below).
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 17° north passes through:
| Country, territory or sea | Notes |
|---|---|
| Red Sea | Including the Farasan Islands of |
| Arabian Sea | |
| Bay of Bengal | |
| (Burma) | |
| See below | |
| South China Sea | Passing through the disputed Paracel Islands |
| Pacific Ocean | Philippine Sea |
| Passing between the islands of Guguan and Sarigan | |
| Pacific Ocean | |
| Caribbean Sea | |
| Antigua island | |
| Atlantic Ocean | |
| Santo Antão island | |
| Atlantic Ocean | |
The Seventeenth parallel (vĩ tuyến 17) was the provisional military demarcation line established in Vietnam by the Geneva Accords of 1954. The line did not actually coincide with the 17th parallel but ran south of it, approximately along the Ben Hai River in Quang Tri Province to the village of Bo Ho Su and from there due west to the Laos-Vietnam border. But in 1976 the demarcation line was made redundant as Vietnam was unified following the surrender of the South Vietnamese government. The 17th parallel of Vietnam, was also a demilitarized zone of Vietnam.