Mekong Delta

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This article is about the geographical region. For the German heavy metal band, see Mekong Delta (band).

The Mekong Delta (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta”) is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of 39,000 km² The area covered by water depends on the season.

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the Delta region saw fighting between NLF guerrillas and units of the United States Navy's swift boats and PACVs. As French colonization began in Cochinchina, the first nationalist revolt, on the name of the king, started in that Mekong delta and followed by the First Indochina War fought by the French with their “Dinassaut” on waterways and copied later by the US Navy Mobile Riverine Force. http://indochine54.free.fr/cefeo/dinassau.html

A view of the “other side” in the struggle for independence and unity. http://hometown.aol.com/canedo/myhomepage/vietminh.jpg

Economy

The area is home to large numbers of rice cultivation fields and the surrounding farmlands are extremely fertile.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the Mekong Delta region are largely ethnic Viet, with Khmer minority populations living primarily in the Trà Vinh, Sóc Trăng, and Muslim Chăm in Tan Chau, by An Giang provinces. There are also sizeable Hoa (ethnic Chinese) populations in the Kiên Giang and Trà Vinh provinces.

Trivia

The Vietnamese believe that during the winter months of Tết, a dragon appears to give good health and wisdom to many people.

External links

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Last updated on Monday March 10, 2008 at 09:42:07 PDT (GMT -0700)
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