French Cochinchina

Colony of Cochinchina Cochinchine française (French) Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ (Vietnamese)
1862–1949
Top: Colonial flag Bottom: Autonomous Republic Coat of arms
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem: "La Marseillaise" "Chinh phụ ngâm khúc" (1946-1949)
Localised version of the Great Seal of France:[1]
Cochinchina in 1920
Status	Occupied territory of France (1858–1862) Colony of France (1862–1949) Constituent territory of French Indochina (1887–1949)
Capital	Saigon (1862–1931) Saigon–Cholon (1931–1949)[a]
Common languages	French Vietnamese Khmer Chinese
Religion	Buddhism Confucianism Taoism Catholicism Animism Caodaism Hòa Hảo Islam
Demonym(s)	Vietnamese
Government	Colonial administration (1858–1946) Autonomous Republic (1946–1949)
Governor
• 1858–1859	Charles Rigault de Genouilly
• 1947–1949	Pierre Boyer De LaTour du Moulin
President of Government
• 1946	Nguyen Van Thinh
• 1947-1948	Nguyễn Văn Xuân
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Capture of Saigon	17 February 1859
• Ceded by Đại Nam	5 June 1862
• Part of French Indochina	17 October 1887
• Japanese occupation	28 July 1941
• Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam	2 September 1945
• "Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina"	1 June 1946
• Merged to the Central Government	4 June 1949
Population
• 1920	3,800,000[2]
Currency	Vietnamese văn (1862–1945) Cochinchina piastre (1878–1885) French Indochinese piastre (1885–1949)
Preceded by Succeeded by Empire of Đại Nam 1945: Democratic Republic of Vietnam 1887: French Indochina 1945: Empire of Vietnam 1949: Provisional Central Government of Vietnam
Today part of	Vietnam

French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled Cochin-China; French: Cochinchine française; Vietnamese: Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ, chữ Hán: 處屬地南圻) was a colony of French Indochina, encompassing the whole region of Lower Cochinchina or Southern Vietnam from 1862 to 1946. The French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product was rubber.

After the end of Japanese occupation (1941–45) and the expulsion from Saigon of Communist-led nationalist Viet Minh in 1946, the territory was established by the French as the Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina, a controversial decision that helped trigger the First Indochina War. In a further move to deny the claims of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam declared in Hanoi by the Viet Minh in 1949, Cochinchina was formally united with Annam and Tonkin in the State of Vietnam within the French Union.

Nam Kỳ originated from the reign of Minh Mạng of the Nguyễn dynasty, but became a name associated with the French colonial period and so Vietnamese, especially nationalists, prefer the term Nam Phần to refer to Southern Vietnam.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).