Brief history

In the early 17th century, Ho Chi Minh City began as a small fishing village known as Prey Nokor. The area that the city now occupies was originally swampland, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese.

In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia (1618-1628) allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trinh-Nguyen civil war in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor, and to set up a custom house at Prey Nokor.

Unfortunately, The Cambodian kingdom was weakened because of war with Thailand, could not impede the increasing waves of Vietnamese settlers. Slowly, the Vietnamese occupied the area. In time, Prey Nokor became known as Saigon.

In 1698, Nguyen Huu Canh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyen rulers of Hue to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area, thus detaching the area from Cambodia, which was not strong enough to intervene. The name Saigon was officially admitted.

After conquering Saigon 1859, the French was building the city with many functions such as administration, military, economy, port… With Geneva Convention, Saigon became the capital of the Republic of Vietnam . The city was influenced by the French during their colonial occupation of Vietnam, and a number of classical Western-style buildings in the city reflect this, so much so that Saigon was called "the Pearl of the Far East" (Hon Ngoc Vien Đong) or "Paris in the Orient" (Paris Phuong Đong).

In 1975, according to the conclusion of the Vietnam War, the city came under the control of the Vietnam People’s Army. In 1976,  Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the late communist leader Ho Chi Minh. However, the name Saigon is still widely used by many Vietnamese.

Ho Chi Minh city is located in the South of the country, lies 1.760 km south of Hanoi (by road). It is situated on the right bank of the Saigon river. Being the biggest city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh city has 5,2 million people.

Ho Chi Minh City lies in the tropical climate region near the equator. Like southern provinces, it has a high temperature all the year and two distinct seasons, the dry and the rainy. The rainy season lasts from May to November and the dry season from December to April. If you arrive during the wet season, bring a raincoat and umbrella however the rain come suddenly but it is not long.

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