prior to 1948 north and south vietnam were a part of
France
title: Northern and southern Vietnam text: than the other two regions. Hanoi, being the capital of French Indochina, was the only place in Northern Vietnam with significant French influence. From 1954 to 1975, Vietnam was again divided into two separate nations, divided by the Bến Hải River in Quảng Trị Province at the 17th parallel. The North, ruled by a communist government, was allied with communist China and the Soviet Union, while the South had a free-market economy, quasi-democratic government and had contact with the United States, the West and Western-aligned nations. Although the nation has been united since 1975, linguistic, cultural, and other differences serve title: North Vietnam text: fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, or Vietcong, alongside the North Vietnamese Army, governed South Vietnam during the period before reunification. However it was seen as a vassal government of North Vietnam. North and South Vietnam were officially reunited under one state on 2 July 1976, forming the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which continues to administer the country today. From 1960, the North Vietnamese government went to war with Republic of Vietnam via its proxy the Viet Cong, in an attempt to annex South Vietnam and reunify Vietnam under title: South Vietnam text: South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, ), was a country that existed from 1955 to 1975 and comprised the southern half of what is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It received international recognition in 1949 as the "State of Vietnam" (a self-governing entity in the French Empire), which was a constitutional monarchy (1949–1955). This became the "Republic of Vietnam" in 1955. Its capital was Saigon. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, title: North Vietnam text: (Labor Party), gradually marginalizing non-communists in the Việt Minh. Between 1946 and 1954, the Việt Minh captured and controlled most of the rural areas of Vietnam. In 1954, after the French were defeated, the negotiation of the Geneva Accords ended the war between France and the Việt Minh and granted Vietnam independence. The Geneva Accords divided the country provisionally into northern and southern zones, and stipulated general elections in July 1956 to "bring about the unification of Viet-Nam". The northern zone was commonly called North Vietnam, and the southern zone was commonly called South Vietnam. Supervision of the implementation of title: Vietnam text: Vietnam and the kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam was further divided into North and South administrative regions at the Demilitarised Zone, approximately along the 17th parallel north, pending elections scheduled for July 1956. A 300-day period of free movement was permitted, during which almost a million northerners, mainly Catholics, moved south, fearing persecution by the communists. The partition of Vietnam was not intended to be permanent by the Geneva Accords, which stipulated that Vietnam would be reunited after elections in 1956. However, in 1955, the State of Vietnam's Prime Minister, Ngô Đình Diệm toppled Bảo Đại in a fraudulent