In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about Vietnam, such as Vietnam's economy, Vietnam's clothing, and so on. Today, the author will talk to you about the zoning of Vietnam. Vietnam has a population of more than 97 million people, and the country is divided into 5 municipalities and 58 provinces, which is nearly double that of the provincial divisions under the jurisdiction of China. In total, Vietnam administers more than 11,000 townships, and compared with Vietnam, there are only more than 2,400 townships in Henan Province. So why is this happening? Today, we're going to talk about that.
First, let's talk about the basic situation in Vietnam. Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country and a neighbor of our country, bordering Yunnan and Guangxi. The total population of Vietnam is more than 97 million, which is basically equivalent to the total population of Henan Province in China. Vietnam was once part of the Central Plains Dynasty and did not break free from the control of the Central Plains Dynasty until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Since then, Vietnam has been one of the vassal states of the Central Plains Dynasty. For example, the name of Vietnam was canonized by the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
Vietnam learned from various aspects of the Central Plains Dynasty, such as opera, costumes, culture, architectural styles, and so on. Through a series of old Vietnamese photos and videos, it is not difficult to see that Vietnam's taxes are very close to the Central Plains Dynasty. Vietnam's historical documents are basically written in Chinese characters, so that most Vietnamese students today can't understand them. In the ancient history of Vietnam, various ancient Chinese books were compulsory. Vietnam abolished the imperial examination system later than the Qing Dynasty.
Vietnam's territory is very narrow and long, and under the ancient level of transportation and communication, if only a few provinces are divided, it is very easy for warlords to divide the situation. In the history of Vietnam, there have been several north-south confrontations. In 1832, Vietnam divided the country into 1 directly subordinate province and 30 provinces. In this regard, Vietnam has gained the essence of the Central Plains Dynasty. At that time, as the suzerainty of Vietnam, the Qing Dynasty had only 18 provinces under its jurisdiction.
After 1840, the Western powers launched a series of wars against the Qing Dynasty, such as the Opium War. The Qing Dynasty was no longer able to maintain its own clan system, and the Western powers began to infect the various vassal states of the Qing Dynasty. Among them, France occupied Vietnam. Seriously, Vietnam was a barrier to the entire southwest of the Qing Dynasty, and its geographical location was crucial. In order to preserve Vietnam, the Qing Dynasty once mobilized troops to resist the French and aid Vietnam, and won the victory of Zhennanguan. However, due to various reasons, the Qing Dynasty had to give in, and Vietnam became a french colony.
After France took control of Vietnam, it began to transform in all aspects. Since France ruled Vietnam for decades, the influence of the French system on Vietnam was very large. During the French rule of Vietnam, in view of the characteristics of the shape of vietnam's territory, France divided Vietnam into 2 municipalities and 69 provinces, for a total of 71 provincial divisions. The total land area of Vietnam is only more than 330,000 square kilometers, so the provinces under the jurisdiction of Vietnam are not as large and populous as the prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty.
Fast forward to the second world war, and the speed of France is staggering. In 1940, France surrendered in defeat. Subsequently, Japan, Germany's eastern ally, seized the opportunity to occupy French colonies such as Vietnam. In 1945, after Japan's defeat and surrender, Vietnam planned to develop independently on its own. However, France planned to re-establish its colonial system in Southeast Asia, several negotiations between France and Vietnam broke down, and finally France mobilized troops to Vietnam, and Vietnam began a war of resistance against France.
In the 1950s, with the help of a series of allies, the Vietnamese army achieved a series of victories and seized the initiative in the war. For example, in the Great Victory of Dien Bien Phu, more than 10,000 French troops were annihilated. France's national strength was limited, and in the face of a long war, France was unable to sustain itself. After 1955, France began to withdraw its troops from Vietnam. However, only a few months after the French withdrawal, the United States intervened in Vietnam. At first, the United States mainly aided the South Vietnamese regime, because the South Vietnamese regime was really muddy.
Beginning in 1962, the United States had to personally go down and mobilize the army, navy and air force to participate in the war. The scale of the war is getting bigger and bigger, and the number of troops is also increasing. When the United States had the largest number of troops in Vietnam, it reached more than 510,000 people. The United States was mired in the quagmire of war, coupled with the overall economic downturn and global strategic needs, and in 1973, the United States withdrew its troops from Vietnam in a complete way. After the withdrawal of the United States troops, relying on the strength of the South Vietnamese regime, it simply could not last long. In 1975, Vietnam went south in a big way, completing the reunification of the country's north and south.
In 1975, Vietnam divided the country into 3 municipalities and 35 provinces. In 1978, Vietnam launched a new war, sending troops to occupy its western neighbor. It triggered a series of chain reactions. Vietnam is mired in a decade-long military standoff, and because the country remains on war readiness, economic development is simply impossible. Vietnam's national strength was limited and it was entirely dependent on Soviet aid. In 1986, the Soviet Union, for a number of reasons of its own, halted all aid to Vietnam.
In the same year, Vietnam had to promulgate the famous reform and opening up, and began to enter the track of attracting foreign investment and developing the economy. For reasons of economic development, Vietnam has continuously divided some provinces, and the number of municipalities directly under the central government has begun to increase. At present, Vietnam has formed 5 municipalities directly under the central government and 58 provinces, with a total of 61 provincial divisions. In terms of provincial-level divisions, it is almost twice as much as China's provincial-level divisions.
China's regional divisions are divided into four levels: provinces, cities (regions), counties (county-level cities), and townships. Since Vietnam's land area is not very large, the country is divided into 58 provinces. If we adopt a 4-level division according to our country, the whole country will not be enough to score points. Because, Vietnam has adopted a very special level 3 zoning. First of all, the country is divided into 5 municipalities directly under the central government and 58 provinces, and the population of each province does not exceed 2 million, which is not as good as the population of various prefecture-level cities in China.
Each province has a certain number of counties, counties, municipal communities, and provincial municipalities, and these four divisions belong to the same level of divisions, which are the second-level divisions of Vietnam. These 4 different divisions are very exquisite, and the main urban areas of Vietnam's 5 municipalities directly under the central government are divided into several counties, similar to the "districts" of various cities in China. "The outskirts of Vietnam's 5 major municipalities are known as municipal communities. The capital city of each province and the city with developed economy are called provincial cities. Other areas are called counties.
Vietnam's three-level division is divided into: Fang, She, and Municipality. Among them, the three-level zoning under the jurisdiction of the five municipalities directly under the central government is called Fang, which is roughly equivalent to the subdistrict offices under the jurisdiction of various districts in China. As for the communes and towns, they are ordinary rural areas or suburbs of ordinary cities, which are roughly equivalent to china's townships. Vietnam's level 3 division is very methodical, the disadvantage is that it is too complicated.
According to Vietnam's own statistics, there are more than 11,000 factories, communes and towns under the jurisdiction of Vietnam, and each tertiary division has only about a few thousand people. Compared with Vietnam, China's Henan Province has a total of more than 2,300 townships and streets under its jurisdiction. In this regard, Vietnam is more than 4 times the size of Henan Province. Due to the complexity, a series of place names often appear in vietnamese news reports.
There are many more stories about Vietnam, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.