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153-671: It was also known as the Palmenorden ("Palm Order") because its emblem was the then-exotic fruitbearing coconut palm . Caspar von Teutleben  [ de ] (1576–1629), Hofmarschall at the court in Weimar, was the founding father of the society. As a young man he had travelled Italy and got inspired by the Italian language academies. During the funeral celebrations of Duchess Dorothea Maria in August 1617 which were attended by several princes he took

306-430: A fiber , called coir , which has many traditional and commercial uses. Both the exocarp and the mesocarp make up the "husk" of the coconut, while the endocarp makes up the hard coconut "shell". The endocarp is around 4 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 8 inch) thick and has three distinctive germination pores ( micropyles ) on the distal end. Two of the pores are plugged (the "eyes"), while one is functional. The interior of

459-620: A plantation economy to promote export of tobacco , indigo , tea and coffee . However, they largely ignored the increasing demands for civil rights and self-government . An increasing dissatisfaction, even led to half-hearted, badly co-ordinated, and still worsely executed plots to oust the French, like the infamous Hanoi Poison Plot of 1908. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders like Phan Bội Châu , Phan Châu Trinh , Phan Đình Phùng , Emperor Hàm Nghi , and Hồ Chí Minh fighting or calling for independence. This resulted in

612-636: A unitary socialist state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1976. An ineffective planned economy , a trade embargo by the West , and wars with Cambodia and China crippled the country further. In 1986, the CPV initiated economic and political reforms similar to the Chinese economic reform , transforming the country to a socialist-oriented market economy . The reforms facilitated Vietnamese reintegration into

765-521: A chief justice, is the country's highest court of appeal , though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and many local courts . Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of state security . Vietnam maintains the death penalty for numerous offences. In 2023, a three-person collective leadership

918-709: A modern independent Vietnam. But the Provisional Government of the French Republic did not act on these requests, including the idea of independence, and dispatched the French Far East Expeditionary Corps to restore colonial rule. This resulted in the Việt Minh launching a guerrilla campaign against the French in late 1946. The resulting First Indochina War lasted until July 1954. The defeat of French colonialists and Vietnamese loyalists in

1071-515: A presence there after several violent encounters with the locals. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) only managed to establish official relations with Tonkin in the spring of 1637 after leaving Dejima in Japan to establish trade for silk . Meanwhile, in 1613, the first English attempt to establish contact with Hội An failed following a violent incident involving the East India Company . By 1672

1224-563: A provisional government, which asserted national independence on 2 September. In July 1945, the Allies had decided to divide Indochina at the 16th parallel to allow Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China to receive the Japanese surrender in the north while Britain's Lord Louis Mountbatten received their surrender in the south. The Allies agreed that Indochina still belonged to France. But as

1377-568: A rise in income inequality and gender disparities. In 2021, General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong , was re-elected for his third term in office, meaning he is Vietnam's most powerful leader in decades. Vietnam is located on the eastern Indochinese Peninsula between the latitudes 8° and 24°N , and the longitudes 102° and 110°E . It covers a total area of 331,210 km (127,881 sq mi) or 331,699 km (128,070 sq mi). The combined length of

1530-500: A shorter postharvest storage life of around two to three weeks at temperatures of 12 to 15 °C (54 to 59 °F) or up to 2 months at 0 to 1.5 °C (32.0 to 34.7 °F). In comparison, mature coconuts with the husk intact can be stored for three to five months at normal room temperature . Unlike some other plants, the palm tree has neither a taproot nor root hairs , but has a fibrous root system . The root system consists of an abundance of thin roots that grow outward from

1683-409: A single domesticated population. Philippine and Malayan dwarf coconuts diverged early into two distinct types. They usually remain genetically isolated when introduced to new regions, making it possible to trace their origins. Numerous other dwarf cultivars also developed as the initial dwarf cultivar was introduced to other regions and hybridized with various tall cultivars. The origin of dwarf varieties

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1836-642: A species that had started to be dispersed by humans and grown in plantations. Niu vai endocarp fragments have been recovered in archaeological sites in the St. Matthias Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago . The fragments are dated to approximately 1000 BCE, suggesting that cultivation and artificial selection of coconuts were already practiced by the Austronesian Lapita people . Coconuts can also be broadly divided into two general types based on habit:

1989-691: A thinner husk and a larger amount of endosperm. Domesticated coconuts also contain more coconut water . These two forms are referred to by the Samoan terms niu kafa for the elongated wild coconuts, and niu vai for the rounded domesticated Pacific coconuts. A full-sized coconut fruit weighs about 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds 1 ounce). Coconuts sold domestically in coconut-producing countries are typically not de-husked. Especially immature coconuts (6 to 8 months from flowering) are sold for coconut water and softer jelly-like coconut meat (known as "green coconuts", "young coconuts", or "water coconuts"), where

2142-672: A variety of products for furnishing and decoration. The coconut has cultural and religious significance in certain societies, particularly in the Austronesian cultures of the Western Pacific where it is featured in their mythologies, songs, and oral traditions. The fall of its mature fruit has led to a preoccupation with death by coconut . It also had ceremonial importance in pre-colonial animistic religions. It has also acquired religious significance in South Asian cultures, where it

2295-425: Is Southeast Asia , which contain the tall cultivars that are genetically closest to dwarf coconuts. Sequencing of the genome of the tall and dwarf varieties revealed that they diverged 2 to 8 million years ago and that the dwarf variety arose through alterations in genes involved in the metabolism of the plant hormone gibberellin . Another ancestral variety is the niu leka of Polynesia (sometimes called

2448-489: Is a low-level plain no more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) above sea level at any point. It is criss-crossed by a maze of rivers and canals, which carry so much sediment that the delta advances 60 to 80 metres (196.9 to 262.5 ft) into the sea every year. The exclusive economic zone of Vietnam covers 417,663 km (161,261 sq mi) in the South China Sea . Southern Vietnam is divided into coastal lowlands,

2601-499: Is also cited as evidence that the plant originated in the region. For example, the Polynesian and Melanesian term niu ; Tagalog and Chamorro term niyog ; and the Malay word nyiur or nyior . Other evidence for a Central Indo-Pacific origin is the native range of the coconut crab ; and the higher amounts of C. nucifera -specific insect pests in the region (90%) in comparison to

2754-555: Is also often stated that coconuts can travel 110 days, or 5,000 km (3,000 mi), by sea and still be able to germinate. This figure has been questioned based on the extremely small sample size that forms the basis of the paper that makes this claim. Thor Heyerdahl provides an alternative, and much shorter, estimate based on his first-hand experience crossing the Pacific Ocean on the raft Kon-Tiki : The nuts we had in baskets on deck remained edible and capable of germinating

2907-421: Is consistently warm and humid. Coconut palms require warm conditions for successful growth, and are intolerant of cold weather. Some seasonal variation is tolerated, with good growth where mean summer temperatures are between 28 and 37 °C (82 and 99 °F), and survival as long as winter temperatures are above 4–12 °C (39–54 °F); they will survive brief drops to 0 °C (32 °F). Severe frost

3060-609: Is further strengthened by other similar botanical evidence of contact, like the pre-colonial presence of sweet potato in Oceanian cultures. During the colonial era , Pacific coconuts were further introduced to Mexico from the Spanish East Indies via the Manila galleons . In contrast to the Pacific coconuts, Indo-Atlantic coconuts were largely spread by Arab and Persian traders into

3213-612: Is highly tolerant of salinity . It prefers areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall (1,500–2,500 mm [59–98 in] annually), which makes colonizing shorelines of the tropics relatively straightforward. Coconuts also need high humidity (at least 70–80%) for optimum growth, which is why they are rarely seen in areas with low humidity. However, they can be found in humid areas with low annual precipitation such as in Karachi , Pakistan , which receives only about 250 mm ( 9 + 3 ⁄ 4  in) of rainfall per year, but

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3366-581: Is more typical. Plants are intolerant to cold and prefer copious precipitation and full sunlight. Many insect pests and diseases affect the species and are a nuisance for commercial production. In 2022, about 73% of the world's supply of coconuts was produced by Indonesia , India , and the Philippines . Cocos nucifera is a large palm, growing up to 30 metres (100 feet) tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m (13–20 ft) long, and pinnae 60–90 centimetres (2–3 ft) long; old leaves break away cleanly, leaving

3519-461: Is not thought to be indigenous to South America, and the highest genetic diversity is present in Asian Cocos , indicating that at least the modern species Cocos nucifera is native to there . In addition, fossils of potential Cocos ancestors have been recovered from both Colombia and India. In order to resolve this enigma, a 2014 study proposed that the ancestors of Cocos had likely originated on

3672-512: Is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, with 55% of its population living in low-elevation coastal areas. As the country is located within the Indomalayan realm , Vietnam is one of twenty-five countries considered to possess a uniquely high level of biodiversity . This was noted in the country's National Environmental Condition Report in 2005. It is ranked 16th worldwide in biological diversity, being home to approximately 16% of

3825-674: Is the Pacific coconut from the Philippines. This, together with their use of the South American sweet potato , suggests that Austronesian peoples may have sailed as far east as the Americas. In the Hawaiian Islands , the coconut is regarded as a Polynesian introduction , first brought to the islands by early Polynesian voyagers (also Austronesians) from their homelands in the southern islands of Polynesia. Specimens have been collected from

3978-512: Is the legacy of the use of the chemical herbicide Agent Orange , which continues to cause birth defects and many health problems in the Vietnamese population. In the southern and central areas affected most by the chemical's use during the Vietnam War, nearly 4.8 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to it and suffered from its effects. In 2012, approximately 50 years after the war,

4131-751: Is used in rituals of Hinduism . It forms the basis of wedding and worship rituals in Hinduism. It also plays a central role in the Coconut Religion founded in 1963 in Vietnam . Coconuts were first domesticated by the Austronesian peoples in Island Southeast Asia and were spread during the Neolithic via their seaborne migrations as far east as the Pacific Islands , and as far west as Madagascar and

4284-459: Is usually fatal, although they have been known to recover from temperatures of −4 °C (25 °F). Due to this, there are not many coconut palms in California . They may grow but not fruit properly in areas with insufficient warmth or sunlight, such as Bermuda . The conditions required for coconut trees to grow without any care are: The main limiting factor for most locations which satisfy

4437-598: The Americas during the colonial era in the Columbian exchange , but there is evidence of a possible pre-Columbian introduction of Pacific coconuts to Panama by Austronesian sailors. The evolutionary origin of the coconut is under dispute, with theories stating that it may have evolved in Asia , South America, or Pacific islands. Trees can grow up to 30 metres (100 feet) tall and can yield up to 75 fruits per year, though fewer than 30

4590-667: The Caribbean coast of what is now Colombia, and during the Eocene the ancestral Cocos performed a long-distance dispersal across the Atlantic Ocean to North Africa . From here, island-hopping via coral atolls lining the Tethys Sea , potentially boosted by ocean currents at the time, would have proved crucial to dispersal, eventually allowing ancestral coconuts to reach India. The study contended that an adaptation to coral atolls would explain

4743-648: The Comoros . They played a critical role in the long sea voyages of Austronesians by providing a portable source of food and water, as well as providing building materials for Austronesian outrigger boats . Coconuts were also later spread in historic times along the coasts of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans by South Asian , Arab , and European sailors. Based on these separate introductions, coconut populations can still be divided into Pacific coconuts and Indo-Atlantic coconuts, respectively. Coconuts were introduced by Europeans to

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4896-530: The Demilitarised Zone , roughly 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. This migration was in large part aided by the United States military through Operation Passage to Freedom . The partition of Vietnam by

5049-512: The East African coast. Indo-Atlantic coconuts were also introduced into the Atlantic Ocean by Portuguese ships from their colonies in coastal India and Sri Lanka ; first introduced to coastal West Africa , then onwards into the Caribbean and the east coast of Brazil . All of these introductions are within the last few centuries, relatively recent in comparison to the spread of Pacific coconuts. The coconut palm thrives on sandy soils and

5202-730: The First Indochina War , from which Vietnam emerged victorious in 1954. As a result of the treaties signed between the Viet Minh and France, Vietnam was also separated into two parts. The Vietnam War began shortly after, between the communist North Vietnam , supported by the Soviet Union and China , and the anti-communist South Vietnam , supported by the United States . Upon the North Vietnamese victory in 1975, Vietnam reunified as

5355-634: The Gulf of Thailand , and the Philippines , Indonesia , and Malaysia through the South China Sea . Its capital is Hanoi and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon). Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam . The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam, which were subsequently under Chinese rule from 111 BC until

5508-524: The Holocene . But research on them is still ongoing to determine their phylogenetic affinities. Endt & Hayward (1997) have noted their resemblance to members of the South American genus Parajubaea , rather than Cocos , and propose a South American origin. Conran et al. (2015), however, suggests that their diversity in New Zealand indicate that they evolved endemically, rather than being introduced to

5661-506: The Indian Ocean basin, resulting in limited admixture with Pacific coconuts introduced earlier to Madagascar and the Comoros via the ancient Austronesian maritime trade network . Coconuts can be broadly divided into two fruit types – the ancestral niu kafa form with a thick-husked, angular fruit, and the niu vai form with a thin-husked, spherical fruit with a higher proportion of endosperm . The terms are derived from

5814-594: The Khmer Rouge government of Cambodia ordering massacres of Vietnamese residents in the border villages in the districts of An Giang and Kiên Giang , the Vietnamese military invaded Cambodia and removed them from power after occupying Phnom Penh . The intervention was a success, resulting in the establishment of a new, pro-Vietnam socialist government, the People's Republic of Kampuchea , which ruled until 1989. However, this worsened relations with China, which had supported

5967-560: The Khúc family . In AD 938, the Vietnamese lord Ngô Quyền defeated the forces of the Chinese Southern Han state at Bạch Đằng River and achieved full independence for Vietnam in 939 after a millennium of Chinese domination. By the 960s, the dynastic Đại Việt ( Great Viet ) kingdom was established, Vietnamese society enjoyed a golden era under the Lý and Trần dynasties. During the rule of

6120-733: The Late Pleistocene have been found at Dong Can, and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. Areas comprising what is now Vietnam participated in the Maritime Jade Road , as ascertained by archeological research. By about 1,000 BC, the development of wet- rice cultivation in the Ma River and Red River floodplains led to the flourishing of Đông Sơn culture , notable for its bronze casting used to make elaborate bronze Đông Sơn drums . At this point,

6273-546: The Maastrichtian – Danian of the early Tertiary (70 to 62 million years ago). C. binoriensis has been claimed by their authors to be the earliest known fossil of Cocos nucifera . Outside of New Zealand and India, only two other regions have reported Cocos -like fossils, namely Australia and Colombia . In Australia, a Cocos -like fossil fruit, measuring 10 cm × 9.5 cm ( 3 + 7 ⁄ 8  in ×  3 + 3 ⁄ 4  in), were recovered from

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6426-455: The Maypan , King , and Macapuno . These vary by the taste of the coconut water and color of the fruit, as well as other genetic factors. Botanically , the coconut fruit is a drupe , not a true nut . Like other fruits, it has three layers : the exocarp , mesocarp , and endocarp . The exocarp is the glossy outer skin, usually yellow-green to yellow-brown in color. The mesocarp is composed of

6579-702: The Nguyễn dynasty , ruling under the name Gia Long . In the 1500s, the Portuguese explored the Vietnamese coast and reportedly erected a stele on the Chàm Islands to mark their presence. By 1533, they began landing in the Vietnamese delta but were forced to leave because of local turmoil and fighting. They also had less interest in the territory than they did in China and Japan. After they had settled in Macau and Nagasaki to begin

6732-614: The Nguyễn dynasty . In the second year of his rule, he asked the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty to confer on him the title 'King of Nam Việt / Nanyue' ( 南越 in Chinese character) after seizing power in Annam. The Emperor refused because the name was related to Zhao Tuo 's Nanyue, which included the regions of Guangxi and Guangdong in southern China. The Qing Emperor, therefore, decided to call

6885-564: The Pacific Region . Konan et al. , 2007 explains much resistance with a few alleles at a few microsatellites . They find that ' Vanuatu Tall ' and ' Sri-Lanka Green Dwarf ' are the most resistant while ' West African Tall ' breeds are especially susceptible. Vietnam in ASEAN  (dark grey) Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is a country at

7038-574: The Republic of Vietnam in the south—supported by the United States, France, Laos , Republic of China and Thailand—and Hồ's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north, supported by the Soviet Union, Sweden, Khmer Rouge , and the People's Republic of China . From 1953 to 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted agrarian reforms including " rent reduction " and " land reform ", which resulted in significant political repression . This included 13,500 to as many as 100,000 executions. In

7191-410: The Samoan language and was adopted into scientific usage by Harries (1978). The niu kafa form is the wild ancestral type, with thick husks to protect the seed, an angular, highly ridged shape to promote buoyancy during ocean dispersal, and a pointed base that allowed fruits to dig into the sand, preventing them from being washed away during germination on a new island. It is the dominant form in

7344-582: The United Nations Security Council twice. The name Việt Nam ( pronounced [viə̂tˀ nāːm] , chữ Hán : 越南 ), literally "Viet South", means "Viet of the South" per Vietnamese word order or "South of the Viet" per Classical Chinese word order. A variation of the name, Nanyue (or Nam Việt, 南越 ), was first documented in the 2nd century BC. The term " Việt " (Yue) ( Chinese : 越 ; pinyin : Yuè ; Cantonese Yale : Yuht ; Wade–Giles : Yüeh ; Vietnamese : Việt ) in Early Middle Chinese

7497-399: The Vietnamese Fatherland Front and worker and trade unionist parties. The National Assembly of Vietnam is the unicameral state legislature composed of 500 members. Headed by a chairman , it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly. The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam , headed by

7650-465: The collapse of Diệm's relationship with the United States , and ultimately to a 1963 coup in which he and Nhu were assassinated . The Diệm era was followed by more than a dozen successive military governments, before the pairing of Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ and General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu took control in mid-1965. Thiệu gradually outmaneuvered Kỳ and cemented his grip on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971. During this political instability,

7803-460: The constitution , the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) asserts their role in all branches of the country's politics and society. The president is the elected head of state and the commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the chairman of the Council of Supreme Defence and Security, and holds the second highest office in Vietnam as well as performing executive functions and state appointments and setting policy. The general secretary of

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7956-430: The first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism , and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta , conquering Champa . During most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was effectively divided into two domains of Đàng Trong and Đàng Ngoài . The Nguyễn —the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. In 1887, its territory

8109-405: The global economy and politics . Vietnam is a developing country with a lower-middle-income economy. It has high levels of corruption , censorship , environmental issues and a poor human rights record . It is part of international and intergovernmental institutions including the ASEAN , the APEC , the CPTPP , the Non-Aligned Movement , the OIF , and the WTO . It has assumed a seat on

8262-651: The ground water in the Mekong and Red River Deltas has also become a major concern. And most notoriously, unexploded ordnances (UXO) pose dangers to humans and wildlife—another bitter legacy from the long wars. As part of the continuous campaign to demine /remove UXOs, several international bomb removal agencies from the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Korea and the US have been providing assistance. The Vietnam government spends over VNĐ1 trillion ($ 44 million) annually on demining operations and additional hundreds of billions of đồng for treatment, assistance, rehabilitation, vocational training and resettlement of

8415-479: The palm tree family ( Arecaceae ) and the only living species of the genus Cocos . The term " coconut " (or the archaic " cocoanut ") can refer to the whole coconut palm , the seed , or the fruit , which botanically is a drupe , not a nut . They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics . The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of

8568-583: The saola , giant muntjac and Tonkin snub-nosed monkey have also been discovered, along with one new bird species, the endangered Edwards's pheasant . In the late 1980s, a small population of Javan rhinoceros was found in Cát Tiên National Park. However, the last individual of the species in Vietnam was reportedly shot in 2010. In agricultural genetic diversity , Vietnam is one of the world's twelve original cultivar centres. The Vietnam National Cultivar Gene Bank preserves 12,300 cultivars of 115 species. The Vietnamese government spent US$ 49.07 million on

8721-439: The siege of Tourane in 1858, France was aided by Spain (with Filipino, Latin American , and Spanish troops from the Philippines ) and perhaps some Tonkinese Catholics. After the 1862 Treaty , and especially after France completely conquered Lower Cochinchina in 1867, the Văn Thân movement of scholar-gentry class arose and committed violence against Catholics across central and northern Vietnam. Between 1862 and 1867,

8874-572: The trunk smooth. On fertile soil, a tall coconut palm tree can yield up to 75 fruits per year, but more often yields less than 30. Given proper care and growing conditions, coconut palms produce their first fruit in six to ten years, taking 15 to 20 years to reach peak production. True-to-type dwarf varieties of Pacific coconuts have been cultivated by the Austronesian peoples since ancient times. These varieties were selected for slower growth, sweeter coconut water, and often brightly colored fruits. Many modern varieties are also grown, including

9027-418: The "Compact Dwarfs"). Although it shares similar characteristics to dwarf coconuts (including slow growth), it is genetically distinct and is thus believed to be independently domesticated, likely in Tonga . Other cultivars of niu leka may also exist in other islands of the Pacific, and some are probably descendants of advanced crosses between Compact Dwarfs and Southeast Asian Dwarf types. Coconut fruit in

9180-751: The "Tall" (var. typica ) and "Dwarf" (var. nana ) varieties. The two groups are genetically distinct, with the dwarf variety showing a greater degree of artificial selection for ornamental traits and for early germination and fruiting. The tall variety is outcrossing while dwarf palms are self-pollinating , which has led to a much greater degree of genetic diversity within the tall group. The dwarf coconut cultivars are fully domesticated, in contrast to tall cultivars which display greater diversity in terms of domestication (and lack thereof). The fact that all dwarf coconuts share three genetic markers out of thirteen (which are only present at low frequencies in tall cultivars) makes it likely that they all originate from

9333-479: The 17th century use the name as well. He consulted the catalogue Herbarium Amboinense by Georg Eberhard Rumphius where Rumphius said that coccus was a homonym of coccum and coccus from Greek κόκκος kokkos meaning "grain" or "berry", but Romans identified coccus with " kermes insects "; Rumphius preferred the word cocus as a replacement. However, the word cocus could also mean "cook" like coquus in Latin, so Linnaeus chose Cocos directly from

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9486-445: The 1930 Yên Bái mutiny by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (VNQDĐ), which the French quashed. The mutiny split the independence movement, as many leading members converted to communism . The French maintained full control of their colonies until World War II, when the war in the Pacific led to the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in 1940. Afterwards, the Japanese Empire was allowed to station its troops in Vietnam while

9639-410: The 1954 battle of Điện Biên Phủ allowed Hồ to negotiate a ceasefire from a favourable position at the subsequent Geneva Conference . The colonial administration was thereby ended and French Indochina was dissolved under the Geneva Accords of 21 July 1954 into three countries—Vietnam, and the kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos . Vietnam was further divided into North and South administrative regions at

9792-600: The 7th and 4th centuries BC, 'Yue'/'Việt' referred to the State of Yue in the lower Yangtze basin and its people. From the 3rd century BC, the term was used for the non-Chinese populations of southern China and northern Vietnam, with particular ethnic groups called Minyue , Ouyue , Luoyue (Vietnamese: Lạc Việt ), etc., collectively called the Baiyue (Bách Việt, Chinese : 百越 ; pinyin : Bǎiyuè ; Cantonese Yale : Baak Yuet ; Vietnamese : Bách Việt ; lit. 'Hundred Yue/Viet'). The term 'Baiyue'/'Bách Việt' first appeared in

9945-453: The Americas (20%), and Africa (4%). A study in 2011 identified two highly genetically differentiated subpopulations of coconuts, one originating from Island Southeast Asia (the Pacific group) and the other from the southern margins of the Indian subcontinent (the Indo-Atlantic group). The Pacific group is the only one to display clear genetic and phenotypic indications that they were domesticated; including dwarf habit, self-pollination, and

10098-421: The Americas. They are now almost ubiquitous between 26° N and 26° S except for the interiors of Africa and South America. The 2014 coral atoll origin hypothesis proposed that the coconut had dispersed in an island hopping fashion using the small, sometimes transient, coral atolls. It noted that by using these small atolls, the species could easily island-hop. Over the course of evolutionary time-scales

10251-408: The CPV performs numerous key administrative functions, controlling the party's national organisation. The prime minister is the head of government , presiding over a council of ministers composed of five deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions. Only political organisations affiliated with or endorsed by the CPV are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. These include

10404-438: The Chinchilla Sand Formation dated to the latest Pliocene or basal Pleistocene . Rigby (1995) assigned them to modern Cocos nucifera based on its size. In Colombia, a single Cocos -like fruit was recovered from the middle to late Paleocene Cerrejón Formation . The fruit, however, was compacted in the fossilization process and it was not possible to determine if it had the diagnostic three pores that characterize members of

10557-405: The Chinese coast and across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture. The average annual temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains, especially in southern Vietnam compared to the north. Temperatures vary less in the southern plains around Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, ranging from between 21 and 35 °C (70 and 95 °F) over the year. In Hanoi and

10710-446: The Chinese-supported Mạc dynasty challenged the Lê dynasty's power. After the Mạc dynasty was defeated, the Lê dynasty was nominally reinstalled. Actual power, however, was divided between the northern Trịnh lords and the southern Nguyễn lords , who engaged in a civil war for more than four decades before a truce was called in the 1670s. Vietnam was divided into North (Trịnh) and South (Nguyễn) from 1600 to 1777. During this period,

10863-459: The English did establish relations with Tonkin and were allowed to reside in Phố Hiến . Between 1615 and 1753, French traders also engaged in trade in Vietnam. The first French missionaries arrived in 1658, under the Portuguese Padroado . From its foundation, the Paris Foreign Missions Society under Propaganda Fide actively sent missionaries to Vietnam, entering Cochinchina first in 1664 and Tonkin first in 1666. Spanish Dominicans joined

11016-541: The French were weakened by the German occupation , British-Indian forces and the remaining Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group were used to maintain order and help France reestablish control through the 1945–1946 War in Vietnam . Hồ initially chose to take a moderate stance to avoid military conflict with France, asking the French to withdraw their colonial administrators and for French professors and engineers to help build

11169-486: The Geneva Accords was not intended to be permanent, and stipulated that Vietnam would be reunited after the elections. But in 1955, the southern State of Vietnam's prime minister, Ngô Đình Diệm , toppled Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum organised by his brother Ngô Đình Nhu , and proclaimed himself president of the Republic of Vietnam . This effectively replaced the internationally recognised State of Vietnam by

11322-728: The Indo-Atlantic coconuts. However, they may have also been partially selected for thicker husks for coir production, which was also important in Austronesian material culture as a source for cordage in building houses and boats. The niu vai form is the domesticated form dominant in Pacific coconuts. They were selected for by the Austronesian peoples for their larger endosperm-to-husk ratio as well as higher coconut water content, making them more useful as food and water reserves for sea voyages. The decreased buoyancy and increased fragility of this spherical, thin-husked fruit would not matter for

11475-636: The Khmer Rouge. China later launched a brief incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979, causing Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid, while mistrust of the Chinese government escalated. At the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in December 1986, reformist politicians replaced the "old guard" government with new leadership. The reformers were led by 71-year-old Nguyễn Văn Linh , who became

11628-549: The Lê dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of emperor Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497). Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese polity expanded southward in a gradual process known as Nam tiến ("Southward expansion"), eventually conquering the kingdom of Champa and part of the Khmer Kingdom . From the 16th century onward, civil strife and frequent political infighting engulfed much of Đại Việt. First,

11781-773: The Nguyễn expanded southern Vietnam into the Mekong Delta , annexing the Central Highlands and the Khmer lands in the Mekong Delta. The division of the country ended a century later when the Tây Sơn brothers helped Trịnh to end Nguyễn, they also established new dynasty and ended Trịnh. However, their rule did not last long, and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguyễn lords, led by Nguyễn Ánh . Nguyễn Ánh unified Vietnam, and established

11934-445: The Pacific Ocean and that they could not have dispersed worldwide without human agency. More recently, genomic analysis of cultivated coconut ( C. nucifera L.) has shed light on the movement. However, admixture , the transfer of genetic material, evidently occurred between the two populations. Given that coconuts are ideally suited for inter-island group ocean dispersal, obviously some natural distribution did take place. However,

12087-537: The Pacific unaided. If they were naturally distributed and had been in the Pacific for a thousand years or so, then we would expect the eastern shore of Australia, with its own islands sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef , to have been thick with coconut palms: the currents were directly into, and down along this coast. However, both James Cook and William Bligh (put adrift after the Bounty mutiny ) found no sign of

12240-566: The Palm Order, Der Teutsche Palmbaum , was written by Carl Gustav von Hille and published in Nuremberg in 1647. The society had 890 members. Of these, the below list only includes those that have articles on the English Misplaced Pages. For a complete list, including their fruitbearing names, see this German article . Coconut palm The coconut tree ( Cocos nucifera ) is a member of

12393-585: The Portuguese word coco instead. The specific name nucifera is derived from the Latin words nux (nut) and fera (bearing), for 'nut-bearing'. Coconuts have a nearly cosmopolitan distribution due to human cultivation and dispersal. However, their original distribution was in the Central Indo-Pacific , in the regions of Maritime Southeast Asia and Melanesia . Modern genetic studies have identified

12546-478: The Red River Delta, Mekong Delta, Western Nghệ An , Cà Mau , and Cu Lao Cham Marine Park . Vietnam is also home to 1,438 species of freshwater microalgae , constituting 9.6% of all microalgae species, as well as 794 aquatic invertebrates and 2,458 species of sea fish. In recent years, 13 genera , 222 species, and 30 taxa of flora have been newly described in Vietnam. Six new mammal species, including

12699-482: The South, Diệm countered North Vietnamese subversion (including the assassination of over 450 South Vietnamese officials in 1956) by detaining tens of thousands of suspected communists in "political reeducation centres". This program incarcerated many non-communists, but was successful at curtailing communist activity in the country, if only for a time. The North Vietnamese government claimed that 2,148 people were killed in

12852-567: The Soviet Union provided North Vietnam with significant material aid and 15,000 combat advisers. Communist forces supplying the Việt Cộng carried supplies along the Hồ Chí Minh trail , which passed through Laos . The communists attacked South Vietnamese targets during the 1968 Tết Offensive . The campaign failed militarily, but shocked the American establishment and turned US public opinion against

13005-607: The Taiwanese Austronesian languages makes it likely that the Austronesian coconut culture developed only after Austronesians started colonizing the Philippine islands . The importance of the coconut in Austronesian cultures is evidenced by shared terminology of even very specific parts and uses of coconuts, which were carried outwards from the Philippines during the Austronesian migrations. Indo-Atlantic type coconuts were also later spread by Arab and South Asian traders along

13158-575: The Tonkin mission in 1676, and Franciscans were in Cochinchina from 1719 to 1834. The Vietnamese authorities began to feel threatened by continuous Christianisation activities. After several Catholic missionaries were detained, the French Navy intervened in 1843 to free them, as the kingdom was perceived as xenophobic . In a series of conquests from 1859 to 1885, France eroded Vietnam's sovereignty. At

13311-653: The Trần dynasty, Đại Việt repelled three Mongol invasions . Meanwhile, the Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism flourished and became the state religion. Following the 1406–7 Ming–Hồ War , which overthrew the Hồ dynasty , Vietnamese independence was interrupted briefly by the Chinese Ming dynasty , but was restored by Lê Lợi , the founder of the Lê dynasty . The Vietnamese polity reached their zenith in

13464-479: The US began a US$ 43 million joint clean-up project in the former chemical storage areas in Vietnam to take place in stages. Following the completion of the first phase in Đà Nẵng in late 2017, the US announced its commitment to clean other sites, especially in the heavily impacted site of Biên Hòa . The Vietnamese government spends over VNĐ 10 trillion each year ($ 431.1 million) for monthly allowances and

13617-417: The US or the defunct South Vietnamese government, confounding Western fears, but up to 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to reeducation camps , where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labour. The government embarked on a mass campaign of collectivisation of farms and factories. Many fled the country following the conclusion of the war. In 1978, in response to

13770-518: The Vietnamese revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh . The Việt Minh sought independence for Vietnam from France and the end of the Japanese occupation . After the military defeat of Japan in World War II and the fall of its puppet government Empire of Vietnam in August 1945, Saigon's administrative services collapsed and chaos, riots, and murder were widespread. The Việt Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed

13923-399: The ancestral traits of tall habits and elongated triangular fruits. The coconut played a critical role in the migrations of the Austronesian peoples. They provided a portable source of both food and water, allowing Austronesians to survive long sea voyages to colonize new islands as well as establish long-range trade routes. Based on linguistic evidence, the absence of words for coconut in

14076-646: The area "Việt Nam" instead, meaning "South of the Viet" per Classical Chinese word order but the Vietnamese understood it as "Viet of the South" per Vietnamese word order. Between 1804 and 1813, the name Vietnam was used officially by Emperor Gia Long. It was revived in the early 20th century in Phan Bội Châu 's History of the Loss of Vietnam , and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (VNQDĐ). The country

14229-591: The book Lüshi Chunqiu compiled around 239 BC. By the 17th and 18th centuries AD, educated Vietnamese apparently referred to themselves as người Việt (Viet people) or người Nam (southern people). The form Việt Nam ( 越南 ) is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình . The name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Hải Phòng that dates to 1558. In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (who later became Emperor Gia Long) established

14382-414: The center of origin of coconuts as being the Central Indo-Pacific , the region between western Southeast Asia and Melanesia , where it shows greatest genetic diversity. Their cultivation and spread was closely tied to the early migrations of the Austronesian peoples who carried coconuts as canoe plants to the islands they settled. The similarities of the local names in the Austronesian region

14535-505: The coconut shell that resemble facial features. Coco and coconut apparently came from 1521 encounters by Portuguese and Spanish explorers with Pacific Islanders , with the coconut shell reminding them of a ghost or witch in Portuguese folklore called coco (also côca ). In the West it was originally called nux indica , a name used by Marco Polo in 1280 while in Sumatra . He took

14688-490: The coconuts in the Americas are genetically closest related to the coconuts in the Philippines , and not to any other nearby coconut populations (including Polynesia ). Such an origin indicates that the coconuts were not introduced naturally, such as by sea currents. The researchers concluded that it was brought by early Austronesian sailors to the Americas from at least 2,250 BP, and may be proof of pre-Columbian contact between Austronesian cultures and South American cultures. It

14841-534: The colony's capital. During the colonial period, guerrillas of the royalist Cần Vương movement rebelled against French rule and massacred around a third of Vietnam's Christian population. After a decade of resistance, they were defeated in the 1890s by the Catholics in reprisal for their earlier massacres. Another large-scale rebellion, the Thái Nguyên uprising , was also suppressed heavily. The French developed

14994-436: The communists began to gain ground. To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the United States used the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident as a pretext for increasing its contribution of military advisers. US forces became involved in ground combat operations by 1965, and at their peak several years later, numbered more than 500,000. The US also engaged in sustained aerial bombing . Meanwhile, China and

15147-449: The country consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. Fansipan (also known as Phan Xi Păng), which is located in Lào Cai province , is the highest mountain in Vietnam, standing 3,143 m (10,312 ft) high. From north to south Vietnam, the country also has numerous islands ; Phú Quốc is the largest. The Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave is considered the largest known cave passage in

15300-538: The country's land area, and tropical forests cover around 42%. The Red River Delta in the north, a flat, roughly triangular region covering 15,000 km (5,792 sq mi), is smaller but more intensely developed and more densely populated than the Mekong River Delta in the south. Once an inlet of the Gulf of Tonkin , it has been filled in over the millennia by riverine alluvial deposits . The delta, covering about 40,000 km (15,444 sq mi),

15453-441: The country's land boundaries is 4,639 km (2,883 mi), and its coastline is 3,444 km (2,140 mi) long. At its narrowest point in the central Quảng Bình province , the country is as little as 50 kilometres (31 mi) across, though it widens to around 600 kilometres (370 mi) in the north. Vietnam's land is mostly hilly and densely forested, with level land covering no more than 20%. Mountains account for 40% of

15606-480: The early Vietnamese kingdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc appeared, and the culture's influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia , including Maritime Southeast Asia , throughout the first millennium BC. According to Vietnamese legends, Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings first established in 2879 BC is considered the first state in the history of Vietnam (then known as Xích Quỷ and later Văn Lang ). In 257 BC,

15759-563: The early domestication of Pacific coconuts by the Austronesian peoples in maritime Southeast Asia during the Austronesian expansion (c. 3000 to 1500 BCE). Although archaeological remains dating to 1000 to 500 BCE also suggest that the Indo-Atlantic coconuts were also later independently cultivated by the Dravidian peoples , only Pacific coconuts show clear signs of domestication traits like dwarf habits, self-pollination, and rounded fruits. Indo-Atlantic coconuts, in contrast, all have

15912-483: The eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia , with an area of about 331,000 square kilometres (128,000 sq mi) and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous country . One of the two Marxist–Leninist states in Southeast Asia, Vietnam shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through

16065-404: The edible solid endosperm (the "coconut meat" or "coconut flesh") which hardens over time. The small cylindrical embryo is embedded in the solid endosperm directly below the functional pore of the endosperm. During germination, the embryo pushes out of the functional pore and forms a haustorium (the coconut sprout ) inside the central cavity. The haustorium absorbs the solid endosperm to nourish

16218-461: The end of the war. It started by replanting mangrove forests in the Mekong Delta regions and in Cần Giờ outside Hồ Chí Minh City, where mangroves are important to ease (though not eliminate) flood conditions during monsoon seasons. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.35/10, ranking it 104th globally out of 172 countries. Apart from herbicide problems, arsenic in

16371-412: The endocarp is hollow and is lined with a thin brown seed coat around 0.2 mm ( 1 ⁄ 64  in) thick. The endocarp is initially filled with a multinucleate liquid endosperm (the coconut water ). As development continues, cellular layers of endosperm deposit along the walls of the endocarp up to 11 mm ( 3 ⁄ 8  in) thick, starting at the distal end. They eventually form

16524-402: The far northern mountains near the Chinese border. Vietnam receives high rates of precipitation in the form of rainfall with an average amount from 1,500 to 2,000 mm (60 to 80 in) during the monsoon seasons; this often causes flooding, especially in the cities with poor drainage systems. The country is also affected by tropical depressions , tropical storms and typhoons . Vietnam

16677-460: The flesh, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the fibrous husk . Dried coconut flesh is called copra , and the oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking – frying in particular – as well as in soaps and cosmetics . Sweet coconut sap can be made into drinks or fermented into palm wine or coconut vinegar . The hard shells, fibrous husks and long pinnate leaves can be used as material to make

16830-654: The islands by long-distance dispersal. In west-central India, numerous fossils of Cocos -like fruits, leaves, and stems have been recovered from the Deccan Traps . They include morphotaxa like Palmoxylon sundaran , Palmoxylon insignae , and Palmocarpon cocoides . Cocos -like fossils of fruits include Cocos intertrappeansis , Cocos pantii , and Cocos sahnii . They also include fossil fruits that have been tentatively identified as modern Cocos nucifera . These include two specimens named Cocos palaeonucifera and Cocos binoriensis , both dated by their authors to

16983-572: The last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán. He consolidated the Lạc Việt and Âu Việt tribes to form the Âu Lạc , proclaiming himself An Dương Vương . In 179 BC, a Chinese general named Zhao Tuo ("Triệu Đà") defeated An Dương Vương and consolidated Âu Lạc into Nanyue . However, Nanyue was itself incorporated into the empire of the Chinese Han dynasty in 111 BC after the Han–Nanyue War . For

17136-502: The locations of the admixture events are limited to Madagascar and coastal east Africa, and exclude the Seychelles . This pattern coincides with the known trade routes of Austronesian sailors. Additionally, a genetically distinct subpopulation of coconut on the Pacific coast of Latin America has undergone a genetic bottleneck resulting from a founder effect ; however, its ancestral population

17289-407: The mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics . Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of an almost clear liquid, called " coconut water " or "coconut juice". Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for oil and plant milk from

17442-462: The mountains of the Annamite Range , and extensive forests. Comprising five relatively flat plateaus of basalt soil, the highlands account for 16% of the country's arable land and 22% of its total forested land. The soil in much of the southern part of Vietnam is relatively low in nutrients as a result of intense cultivation. Several minor earthquakes have been recorded. The northern part of

17595-536: The next thousand years, what is now northern Vietnam remained mostly under Chinese rule . Early independence movements, such as those of the Trưng Sisters and Lady Triệu , were temporarily successful, though the region gained a longer period of independence as Vạn Xuân under the Anterior Lý dynasty between AD 544 and 602. By the early 10th century, Northern Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not sovereignty, under

17748-552: The nuts along this 2,000 km (1,200 mi) stretch when he needed water for his crew. Nor were there coconuts on the east side of the African coast until Vasco da Gama , nor in the Caribbean when first visited by Christopher Columbus . They were commonly carried by Spanish ships as a source of fresh water. These provide substantial circumstantial evidence that deliberate Austronesian voyagers were involved in carrying coconuts across

17901-608: The opportunity to propose the founding of a society following the example of the Italian Accademia della Crusca . Particularly Prince Ludwig von Anhalt-Köthen who already had joined the Accademia della Crusca in 1600 took hold of the idea and became the first president of the Palm Order. The society counted a king ( Charles X Gustav of Sweden ), 153 Germanic princes, and over 60 barons, nobles, and distinguished scholars among its members. It disbanded in 1668. The first book about

18054-528: The original coloration of the fruit is more aesthetically pleasing. Whole mature coconuts (11 to 13 months from flowering) sold for export, however, typically have the husk removed to reduce weight and volume for transport. This results in the naked coconut "shell" with three pores more familiar in countries where coconuts are not grown locally. De-husked coconuts typically weigh around 750 to 850 grams (1 lb 10 oz to 1 lb 14 oz). De-husked coconuts are also easier for consumers to open, but have

18207-525: The palm (vivipary) was important. Coconuts today can be grouped into two highly genetically distinct subpopulations: the Indo-Atlantic group originating from southern India and nearby regions (including Sri Lanka , the Laccadives , and the Maldives ); and the Pacific group originating from the region between maritime Southeast Asia and Melanesia . Linguistic, archaeological, and genetic evidence all point to

18360-682: The party's new general secretary. He and the reformers implemented a series of free-market reforms known as Đổi Mới ("Renovation") that carefully managed the transition from a planned economy to a " socialist-oriented market economy ". Although the authority of the state remained unchallenged under Đổi Mới , the government encouraged private ownership of farms and factories, economic deregulation, and foreign investment, while maintaining control over strategic industries. Subsequently, Vietnam's economy achieved strong growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction, exports, and foreign investment, although these reforms also resulted in

18513-453: The physical rehabilitation of victims of the chemicals. In 2018, the Japanese engineering group Shimizu Corporation , working with Vietnamese military, built a plant for the treatment of soil polluted by Agent Orange. Plant construction costs were funded by the company itself. One of the long-term plans to restore southern Vietnam's damaged ecosystems is through the use of reforestation efforts. The Vietnamese government began doing this at

18666-455: The plant near the surface. Only a few of the roots penetrate deep into the soil for stability. This type of root system is known as fibrous or adventitious, and is a characteristic of grass species. Other types of large trees produce a single downward-growing tap root with a number of feeder roots growing from it. 2,000–4,000 adventitious roots may grow, each about 1 cm ( 1 ⁄ 2  in) large. Decayed roots are replaced regularly as

18819-420: The prehistoric and modern distributions of Cocos , would have provided the necessary evolutionary pressures, and would account for morphological factors such as a thick husk to protect against ocean degradation and provide a moist medium in which to germinate on sparse atolls. The name coconut is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese word coco , meaning 'head' or 'skull' after the three indentations on

18972-428: The preservation of biodiversity in 2004 alone and has established 126 conservation areas, including 30 national parks . In Vietnam, wildlife poaching has become a major concern. In 2000, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Education for Nature – Vietnam was founded to instill in the population the importance of wildlife conservation in the country. In the years that followed, another NGO called GreenViet

19125-559: The pro- Vichy French colonial administration continued. Japan exploited Vietnam's natural resources to support its military campaigns, culminating in a full-scale takeover of the country in March 1945. This led to the Vietnamese Famine of 1945 which killed up to two million people. In 1941, the Việt Minh , a nationalist liberation movement based on a communist ideology , emerged under

19278-471: The process by November 1957. The pro-Hanoi Việt Cộng began a guerrilla campaign in South Vietnam in the late 1950s to overthrow Diệm's government. From 1960, the Soviet Union and North Vietnam signed treaties providing for further Soviet military support. In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diệm's Catholic regime erupted into mass demonstrations , leading to a violent government crackdown. This led to

19431-451: The profitable Macau–Japan trade route, the Portuguese began to involve themselves in trade with Hội An . Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries under the Padroado system were active in both Vietnamese realms of Đàng Trong ( Cochinchina or Quinan) and Đàng Ngoài ( Tonkin ) in the 17th century. The Dutch also tried to establish contact with Quinan in 1601 but failed to sustain

19584-777: The province of Phước Long and started a full-scale offensive , culminating in the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. South Vietnam was ruled by a provisional government for almost eight years while under North Vietnamese military occupation. On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war had devastated Vietnam and killed 966,000 to 3.8 million people. A 1974 US Senate subcommittee estimated nearly 1.4 million Vietnamese civilians were killed or wounded between 1965 and 1974—including 415,000 killed. In its aftermath, under Lê Duẩn 's administration, there were no mass executions of South Vietnamese who had collaborated with

19737-434: The rainfall and temperature requirements is canopy growth, except those locations near coastlines, where the sandy soil and salt spray limit the growth of most other trees. Wild coconuts are naturally restricted to coastal areas in sandy, saline soils. The fruit is adapted for ocean dispersal. Coconuts could not reach inland locations without human intervention (to carry seednuts, plant seedlings, etc.) and early germination on

19890-487: The round " niu vai " fruit morphology with larger endosperm-to-husk ratios. The distribution of the Pacific coconuts correspond to regions settled by Austronesian voyagers indicating that its spread was largely the result of human introductions. It is most strikingly displayed in Madagascar , an island settled by Austronesian sailors at around 2000 to 1500 BP . The coconut populations on the island show genetic admixture between

20043-638: The same year due to corruption charges against him. On 3 August 2024, Tô Lâm, who is also serving as the president, was elected by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam as the general secretary following the death of Nguyễn Phú Trọng on 19 July 2024. On 21 October 2024, the National Assembly appointed army general Lương Cường as president, succeeding Tô Lâm. Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces (Vietnamese: Tỉnh , chữ Hán : 省 ). There are also five municipalities ( thành phố trực thuộc trung ương ), which are administratively on

20196-452: The sea as far north as Norway (but it is not known where they entered the water). They have been found in the Caribbean and the Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America for less than 500 years (the Caribbean native inhabitants do not have a dialect term for them, but use the Portuguese name), but evidence of their presence on the Pacific coast of South America antedates Columbus's arrival in

20349-431: The seedling. Coconut fruits have two distinctive forms depending on § domestication . Wild coconuts feature an elongated triangular fruit with a thicker husk and a smaller amount of endosperm. These allow the fruits to be more buoyant and make it easier for them to lodge into sandy shorelines, making their shape ideal for ocean dispersal. Domesticated Pacific coconuts, on the other hand, are rounded in shape with

20502-454: The shifting atolls would have shortened the paths of colonization, meaning that any one coconut would not have to travel very far to find new land. Coconuts are susceptible to the phytoplasma disease, lethal yellowing . One recently selected cultivar , the 'Maypan' , has been bred for resistance to this disease. Yellowing diseases affect plantations in Africa, India, Mexico, the Caribbean and

20655-813: The southern third of the country became the French colony of Cochinchina . By 1884, the entire country was under French rule, with the central and northern parts of Vietnam separated into the two protectorates of Annam and Tonkin . The three entities were formally integrated into the union of French Indochina in 1887. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education introduced new humanist values. Most French settlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina, particularly in Saigon , and in Hanoi ,

20808-462: The surrounding areas of the Red River Delta, the temperatures are much lower between 15 and 33 °C (59 and 91 °F). Seasonal variations in the mountains, plateaus, and the northernmost areas are much more dramatic, with temperatures varying from 3 °C (37 °F) in December and January to 37 °C (99 °F) in July and August. During winter, snow occasionally falls over the highest peaks of

20961-566: The term from the Arabs, who called it جوز هندي jawz hindī , translating to 'Indian nut'. Thenga , its Tamil / Malayalam name, was used in the detailed description of coconut found in Itinerario by Ludovico di Varthema published in 1510 and also in the later Hortus Indicus Malabaricus . Carl Linnaeus first wanted to name the coconut genus Coccus from latinizing the Portuguese word coco , because he saw works by other botanists in middle of

21114-551: The tree grows new ones. The palm produces both the female and male flowers on the same inflorescence ; thus, the palm is monoecious . However, there is some evidence that it may be polygamomonoecious and may occasionally have bisexual flowers. The female flower is much larger than the male flower. Flowering occurs continuously. Coconut palms are believed to be largely cross- pollinated , although most dwarf varieties are self-pollinating. The evolutionary history and fossil distribution of Cocos nucifera and other members of

21267-703: The tribe Cocoseae is more ambiguous than modern-day dispersal and distribution, with its ultimate origin and pre-human dispersal still unclear. There are currently two major viewpoints on the origins of the genus Cocos , one in the Indo-Pacific, and another in South America. The vast majority of Cocos -like fossils have been recovered generally from only two regions in the world: New Zealand and west-central India . However, like most palm fossils, Cocos -like fossils are still putative, as they are usually difficult to identify. The earliest Cocos -like fossil to be found

21420-484: The tribe Cocoseae . Nevertheless, Gomez-Navarro et al. (2009), assigned it to Cocos based on the size and the ridged shape of the fruit. Further complicating measures to determine the evolutionary history of Cocos is the genetic diversity present within C. nucifera as well as its relatedness to other palms. Phylogenetic evidence supports the closest relatives of Cocos being either Syagrus or Attalea , both of which are found in South America. However, Cocos

21573-472: The two subpopulations indicating that Pacific coconuts were first brought by the Austronesian settlers, which then interbred with the later Indo-Atlantic coconuts brought by Europeans from India. Genetic studies of coconuts have also confirmed pre-Columbian populations of coconuts in Panama . However, it is not native and displays a genetic bottleneck resulting from a founder effect . A study in 2008 showed that

21726-481: The victims of UXOs. Vietnam is a unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic , one of the two communist states (the other being Laos ) in Southeast Asia . Although Vietnam remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist , with The Economist characterising its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists". Under

21879-591: The war. During the offensive, communist troops massacred over 3,000 civilians at Huế . Facing an increasing casualty count, rising domestic opposition to the war, and growing international condemnation, the US began withdrawing from ground combat roles in the early 1970s. This also entailed an unsuccessful effort to strengthen and stabilise South Vietnam . Following the Paris Peace Accords of 27 January 1973, all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March 1973. In December 1974, North Vietnam captured

22032-545: The whole way to Polynesia . But we had laid about half among the special provisions below deck, with the waves washing around them. Every single one of these was ruined by the sea water. And no coconut can float over the sea faster than a balsa raft moves with the wind behind it. He also notes that several of the nuts began to germinate by the time they had been ten weeks at sea, precluding an unassisted journey of 100 days or more. Drift models based on wind and ocean currents have shown that coconuts could not have drifted across

22185-422: The wild is light, buoyant, and highly water resistant. It is claimed that they evolved to disperse significant distances via marine currents . However, it can also be argued that the placement of the vulnerable eye of the nut (down when floating), and the site of the coir cushion are better positioned to ensure that the water-filled nut does not fracture when dropping on rocky ground, rather than for flotation. It

22338-411: The world since its discovery in 2009. The Ba Bể Lake and Mekong River are the largest lake and longest river in the country. Due to differences in latitude and the marked variety in topographical relief , Vietnam's climate tends to vary considerably for each region. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November to April, the monsoon winds usually blow from the northeast along

22491-640: The world's species. 15,986 species of flora have been identified in the country, of which 10% are endemic . Vietnam's fauna includes 307 nematode species, 200 oligochaeta , 145 acarina , 113 springtails , 7,750 insects, 260 reptiles, and 120 amphibians. There are 840 birds and 310 mammals are found in Vietnam, of which 100 birds and 78 mammals are endemic. Vietnam has two World Natural Heritage Sites —the Hạ Long Bay and Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park —together with nine biosphere reserves , including Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest , Cát Tiên , Cát Bà , Kiên Giang ,

22644-455: Was Cocos zeylandica , a fossil species described as small fruits, around 3.5 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) × 1.3 to 2.5 cm ( 1 ⁄ 2 to 1 in) in size, recovered from the Miocene (~23 to 5.3 million years ago) of New Zealand in 1926. Since then, numerous other fossils of similar fruits were recovered throughout New Zealand from the Eocene , Oligocene , and possibly

22797-505: Was first written using the logograph "戉" for an axe (a homophone), in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty ( c.  1200 BC), and later as "越". At that time, it referred to a people or chieftain to the northwest of the Shang. In the early 8th century BC, a tribe on the middle Yangtze were called the Yangyue , a term later used for peoples further south. Between

22950-513: Was formed by Vietnamese youngsters for the enforcement of wildlife protection. Through collaboration between the NGOs and local authorities, many local poaching syndicates were crippled by their leaders' arrests. A study released in 2018 revealed Vietnam is a destination for the illegal export of rhinoceros horns from South Africa due to the demand for them as a medicine and a status symbol. The main environmental concern that persists in Vietnam today

23103-543: Was integrated into French Indochina as three separate regions. In the immediate aftermath of World War II , the nationalist coalition Viet Minh , led by the communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh , launched the August Revolution and declared Vietnam's independence from the Empire of Japan in 1945. Vietnam went through prolonged warfare in the 20th century. After World War II , France returned to reclaim colonial power in

23256-411: Was responsible for governing Vietnam. President Võ Văn Thưởng , Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (since 2021) and the most powerful leader Nguyễn Phú Trọng (since 2011) as the Communist Party of Vietnam's General Secretary. On 22 May 2024, Tô Lâm , who previously served as the Minister of Public Security , was voted as the president of Vietnam by the National Assembly after Võ Văn Thưởng resigned on

23409-838: Was usually called Annam until 1945, when the imperial government in Huế adopted Việt Nam . Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithic age. Stone artefacts excavated in Gia Lai province have been claimed to date to 780,000 years ago, based on associated find of tektites , however this claim has been challenged because tektites are often found in archaeological sites of various ages in Vietnam. Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lạng Sơn and Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene provenance, and include isolated tooth fragments from Tham Om and Hang Hum. Teeth attributed to Homo sapiens from

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