Overseas Vietnamese

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Vietnamese diaspora
Người Việt hải ngoại

Total population
~4,000,000 (estimates) [1]
Regions with significant populations
United States	2,067,527 (2016)[2]
Cambodia	600,000[3]
France	350,000 (2014)[4]
Australia	294,798 (2016)[5]
Japan	262,405 (2017)[6]
Canada	240,514 (2016)[7]
Taiwan	200,000[8]
Germany	150,000 (2011)[9]
South Korea	143,000 (2013)[10]
Czech Republic	83,000 (2011)[11]
Malaysia	70,000 (2013)[12]
United Kingdom	55,000[13]
Poland	50,000[14]
Laos	30,000 (2012)[15]
China	28,199 (2010)[16]
Norway	21,721 (2014)[17]
Netherlands	20,603 (2014)[18]
United Arab Emirates	20,000[19]
Thailand	17,662 (2010)[20][21]
Sweden	17,085 (2015)[22]
Belgium	14,000 (2012)[23]
Russia	13,954 (2010)[24]
Denmark	14,669 (2014)[25]
Switzerland	14,496
Qatar	8,000 (2008)[26]
Macau	7,199 (2011)[27]
New Zealand	6,660 (2013)[28]
Finland	4,645[29]
Ukraine	3,850 (2001)[30]
Hungary	3,019 (2011)[31]
Italy	3,000 (2004–2005)[32]
Slovakia	3,000[33]
Bulgaria	2,600 (2015)[34]
New Caledonia	2,506 (2014)[35]
Brazil	1,000

Overseas Vietnamese (Vietnamese: Người Việt hải ngoại, which literally means "Overseas Vietnamese", or Việt Kiều, a Sino-Vietnamese word (越僑) literally translating to "Vietnamese sojourner") refers to Vietnamese people living outside Vietnam in a diaspora, by far the largest community of which live in the United States. Of the about 4 million Overseas Vietnamese, a majority left Vietnam as economic and political refugees after the 1975 capture of Saigon and the North Vietnamese takeover of the pro-U.S. South Vietnam.

The term "Việt Kiều" (literally translating to "Vietnamese sojourner") is used by people in Vietnam to refer to ethnic Vietnamese living outside the country.^[36] It is not the Overseas Vietnamese's term of self-identification; most Overseas Vietnamese prefer the term of Người Việt hải ngoại (literally translating to Overseas Vietnamese), or occasionally the politically-charged Người Việt tự do (Free Vietnamese).

History

Overseas Vietnamese can be generally divided into four distinct categories that rarely interact with each other:

• The first category consists of people who have been living in territories outside of Vietnam prior to 1975; they usually reside in neighboring countries, such as Cambodia, Laos, and China. During the French colonial era, many Vietnamese also migrated to France as students or workers. These people are not usually considered "Việt Kiều" by people residing in Vietnam.
• The second category, consisting of the vast majority of overseas Vietnamese, are Vietnamese who fled Vietnam as refugees, after the end of the Vietnam War, along with their descendants. They usually reside in industrialized countries such as those in North America, the European Union, Hong Kong, the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, and Australia.
• The third category consists of Vietnamese working and studying in the former Soviet bloc who opted to stay there after the Soviet collapse. This group is found mainly in the European Union (particularly countries formerly aligned with the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact and/or Comecon) and the Russian Federation.
• The last category consists of recent economic migrants who work in regional Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan. They also include Vietnamese brides who married men from Taiwan and South Korea through marriage agencies. These brides usually follow their husbands to live in those countries. In Taiwan, Vietnamese economic migrants constitute most of the overseas Vietnamese there; according to a 2011 report, there are 40000 Vietnamese brides in Taiwan. There is much social tensions, controversy and criticism about the latter group in Vietnam, saying they were "blinded by money" by their foreign husbands, and many are beaten.^[37]

A 2014 report says that "women make up at least two-thirds of workers who leave the country," and sometimes leave fathers behind to care for children. It asserted that "The total amount of remittances sent back from all Vietnamese workers overseas now exceeds $2 billion a year."^[38]

Recently a new group of Vietnamese have been emerging. These naturally born Vietnamese who attended high school and college overseas (international student), are called by natives as "du học sinh"; they stay in those countries and work and live as permanent residents.

United States

In 2016 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the Vietnamese American population to be 2,067,527. They tend to live in metropolitan areas in the West, especially in California and Texas. Significant areas where they are well represented include Orange County, California, San Jose, California, Houston, Texas, and Seattle, Washington. As almost all of them left Vietnam after 1975 to escape the communist Vietnamese government, they are generally antagonistic towards the current government of Vietnam.^[2] In 2015, 30% of Vietnamese Americans had attained a bachelor's degree or higher. Specifically, 21% of Vietnamese Americans had attained a bachelor's degree (37% for U.S. born Vietnamese and 18% for Foreign born Vietnamese) and 8.9% had attained a Postgraduate degree (14% for U.S. born Vietnamese and 7% for Foreign born Vietnamese) compared to 19% Bachelor's degree attainment and 11% Postgraduate degree attainment among the American population in general.^[39][40][41]

Cambodia

Vietnamese constitute about 5% of the population of Cambodia,^[3] making them the largest ethnic minority. Vietnamese people began migrating to Cambodia as early as the 17th century. In 1863, when Cambodia became a French colony, many Vietnamese were brought to Cambodia by the French to work on plantations and occupy civil servant positions. During the Lon Nol Regime (1970–1975) and Pol Pot regime (1975–1979), many of the Vietnamese living in Cambodia were killed. Others were either repatriated or escaped to Vietnam or Thailand. During the ten-year Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia from 1979 until 1989 many of the Vietnamese who had previously lived in Cambodia returned. Along with them came friends and relatives. Also, many former South Vietnamese soldiers came to Cambodia fleeing persecution from the communist government.
Many living in Cambodia usually speak Vietnamese as their first language and have introduced the Cao Dai religion with 2 temples built in Cambodia. Many Cambodians learned Vietnamese as a result. They are concentrated in the Kratie and Takeo provinces of Cambodia, where there are villages predominate of ethnic Vietnamese.

Vietnamese people are also the top tourist in Cambodia, with 130,831, up 19 percent as of 2011.^[42]

France

The Temple du Souvenir Indochinois in the Bois de Vincennes, erected in 1907, is a monument built by the earliest waves of Vietnamese migrants to France.

The number of ethnic Vietnamese living in France is estimated to be over 300,000 as of 2014.^[4] Unlike other overseas Vietnamese communities outside eastern Asia, the Vietnamese population in France had already been well-established before the end of the Vietnam War and diaspora that resulted from it. France had by far the largest overseas Vietnamese population outside Asia until the 1980s, when a high number of Vietnam War refugees resettled in the United States.^[43]

France was the first Western country to where Vietnamese migrants settled due to the colonization of Vietnam by France that began in the late 1850s.^[44] During the colonial period, there was a significant representation of Vietnamese students in France, as well as professional and blue-collar workers, with many settling permanently.^[45]

A number of Vietnamese loyal to the colonial government and Vietnamese married to French colonists emigrated to France following Vietnam's independence through the Geneva Accords in 1954. During the Vietnam War, a significant number of students and those involved in commerce from South Vietnam continued to arrive in France. However, the largest influx of Vietnamese people arrived in France as refugees after the Fall of Saigon and end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Vietnamese refugees who settled in France usually had higher levels of education and affluence than their peers who settled in North America, Australia, and the rest of Europe.^[45]

Most Vietnamese in France live in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France area, but a sizeable number also reside in the major urban centers in the south-east of the country, primarily Marseille and Lyon, as well as Toulouse. Earlier Vietnamese migrants also settled in the cities of Lille and Bordeaux.^[45] Unlike their counterparts in North America or Australia, the Vietnamese have not formed distinct enclaves within the major cities of France and the degree of assimilation is higher, due to better cultural, historical, and linguistic knowledge of the host country.

The community is still strongly attached to its homeland while being well integrated in the French society. As the generation of Vietnamese refugees continues to hold on to traditional values, the later generations of French-born Vietnamese strongly identify with the French culture rather than the Vietnamese one and most of them are unable to speak and/or understand the Vietnamese language.^[46] French media and politicians generally view the Vietnamese community as a model minority, in part because they are represented as having a high degree of integration within the French society as well as having high economic and academic success. Furthermore, Vietnamese in France on average have a higher level of education attainment and success than other overseas Vietnamese populations, a legacy dating back to the colonial era when privileged families and those with connections to the colonial government sent their children to France for studies.^[47]

Unlike overseas Vietnamese communities in other Western countries, the Vietnamese in France are divided between those who are anti-communist and those who support the communist Hanoi government.^[48] This division in the community has been present since the 1950s, when Vietnamese students and workers in France supported and praised the Vietminh's policies back home, while Vietnamese loyal to the colonial government and fled to France were largely anti-communist.^[47] This political rift remained minor until the Fall of Saigon in 1975, when staunchly anti-communist refugees from South Vietnam arrived and established community networks and institutions. The two camps have contradictory political goals and members of one group rarely interact with members of the other group. Such political divisions, especially the presence of a pro-Hanoi faction, have prevented the Vietnamese in France from forming a strong, unified community in their host nation as their counterparts have in North America and Australia.^[49]

Australia

Vietnamese Australians constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia, with 294,798 people claiming Vietnamese ancestry at the 2016 census.^[50] The Vietnamese Australian population varies widely in income and social class levels. Many Vietnamese Australians are white collar professionals, while others work primarily in blue-collar jobs. Australian-born Vietnamese have a higher than average rate of participation in tertiary education. In 2001, the labor participation rate for Vietnamese-born residents was 61%, only slightly lower than the level for Australian born residents (63%).^[51] Over three quarters of Vietnamese-Australians live in New South Wales (40.7%) and Victoria (36.8%). Being mostly refugees after the Vietnam War, they are generally antagonistic toward the government of Vietnam.
The popular surname Nguyễn is the seventh most common family name in Australia^[52] (second only to Smith in the Melbourne phone book).^[53]

Canada

According to the 2016 census, Canada has 240,516 people who identify as ethnically Vietnamese.^[54] The majority of Vietnamese Canadians reside in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, with some having lived in Quebec before 1975. Vancouver is also another major destination for newly arrived Vietnamese immigrants since 1980, including Vietnamese of Chinese descent, with the city having a large Chinese population.

Rest of Europe

Germany

Vietnamese comprise the largest Asian ethnic group in Germany.^[55] As of 2011, there are about 137,000 people of Vietnamese descent in Germany.^[56][57] In western Germany, most Vietnamese arrived in the 1970s or 1980s as refugees from the Vietnam War. The comparatively larger Vietnamese community in eastern Germany traces its origins to assistance agreements between the East German and the North Vietnamese government. Under these agreements, guest workers from Vietnam were brought to East Germany, where they soon made up the largest immigrant group,^[58] and were provided with technical training. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, many stayed in Germany, although they often faced discrimination, especially in the early years following reunification.
As in France, the Vietnamese community is divided between anticommunists in the former West (including the former West Berlin) and pro-communists in the former East, although the difference runs along former border lines rather than being diffused as in France.

Czech Republic

The number of Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic was estimated at 61,012 at the 2009 census,^[59] although more recent figures have placed the number to as high as 80,000.^[60]
Most Vietnamese immigrants in the Czech Republic reside in Prague, where there is an enclave called "Sapa". Unlike Vietnamese immigrants in Western Europe and North America, these immigrants were usually communist cadres studying or working abroad who decided to stay after the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. The Vietnamese surname Nguyen is even listed as the most common of foreign surnames in the Czech Republic and is the 9th most common surname in the country overall. (It is worth noting that female and male forms of the same Czech surnames were counted separately, while the total number of Nguyens refers to both male and female bearers of the surname.) ^[61]

United Kingdom

Vietnamese residing in the United Kingdom number around 55,000 people, which is in contrast to the trend of the UK tending to have the largest East and South East Asian diasporas in Europe. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher agreed to take quotas of refugees and 12,000 boat people came to Britain^[62] The most established Vietnamese communities in Britain are in Hackney and other parts of London. There are also communities in Birmingham, Manchester and other major UK cities.

Poland

Around 50,000 Vietnamese live in Poland, mostly in big cities.^[63] They publish a number of newspapers, both pro- and anti-Communist. The first immigrants were Vietnamese students at Polish universities in the post-World War II era. These numbers increased slightly during the Vietnam War, when agreements between the communist Vietnamese and Polish governments allowed Vietnamese guest workers to receive industrial training in Poland. A large number of Vietnamese immigrants also arrived after 1989.^[64]

Belgium

An estimated 14,000 ethnic Vietnamese reside in Belgium as of 2012. Similarly to the Vietnamese community in France, the Vietnamese Belgian community traces its roots to before the end of the Vietnam War. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Belgium became a popular alternative destination to France for South Vietnamese seeking higher education and career opportunities abroad. A much larger influx of Vietnamese arrived as refugees following the Fall of Saigon. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a small number of Vietnamese workers in former Soviet Bloc countries who were sponsored by the communist Vietnamese government also sought asylum in Belgium.^[23]
The Vietnamese Belgian population largely resides in and around the capital of Brussels or in the southern French-speaking Wallonia region, especially around the city of Liège. As in France, South Vietnamese refugees to Belgium were largely of higher social standing and integrated much easier into their host country's society than their peers who settled in North America, Australia and the rest of Europe due to better linguistic and cultural knowledge. The Vietnamese Belgian community is strongly attached to its counterpart community in France, with both communities largely achieving higher socioeconomic success in their host countries than other overseas Vietnamese populations.^[23]

Russia

Vietnamese people in Russia form the 72nd-largest ethnic minority community in Russia according to the 2002 census. The Census estimated their population at only 26,205 individuals, making them one of the smaller groups of Việt Kiều.^[65] However, unofficial estimates put their population as high as 100,000 to 150,000.^[14][66]

Norway

An estimated 21,700 ethnic Vietnamese live in Norway as of 2014, and the country has hosted a Vietnamese community since refugee arrivals after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The Vietnamese are considered one of the best integrated non-western immigrant groups in Norway, with high rates of Norwegian citizenship among immigrants and success rates in education on par with those of ethnic Norwegians.^[67]

Netherlands

About 19,000 ethnic Vietnamese reside in the Netherlands according to a 2010 estimate. The community largely consists of South Vietnamese refugees who first arrived in 1978. A much smaller number of North Vietnamese workers also arrived from eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall.^[68]

Bulgaria

An estimated 2,600 ethnic Vietnamese live in Bulgaria according to a 2015 estimate.^[34]
Under international agreements in 1980, Bulgaria, along with other Warsaw Pact members, accepted Vietnamese guest workers who were sponsored by the communist government into the country as a relatively cheaper manual labour workforce. At one point, over 35,000 Vietnamese people worked in Bulgaria between 1980 and 1991, and many Vietnamese students completed their higher education at various Bulgarian universities.^[69]

Taiwan

Vietnamese form one of the largest foreign ethnic groups in Taiwan, with a resident population of around 200,000. Including students and migrant workers, the Vietnamese population in Taiwan is about 200,000.^[8] Vietnamese in Taiwan largely arrived as workers in the manufacturing industry or domestic helpers. There are also a large number of Vietnamese women married to Taiwanese men through international matchmaking services in Vietnam, despite the illegality of such services in the country.^[70]

South Korea

As of 2011, there were over 110,000 ethnic Vietnamese people in South Korea, making them the second largest minority group in the country. Vietnamese in South Korea consist mainly of migrant workers and women introduced to South Korean husbands through marriage agencies.^[71][72] In the 13th century, several thousand Vietnamese fled to Korea following the overthrow of the Vietnamese Lý Dynasty, where they were received by King Gojong of Goryeo.^[73]

Malaysia

The Fall of Saigon in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War saw many Vietnamese refugees escaping by boats to Malaysia. The first refugee boat arrived in Malaysia were in May 1975, carrying 47 people.^[74] A refugee camp was established later at Pulau Bidong in August 1978 with the assistance of the United Nations, and became a major refugee processing center for Vietnamese seeking residency in other countries. While a very small number of Vietnamese refugees settled in Malaysia, the majority of Vietnamese in Malaysia consist of skilled and semi-skilled workers who arrived during the 1990s as economic cooperation between Vietnam and Malaysia increased.^[75]

Japan

Over 135,000 Vietnamese people resided in Japan as of the end of 2014.^[76] Vietnamese first came to Japan as students beginning in the 20th century.^[77] However, the majority of the community is composed of refugees admitted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as a smaller proportion of migrant laborers who began arriving in 1994.^[78][79]

Laos

As Vietnam and Laos are neighbors, there has been a long history of population migrations between the territories which make up the two respective countries. When Laos was a French protectorate during the first half of the 20th century, the French colonial administration brought many Vietnamese people to Laos to work as civil servants. This matter was the object of strenuous opposition by Laotian nationals, who in the 1930s made an unsuccessful attempt to replace the local government with Laotian civil servants.^[15]

China

The Vietnamese in China are known as the Gin ethnic group, and arrived in southeastern China beginning in the sixteenth century. They largely reside in the province of Guangxi and speak Vietnamese and a local variety of Cantonese.^[16]

Hong Kong

Vietnamese migration to Hong Kong began after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, when boat people took to the sea and began fleeing Vietnam in all directions. Those who landed in Hong Kong were placed in refugee camps until they could be resettled in a third country. Under the Hong Kong government's Comprehensive Plan of Action, newly arriving Vietnamese were classified as either political refugees or economic migrants. Those deemed to be economic migrants would be denied the opportunity for resettlement overseas.^{[citation needed]}

Philippines

Many Vietnamese boat refugees who crossed the South China Sea landed in the Philippines after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. These refugees established a community called Viet-Ville (French for "Viet-Town") in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. At the time, it became the centre of Vietnamese commerce and culture, complete with Vietnamese restaurants, shops, and Catholic churches and Buddhist temples. In the decades that followed however, the Vietnamese population dwindled greatly, with many having emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, or Western Europe. Viet-Ville today remains a popular destination for local tourists.

Israel

Vietnamese refugees arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport, In Israel

The number of Vietnamese people in Israel is estimated at 150-200. Most of them arrived between 1976 and 1979, when about 360 Vietnamese refugees arrived when Prime Minister Menachem Begin authorized their admission to Israel and granted them political asylum. Most of them later left Israel, mainly for Europe or North America to reunite with their extended families. The second generation descendants of those who stayed have largely assimilated into Israeli culture. They largely marry non-Vietnamese Israelis, use Hebrew more than Vietnamese, and serve in the Israel Defense Forces. A minority choose to keep their culture alive by shunning intermarriage with non-Vietnamese and using Vietnamese over Hebrew at home.^[80][81] Today, the majority of the community lives in the Gush Dan area in the center of Israel but also a few dozen Vietnamese-Israelis or Israelis of Vietnamese origin live in Haifa, Jerusalem and Ofakim.

Relations with Vietnam

Relations between overseas Vietnamese populations and the current government of Vietnam traditionally range between polarities of geniality and overt contempt. Generally, overseas Vietnamese residing in North America, Western Europe, and Australia (which represent the vast majority of overseas Vietnamese populations) are virulently opposed to the existing government of Vietnam.^[82][83] However, there is a smaller population of overseas Vietnamese residing in Europe (mainly in Central and East Europe) and Asia, most of whom have been sent for training in formerly communist countries. These populations generally maintain positive or more neutral, if not very friendly relations with the government.^[83] Many of these East European Vietnamese are from northern Vietnam, and usually have personal or familial affiliations with the communist regime ^[84] Those who left prior to the political exodus of 1975, largely residing in France, generally identify their sentiments as somewhere in between the two polarities.^[82]

The former South Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ returned to Vietnam in 2004 and was generally positive about his experience. However, Ky's reconciliation was met with anger by most Overseas Vietnamese, who called him a traitor and a communist collaborator for reconciling and working with the current communist regime.^[85] Notable expatriate artists have returned to Vietnam to perform (many are met with scorn and boycott by the expatriate community itself after they have done so). Notably, the composer Pham Duy had returned to Ho Chi Minh City (referred to as Saigon by overseas Vietnamese and those living in Vietnam) to live the rest of his life there after living in Midway City, California since 1975. The government in Vietnam used less antagonistic rhetoric to describe those who left the country after 1975. According to the Vietnamese government, while in 1987 only 8,000 overseas Vietnamese returned to Vietnam for the purpose of visiting, that number jumped to 430,000 in 2004.

The government enacted laws to make it easier for overseas Vietnamese to do business in Vietnam, including those allowing them to own land. However, overseas Vietnamese still face discrimination while trying to do business there. The first company in Vietnam to be registered to an Overseas Vietnamese was Highlands Coffee, a successful chain of specialty coffee shops, in 1998.^[86]

In June 2007, Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet visited the United States, one of his scheduled stops was within the vicinity Orange County, home of Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. Details of his plans were not announced beforehand due to concerns of massive protests. Despite these efforts, a large crowd of anti-communist protest still occurred.^[87] Several thousand people protested in Washington, D.C. and Orange County during his visit.

Vietnamese people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vietnamese people (người Việt)
Kinh people (người Kinh)

Kinh girls in traditional áo dài dress and non la hat
Total population
c. 86 million
Regions with significant populations
Vietnam     81,328,696 (2015)[1]
United States	2,067,527 (2016)[2]
Cambodia	750,000–800,000[3][4]
France	350,000[5]
Australia	294,798[6]
Canada	240,514[7]
Taiwan	200,000 (2014)[8]
Japan	199,990 (2016)[9]
South Korea	155,553 (2017)[10]
Germany	150,000[11]
Laos	100,000
Malaysia	70,000[12]
United Kingdom	28,000 (Vietnam-born, 2014 est.)[13] "At least 55,000" (total, 2007 est.)[14]
Czech Republic	58,080 (2016)[15]
Poland	50,000[16]
Russia	36,225[17]
China	36,205[a][18]
Philippines	27,600
Sweden	24,465 (2016)[19][20]
Norway	21,721 (2014)[21]
Netherlands	20,603 (2014)[22]
Thailand	17,662 (2010)[23][24]
Denmark	14,669 (2014)[25]
Switzerland	14,496
Qatar	8,000 (2008)[26]
Macau	7,199 (2011)[27]
Belgium	7,151 (2001)[25]
New Zealand	4,875 (2006)[28]
Finland	4,645[29]
Ukraine	3,850 (2001)[30]
Hungary	3,019 (2011)[31]
Slovakia	3,000[32]
Italy	3,000
Bulgaria	2,600[16]
Brazil	1,000
Languages
Vietnamese
Religion
Predominantly Vietnamese folk religion syncretized with Mahayana Buddhism. Minorities of Christians (mostly Roman Catholics) and other groups.[33]
Related ethnic groups
Other Vietic groups (Gin, Muong, Chứt, Thổ peoples)

This article contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of chữ nôm, chữ Hán and chữ quốc ngữ.

The Vietnamese people or the Kinh people (Vietnamese: người Việt or người Kinh), are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population at the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam. The earliest recorded name for the ancient Vietnamese people appears as Lạc.

Although geographically and linguistically labeled as Southeast Asians, long periods of Chinese domination and influence have placed the Vietnamese culturally closer to East Asians, or more specifically their immediate northern neighbours, the Southern Chinese and other peoples within South China. The word Việt is shortened from Bách Việt, a name used in ancient times. Nam means "south".

Origins

Written history knows the ancient Vietnamese people first simply as the Lạc or Lạc Việt, and the country of Vietnam as Văn Lang. Archaeological evidence of the Đông Sơn culture (also known as Lac Society) is the result of society from the Bronze Age.

In a 2013 book, professor emeritus of history at UCLA, Damodar R. SarDesai said that Vietnamese people were thought for a long time to have come from Tibet, but SarDesai said that more modern hypotheses indicate that Vietnamese people are a mixture of many peoples, peoples who are Mongoloid and non-Mongoloid. SarDesai said that Vietnamese are a mix of the Mongoloid Yueh (Viet) people, and the Austro-Indonesian people who lived in Guangdong and Guangxi. SarDesai said that, in around the 3rd century BCE, the Viet people moved into the Red River Delta. SarDesai said that, because the Mongoloid Thai people invaded Tonkin in the 8th century CE, the Viet people came across the Mongoloid Thai people. SarDesai said that the Vietnamese language has in it both monotonic Indonesian and "variotonic Mongoloid elements." SarDesai said that the mixed origins of Vietnamese people explains the reason that Vietnamese people have in common a variety of animistic beliefs, which are common to all peoples who are Austro-Indonesian.^[34][35]

Anthropometry

Stephen Pheasant (1986), who taught anatomy, biomechanics and ergonomics at the Royal Free Hospital and the University College, London, said that Far Eastern people have proportionately shorter lower limbs than European and black African people. Pheasant said that the proportionately short lower limbs of Far Eastern people is a difference that is most characterized in Japanese people, less characterized in Korean and Chinese people, and least characterized in Vietnamese and Thai people.^[36][37]

Craniometry

Ann Kumar (1998) said that Michael Pietrusewsky (1992) said that, in a craniometric study, Borneo, Vietnam, Sulu, Java, and Sulawesi are closer to Japan, in that order, than Mongolian and Chinese populations are close to Japan. In the craniometric study, Michael Pietrusewsky (1992) said that, even though Japanese people cluster with Mongolians, Chinese and Southeast Asians in a larger Asian cluster, Japanese people are more closely aligned with several mainland and island Southeast Asian samples than with Mongolians and Chinese.^[38][39]

Hirofumi Matsumura et al. (2001) said that Japanese people, Vietnamese people and other modern Southeast Asians are regarded to be a mix of migrants from Northeast Asia and indigenous Southeast Asians who are closely related to Australo-Melanesians.^[40]

Bradley J. Adams, a forensic anthropologist in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, said that Vietnamese people could be classified as Mongoloid.^[41][42]

A 2009 book about forensic anthropology said that Vietnamese skulls are more gracile and less sexually dimorphic than the skulls of Native Americans.^[43]

Hirofumi Matsumura et al. (2011) said that the earliest anatomically modern humans in Northern Vietnam are called Sonvians or Hoabinhians. The oldest anatomically modern human culture in Northern Vietnam is the Son Vi Culture which starts at 30,000 BP. Later, the Hoabinhian Culture starts at 18,000 BP. The Hoabinhians samples in the study were consistently classified craniometrically as having close Australo-Melanesian affinity. Hoabinhians may have common ancestry with Aboriginal Australians and Melanesians. Coinciding with the terminal Hoabinhian, the Bac Son Culture is a phase from c. 9000 to 7000 years BP. Hoabinhians and Bac Son specimens tend to show "dolichocephalic calvaria, large zygomatic bones, a remarkably prominent glabella and superciliary arches, a concave nasal root and a low and wide face with prominent prognathism." Examples of extensive population change in Northern Vietnam, which are probably associated with large scale admixture with Northeast Asians, are particularly evident from the Neolithic and early Metal Period. The study defined the term "Neolithic" as it is used in the study to mean the "pre-metal communities that show clear evidence for agricultural subsistence economies..." Man Bac, a Neolithic site which is dated to 3900–3500 years BP, may show a population in transition where there occurs the first appearance of people with genetic inheritance from the northern periphery of Vietnam, which is present-day South China, along with the indigenous people whose ancestry traces back to the Hoabinhians. In contrast to the Hoabinhians and Bac Son specimens, most the specimens from the Metal Period have "relatively narrow faces, low glabella, supercillary arches and nasal roots and round orbits." Matsumura and Hudson (2005) said that a broad comparison of dental traits indicated that modern Vietnamese and other modern Southeast Asians derive from a northern source, supporting the immigration hypothesis, instead of regional continuity hypothesis, as the model for the origins of modern Southeast Asians.^[44]

Genetics

Vietnamese show a close genetic relationship with other East Asians with the exception of seven unique markers.^[which?][45] The reference population for Vietnamese (Kinh) used in the Geno 2.0 Next Generation is 83% Southeast Asia & Oceania, 12% Eastern Asia and 3% Southern Asia.^[46]

Jin Han-jun et al. (1999) said that the mtDNA 9‐bp deletion frequencies in the intergenic COII/tRNA^Lys region for Vietnamese (23.2%) and Indonesians (25.0%), which are the two populations constituting Southeast Asians in the study, are relatively high frequencies when compared to the 9-bp deletion frequencies for Mongolians (5.1%), Chinese (14.2%), Japanese (14.3%) and Koreans (15.5%), which are the four populations constituting Northeast Asians in the study. The study said that these 9-bp deletion frequencies are consistent with earlier surveys which showed that 9-bp deletion frequencies increase going from Japan to mainland Asia to the Malay Peninsula, which is supported by the following studies: Horai et al. (1987); Hertzberg et al. (1989); Stoneking & Wilson (1989); Horai (1991); Ballinger et al. (1992); Hanihara et al. (1992); and Chen et al. (1995). The Cavalli-Sforza's chord genetic distance (4D), from Cavalli-Sforza & Bodmer (1971), which is based on the allele frequencies of the intergenic COII/tRNA^Lys region, between Vietnamese and other East Asian populations in the study, from least to greatest, are as follows: Vietnamese to Indonesian (0.0004), Vietnamese to Chinese (0.0135), Vietnamese to Japanese (0.0153), Vietnamese to Korean (0.0265) and Vietnamese to Mongolian (0.0750).^[47]

Kim Wook et al. (2000) said that, genetically, Vietnamese people more probably clustered with Northeast Asians of which the study analyzed DNA samples of Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Mongolians rather than with Southeast Asians of which the study analyzed DNA samples of Indonesians, Filipinos, Thais and Vietnamese. The study said that Vietnamese people were the only population in the study's phylogenetic analysis that did not reflect a sizable genetic difference between Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian populations. The study said that the likely reason for Vietnamese people more probably clustering with Northeast Asians was genetic drift and distinct founder populations. The study said that the alternative reason for Vietnamese people more probably clustering with Northeast Asians is a recent range expansion from South China. The study mentioned that the majority of its Vietnamese DNA samples were from Hanoi which is the closest region to South China.^[48]

Schurr & Wallace (2002) said that Vietnamese people display genetic similarities with peoples from Malaysia. The study said that the aboriginal groups from Malaysia, the Orang Asli, are somewhat genetically intermediate between Malaysians and Vietnamese. The study said that mtDNA haplogroup F is present at its highest frequency in Vietnamese and a high frequency of this haplogroup is also present in the Orang Asli, a people with whom Vietnamese have a linguistic connection (Austroasiatic languages).^[49]

Jung Jongsun et al. (2010) said that genetic structure analysis found significant admixture in "Vietnamese (or Cambodian) with unknown Southern original settlers." The study said that it used Cambodians and Vietnamese to represent "Southern people," and the study used Cambodia (Khmer) and Vietnam (Kinh) as its populations for "South Asia." The study said that Chinese people are located between Korean and Vietnamese people in the study's genome map. The study also said that Vietnamese people are located between Chinese and Cambodian people in the study's genome map.^[50]

He Jun-dong et al. (2012) did a principal component analysis using the NRY haplogroup distribution frequencies of 45 populations, and the second principal component showed a close affinity between Kinh and Vietnamese who were most likely Kinh with populations from mainland southern China because of the high frequency of NRY haplogroup O-M88. The study said that Kinh often have NRY haplogroup O-M7 which is the characteristic Chinese haplogroup. Out of the study's sample of seventy-six Kinh NRY haplogroups, twenty-three haplogroups (30.26%) were O-M88 and eight haplogroups (10.53%) were O-M7. The study said that, in northern Vietnam, it is suggested that there has been considerable Chinese assimilation through immigration into the Kinh people.^[51]

A 2015 study revealed that Vietnamese (Kinh) test subjects showed more genetic variants in common with Chinese compared to Japanese.^[52]

Sara Pischedda et al. (2017) said that modern Vietnamese have a major part of their origins from South China and a minor part of their origins from a Thai and Indonesian composite. The study said that admixture analysis indicates that Vietnamese Kinh have a major part which is most common in Chinese and two minor parts which have the highest prevalence in the Bidayuh of Malaysia and the Proto-Malay. The study said that multidimensional scaling analysis indicates that Vietnamese Kinh have a closeness to Malaysians, Thai and Chinese, and the study said that Malaysians and Thai are the samples which could be admixed with Chinese in the Vietnamese gene pool. The study said that Vietnamese mtDNA genetic variation matches well with the pattern seen in Southeast Asia, and the study said that most Vietnamese people had mtDNA haplotypes that clustered in clades M7 (20%) and R9’F (27%) which are clades that also dominate maternal lineages in Southeast Asia more generally.^[53]

Y-chromosome DNA

Kayser et al. (2006) found four members of O-M95, four members of O-M122(xM134), one member of C-M217, and one member of O-M119 in a sample of ten individuals from Vietnam.^[54]

He Jun-dong et al. (2012) found that the NRY haplogroup profile for a sample of 76 Kinh in Hanoi, Vietnam was as follows: twenty-three (30.26%) belonged to O-M88, nine (11.84%) belonged to O-M95*(xM88), nine (11.84%) belonged to C-M217, eight (10.53%) belonged to O-M7, seven (9.21%) belonged to O-M134, seven (9.21%) belonged to O-P200*(xM121, M164, P201, 002611), five (6.58%) belonged to O-P203, two (2.63%) belonged to N-M231, two (2.63%) belonged to O-002611, two (2.63%) belonged to O-P201*(xM7, M134), one (1.32%) belonged to K-P131*(xN-M231, O-P191, Q-P36, R-M207), and one (1.32%) belonged to R-M17.^[51]

Having analyzed the Y-DNA of another sample of 24 males from Hanoi, Vietnam, Trejaut et al. (2014) found that six (25.0%) belonged to O-M88, three (12.5%) belonged to O-M7, three (12.5%) belonged to O-M134(xM133), two (8.3%) belonged to O-M95(xM88), two (8.3%) belonged to C-M217, two (8.3%) belonged to N-LLY22g(xM128, M178), one (4.2%) belonged to O-PK4(xM95), one (4.2%) belonged to O-JST002611, one (4.2%) belonged to O-M133, one (4.2%) belonged to O-M159, one (4.2%) belonged to O-M119(xP203, M50), and one (4.2%) belonged to D-M15.^[55]

A study published in 2010 reported the following data obtained through analysis of the Y-DNA of a sample from Vietnam (more precisely, Austro-Asiatic speakers from Southern Vietnam according to He Jun-dong et al.): 20.0% (14/70) O-M111, 15.7% (11/70) O-M134, 14.3% (10/70) O-JST002611, 7.1% (5/70) O-M95(xM111), 7.1% (5/70) Q-P36(xM346), 5.7% (4/70) O-M7, 5.7% (4/70) O-P203, 4.3% (3/70) C-M217, 2.9% (2/70) D-M15, 2.9% (2/70) N-LLY22g(xM178, M128), 2.9% (2/70) O-P197*(xJST002611, P201), 2.9% (2/70) O-47z, 1.4% (1/70) J2-M172, 1.4% (1/70) J-M304(xM172), 1.4% (1/70) O-P201(xM7, M134), 1.4% (1/70) O-P31(xM176, M95), 1.4% (1/70) O-M176(x47z), 1.4% (1/70) R-M17.^[56]

The individuals who comprise the KHV (Kinh in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) sample of the 1000 Genomes Project have been found to belong to the following Y-DNA haplogroups: 26.1% (12/46) O-M88/M111, 13.0% (6/46) O-M7, 8.7% (4/46) O-JST002611, 8.7% (4/46) O-F444 (= O-M134(xM117)), 8.7% (4/46) O-M133, 6.5% (3/46) O-M95(xM88/M111), 4.3% (2/46) O-P203.1, 4.3% (2/46) O-F2159 (= O-KL2(xJST002611)), 4.3% (2/46) Q-Y529, 2.2% (1/46) O-CTS9996 (= O-K18(xM95)), 2.2% (1/46) O-CTS1754 (= O-M122(xM324)), 2.2% (1/46) O-F4124 (= O-N6 or O-P164(xM134)), 2.2% (1/46) C-F845, 2.2% (1/46) F-Y27277(xM427, M428), 2.2% (1/46) N1b2a-M1811, 2.2% (1/46) N1a2a-M128.^[57][58]

Mitochondrial DNA

Schurr & Wallace (2002) displayed the mtDNA haplogroup profile for a sample of 28 Vietnamese as follows: 17.9% belonged to B/B*, 32.1% belonged to F, 32.1% belonged to M and 17.9% belonged to other haplogroups.^[49]

He Jun-dong et al. (2012) found that the mtDNA haplogroup profile for a sample of 139 Kinh was as follows: twenty-four (17.27%) belonged to B4, nineteen (13.67%) belonged to B5, one (0.72%) belonged to B6, four (2.88%) belonged to D, twenty-nine (20.86%) belonged to F, one (0.72%) belonged to G, seven (5.04%) belonged to M*, twenty-one (15.11%) belonged to M7, twelve (8.63%) belonged to M8, four (2.88%) belonged to M9a'b, one (0.72%) belonged to M10, two (1.44%) belonged to M12, one (0.72%) belonged to N*, two (1.44%) belonged to N9a, ten (7.19%) belonged to R9 and one (0.72%) belonged to W4.^[51]

Sara Pischedda et al. (2017) found that the mtDNA haplogroup profile for a sample of 399 Kinh was as follows: 1% belonged to A, 23% belonged to B, 2% belonged to C, 4% belonged to D, 35% belonged to M (xD,C), 8% belonged to N(xB,R9'F,A) and 27% belonged to R9'F.^[53]

Genetic contribution to Koreans

Bhak Jong-hwa, a professor in the biomedical engineering department at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), said that the ancient Vietnamese, which was a population that flourished with rapid agricultural development after 8,000 BC, slowly travelled north to ancient civilizations in the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. Bhak said that Korean people were formed from the admixture of agricultural Southern Mongoloids from Vietnam who went through China, hunter-gatherer Northern Mongoloids in the Korean Peninsula and another group of Southern Mongoloids. Bhak said, "We believe the number of ancient dwellers who migrated north from Vietnam far exceeds the number of those occupying the peninsula," making Koreans inherit more of their DNA from southerners.^[59][60]

In later history, there was intermarriage between the aristocracies of Korea and Vietnam, especially with that involving an heir of the Lý Dynasty, Lý Long Tường, who was exiled to Goryeo and who was to become the progenitor of the Hwasan Lee clan that would take root on the Korean peninsula.

Legend and early history

According to legend, the first Vietnamese descended from the dragon lord Lạc Long Quân and the female heavenly angel Âu Cơ. They married and had one hundred eggs, from which hatched one hundred children. Their eldest son ruled as the Hùng king.

First Vietnamese

Historians believe that the earliest Vietnamese people gradually moved from the Indonesian archipelago through the Malay Peninsula and Thailand until they settled on the edges of the Red River in the Tonkin Delta.^{[citation needed]} Archaeologists follow a path of stone tools from the Late Pleistocene across Java, Malaysia, Thailand and north to Burma. These stone tools are thought to be the first human tools used in Southeast Asia. Archaeologists believe that at this time the Himalayas, a chain of mountains in northern Burma and China, created an icy barrier which isolated the people of Southeast Asia. During the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000-18,000 BCE), ocean levels dropped significantly. This resulted in the exposure of the shallow areas surrounding the coasts and islands of Southeast Asia - today known as the Sunda Shelf.

It is generally thought^{[citation needed]} that the exposed Sunda Shelf looked like a giant salt plain, and that perhaps people ventured out across this area to settle on other coasts or islands. Later, when the glaciers melted, the Sunda Shelf again disappeared under water. Because it is a relatively shallow body of water, it has always provided a safe area for traders and travelers in small boats to pass safely without the threat of high or choppy seas. In this way, the geography of the area has had a lot to do with the way in which cultures developed. As the map indicates, outside the Sunda Shelf are deep ocean basins which were not often crossed until heavier and wider Chinese vessels (massive vessels from the Song dynasty (960-1279), which dwarfed later European man-of-war sailing ships) could traverse these deep and sometimes dangerous seas.

As the glaciers melted and the seas near these coasts rose, traders and other travelers who wanted to migrate to other areas, or perhaps to proselytize religion, used boats as transport. For the next 4,000 years, until 8000 BCE, people also moved across the mainland of Southeast Asia towards the Tonkin Delta, some stopping and settling along the way. Eventually, the descendants of these migratory peoples entered the Neolithic Age (from around 8000-800 BCE), when humans started to use simple stone tools. Remains of these people and the Hoabinhian culture have been found in the Hòa Bình Caves along the Red River and in the Tonkin Delta. In the Middle Neolithic Period (2500–2000 BCE), more people appeared in the area of present-day Vietnam and settled at another location called Bắc Sơn, in a central area of the Tonkin Delta. These people were probably somewhat taller and lighter-skinned than the Hoabinhian negritos; they excelled in the art of basket weaving as well as in the manufacturing and use of polished double-edged stone tools.

Earlier Vietnamese groups

Map of Văn Lang, 500 BC.

Sometime after the advent of the societies found at Hòa Bình and Bắc Sơn, another group of people developed a culture in what is modern Nghệ An Province, where an aspect of their religion was manifested in large mounds of mollusk shells which had been collected from the Red River Delta. Bodies had been buried under these piles of shells in a seated position with bent knees - in the same position as many buried bodies found throughout Indonesia and the Philippines. This signifies to archaeologists that these early people had an advanced society based on fishing and that their religion was oriented toward the sea. At a location further south of the Tonkin Delta, in the central region of Vietnam's coast, remains of another culture have been found at Sa Huỳnh. The Sa Huỳnh culture existed from about 4000 to 1000 BCE. Tools, ornamental beads, and funerary jars have also been found at these archaeological sites. These jars were usually located at the water's edge and probably signified a dead person's journey out to sea.

Throughout Southeast Asia, the Neolithic Period can be considered the period in which organized societies developed. During this period the Vietnamese people spread across a large area from the foothills of the Annamite Range to the eastern coast of Northern Vietnam. It is thought that they lived in small communities with groups of extended families living in a simple communal way. The growing of rice, their staple food, had developed into two distinct methods, shifting cultivation, done on a dry field, usually in upland areas, and wet rice cultivation, which involved the construction of dikes around rivers that collected water into knee-deep ponds in which the rice was grown.

Cultural and historical influences

North

Before the Chinese actually colonized Vietnam, groups from southern China began to move into the Tonkin Delta in order to start new lives after being forced to leave their homelands. Thus, around the 3rd century BC, changes in China began to heavily influence the Đông Sơn culture which was thriving in Vietnam. One important series of changes occurred along the Yangtze River in southern China. According to historians, in 333 BC, three cultures, the Shu, the Ch'u, and the Yueh began to fight among themselves, causing the Yueh to move south in small scattered kingdoms. At the same time, the central power of northern China, the Ch'in Dynasty, began to split so that a large number of princes and members of the aristocracy also moved south to start their own small kingdoms. Sino-Vietnamese 越 gave the name "Viet".

People of Tonkin, 1861-1880

The people of the Red River civilizations, also known as Lac society, began to feel the effects of these newcomers who gradually moved into their homelands. Many historians believe that it was not difficult for the Yueh to be incorporated into Lac society. However, the Au Lac lords began to fight with the Ch'in princes. While they were involved in this fighting, another group from the northwest, the Thuc (who had once been the Shu of the Yangtze River) took advantage of weakness in the area and asserted their authority. The legendary Cổ Loa Citadel, the remains of which can still be seen today. An Dương Vương's arrival explains the origins of the legendary Âu Lạc kingdom which is usually associated with the height of Đông Sơn culture. Vietnamese language may be representative of these influences.

South

Vietnam today is characterized by two major river deltas, the Red River Delta in the north and the Mekong Delta in the south. In prehistoric times, before the ethnic Vietnamese moved southward, another kingdom formed along the coasts north of the Mekong Delta. It was composed of Malayo-Polynesian people and was highly influenced by Indian and Indonesian traders and religious people. This area developed into the kingdom of Champa which was similar to other Hindu-Buddhist civilizations which were being formed in Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Champa did not become an established kingdom until 192 AD after which time it became quite advanced with walled cities, books and archives, palaces, and monuments, many of which were built by slaves. Residents of Champa were able to grow two crops of rice per year with a sophisticated system of irrigation which was overseen by a water chief, someone selected to monitor the irrigation ditches and canals. While some cities in Champa remained centers of religion and trade, this kingdom was mostly made up of small territories in river valleys and on coastal plains, each with a local ruler who was seen by his subjects as a representative of the gods. The height of Cham civilization occurred during the 6th to 8th centuries. At this time, much trading occurred between the Chams and the highlanders who needed salt as well as with coastal villages in Vietnam and with China. Important trade items included elephant and rhinoceros tusks, cardamom, bee wax, aromatic woods and betel nut. However, when times were not going well in the small coastal city-states, the people turned to looting and pirating in other coastal towns of Champa and Vietnam. After centuries of these pirate raids, the Vietnamese began to fight back and eventually conquered Champa, but not before many aspects of Cham society were incorporated into the societies of Vietnam Cham society is organized in a cluster of City-States, not very different from ancient Greece, in contrast of centralized Vietnamese society influenced by China in the north.

Prehistoric mythology

The movement and changing cultures of early Vietnam are explained through myths which give historians insight into what might have happened in the Dong Son era. The most well-known origin myth says the first Vietnamese people originated from the marriage of a dragon father and a fairy mother who had 100 sons. Because the dragon was a water creature and the fairy was a land creature, they decided they could no longer stay together. The fairy mother took 50 sons to the highlands, and the dragon father took 50 sons to the coast. One of the sons who went with the dragon father became the founder of the Hung Dynasty which is thought to have existed from as early as 2769 BC until 100 AD. The 50 sons who went to the coast are considered to be the people of the Lac Kingdom. According to historians and archaeologists, the Lac people were coastal people who had developed a sophisticated wet rice agricultural society from as early as 1500 BC. The Hungs, as depicted in the mythology, were mountain people who are believed to have had a reciprocal agreement with the Lac Kingdom so that the Hungs protected the Lacs from aggressive mountain groups in return for rice and other crops grown on the coastal plains of the Red River. These mythological stories, which in many cases can be matched with archaeological remains, tell of the joining of fire and water, or the earth people and the water people. The joining of these two elements has both historical and religious meaning.^[61]
 

Percentage of Vietnamese people, by province (2009)^[62]

 

  <20 div="">

  20%-40%

  40%-60%

  60%-80%

  80%-95%

  >95%

Many historians believe that the original people of Vietnam came both overland and across the water bringing different cultures, languages, and types of people together in the Tonkin Delta. Some historians believe that the water god of the Dong Son people was the frog, which might explain the many frogs found on the Dong Son drums and might indicate that the first Dong Son people arrived in Vietnam by sea. Later this symbol was changed to the dragon following Chinese mythology. These origin myths were not written down by the Vietnamese people until about the 13th century AD, long after the Vietnamese had been colonized by the Chinese.^[63]
 

Rickshaw in Hanoi in the 19th century

Origin myths also show how the early Vietnamese people saw themselves in terms of their environment. Since water and sun were the most important elements of nature, they were incorporated into their mythology in a way which gave the people and the elements a common origin. Much of early Vietnamese religion involved nature and human relationships with their surroundings. The early Vietnamese people compared the soil, the water, and the sun to God in animism. In these elements there was energy which benefited the people and the greater power to help or to destroy. At times this power was compared to that of a child who may cause great destruction without even realizing it. In the earliest times people believed in ghosts and spirits which were thought to dwell in every tree, stone, mountain, cloud, stream, and animal. Rocks and mountains were thought to be able to multiply. These spirits were said to be the wandering souls of the dead, the ancestors of the people who had settled nearby. This type of religion is known as an ancestor cult. Because the ancestor spirits were the medium between living people and the greater forces of nature, they had to be honored in rituals and sacrifices in order to maintain harmony between the elements, the spirits, the ancestors, and the people. Later, as the Vietnamese people were converted to Buddhism, Taoism, and then Confucianism by the Chinese, most villagers maintained these original beliefs—especially those involving ancestor cult and incorporated them into the new religions. This is an example of "creative borrowing" by a people while their own culture remains a strong underlying force.^[64]

Early historical period

Chinese histories refer to the early inhabitants of southern China and northern Vietnam as the Baiyue, also shortened to Yuè,^[65] which is cognate to Vietnamese Việt. In 258 BCE An Dương Vương founded the kingdom of Âu Lạc in the area of present-day northern Vietnam. In 208 BC, Zhao Tuo, a former Qin dynasty general from China, allied with the leaders of the Yue in the area of modern-day Guangdong and declared himself king of the Nanyue "Southern Yue". He defeated An Dương Vương and combined Âu Lạc with his territories in southern China.

Diaspora

Vietnamese New Year parade, San Jose, California.

Originally from northern Vietnam and southern China, the Vietnamese have conquered much of the land belonging to the former Champa Kingdom and Khmer Empire over the centuries. They are the dominant ethnic group in most provinces of Vietnam, and constitute a significant portion of the population of Cambodia.

Beginning around the sixteenth century, groups of Vietnamese migrated to Cambodia and China for commerce and political purposes. Descendants of Vietnamese migrants in China form the Gin ethnic group in the country and primarily reside in and around Guangxi Province. Vietnamese form the largest ethnic minority group in Cambodia, at 5% of the population.^[66] Under the Khmer Rouge, they were heavily persecuted and survivors of the regime largely fled to Vietnam.

During French colonialism, Vietnam was regarded as the most important colony in Asia by the French colonial powers, and the Vietnamese had a higher social standing than other ethnic groups in French Indochina.^[67] As a result, educated Vietnamese were often trained to be placed in colonial government positions in the other Asian French colonies of Laos and Cambodia rather than locals of the respective colonies. There was also a significant representation of Vietnamese students in France during this period, primarily consisting of members of the elite class. A large number of Vietnamese also migrated to France as workers, especially during World War I and World War II, when France recruited soldiers and locals of its colonies to help with war efforts in Metropolitan France. The wave of migrants to France during World War I formed the first major presence of Vietnamese people in France and the Western world.^[68]

When Vietnam gained its independence from France in 1954, a number of Vietnamese loyal to the colonial government also migrated to France. During the partition of Vietnam into North and South, a number of South Vietnamese students also arrived to study in France, along with individuals involved in commerce for trade with France, which was a principal economic partner with South Vietnam.^[68]

The Fall of Saigon and end of the Vietnam War prompted the start of the Vietnamese diaspora, which saw millions of Vietnamese fleeing the country from the new communist regime. Recognizing an international humanitarian crisis, many countries accepted Vietnamese refugees, primarily the United States, France, Australia and Canada.^[69] Meanwhile, under the new communist regime, tens of thousands of Vietnamese were sent to work or study in Eastern Bloc counties of Central and Eastern Europe as development aid to the Vietnamese government and for migrants to acquire skills that were to be brought home to help with development.^[70] However, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a vast majority of these overseas Vietnamese decided to remain in their host nations.