Did the Vietnam war really begin hundreds or even thousands of years ago between the North and South?

Answer 1

Vietnam has a long history of occupation and war. For 2,000 years it was intermittently independent and dominated by China. In 1883, it was colonized by France. Vietnam fought a war of independence against the French from 1946 - 1954 and was embroiled in a war with the U.S. from 1965 - 1974. After the war, North and South Vietnam separated in 1954, were united. In 1995 the U.S. established diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

The chief of state is President Tran Duc Luong, who has been in power since Sept. 1997. The prime minister in Phan Van Khai. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the sole political party, and all media outlets in Vietnam are state-owned. Human Rights Watch says that although thousands of political prisoners have been freed in recent years, the Vietnamese gov't continues to suppress, harass and imprison dissidents. Transparency International give Vietnam a rating of 2.4 on it's "corruption perceptions index" of 1 - 10, with 10 being the cleanest ranking.

As of 2003, Vietnam is one of 5 remaining communist countries in the world. The other 4 are Cuba, China, Laos and North Korea.

THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAMPopulation approx. 81 million. About 2 in 3 people is under 15 years of age. Life expectancy is 67 for men and 72 for women.

Vietnamese is the official language; French, Chinese, Khmer and various highlander languages are spoken.

Between 85% and 90% of Vietnam's residents are ethnically Vietnamese. The remaining 10% to 15% are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds: Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham and 50 different highlander (Montagnard) groups.

Vietnam has a low rate of HIV/AIDS, with only 24% prevalence, compared to 61% in the U.S. and 20% in South Africa.

Vietnam is home to 36,000 monks and nuns and more than 28,800 pagoda, temples, monasteries and nunneries. Buddhism is the principal religion. The Taoist, Confucian, Hoan Hao, Caodaist, Muslim and Christian religions are sizable minorities.

Public education at the primary and secondary level is free in Vietnam; private education is allowed only at the college and university level. The literacy rate is 94%.

According to the 2000 U.S. census, there are 1.2 million people of Vietnamese descent in the U.S. 40% of Vietnamese Americans live in California. Another 12% live in Texas.

Answer 2

NO. The Vietnam War from 1955-1975 was the only time that Vietnam was really split between a northern Vietnam and a southern Vietnam. Since Vietnam expanded historically from the north to the south, places like Saigon (in the south) had only been majority Vietnamese for 300 years, in comparison to the area around Hanoi (in the north), the area had been majority Vietnamese for at least 1000 years. However, the expansion of Vietnam southwards was against Non-Vietnamese states, like the Thai Empires of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya or the Cambodian Empire of Angkor or the Lao Kingdom of Luang Prabang or the Cham Kingdom.