Mekong Delta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the geographical region. For the German heavy metal band, see Mekong Delta (band).
The Mekong Delta (Vietnamese: đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta”) is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of 39,000 km² [1]. The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.
Contents |
[edit] Vietnam War
During French colonialism in Cochinchina, the first nationalist revolt, in the name of the king, started in that Mekong delta and was followed by the First Indochina War fought by the French with their “Dinassaut” on waterways and copied later by the US Navy Mobile Riverine Force[1].
During the Vietnam War, the Delta region saw fighting between NLF guerrillas and units of the United States Navy's swift boats and PACVs.
[edit] Economy
The area is home to large numbers of rice fields. In 2004, in large part thanks to the Mekong Delta, Vietnam was the third largest exporter of rice globally after Thailand and India. In 2003, Vietnam was the world's second largest exporter of rice [2]. Additionally, the region is home to large exports of basa fish, tra fish and shrimp, much of which is exported.
[edit] Demographics
The inhabitants of the Mekong Delta region are largely ethnic Viet, with Khmer minority populations living primarily in the Trà Vinh, Sóc Trăng, and Muslim Chăm in Tan Chau, by An Giang provinces. There are also sizeable Hoa (ethnic Chinese) populations in the Kiên Giang and Trà Vinh provinces.
[edit] External links
- Mekong Delta travel guide from Wikitravel
- a browsable satellite photo
- PBS
- McLeod - Ibiblio
- Maps
- Mekong Delta & Mytho Information
- Mekong Delta Aptech
|
|||||||
