The Mekong Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông), also known as the South-western region (Tây Nam Bộ) is the region of southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The region comprises 12 provinces: Long An, Đồng Tháp, Tiền Giang, An Giang, Bến Tre, Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, Hậu Giang, Kiên Giang, Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu, and Cà Mau, along with the province-level municipality of Cần Thơ. The area became part of Cochinchina, France’s first colony in Vietnam, and later, part of French Indochina. The French patrolled and fought on the waterways of the Mekong Delta region throughout the First Indochina War (1946-1954). During the Second Indochina War (1955-1975) the Delta region saw savage fighting between National Liberation Front (NLF) guerrillas and the US –Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) allied forces. In the late-1970s, the Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer the Delta region. This campaign precipitated the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and subsequent downfall of the Khmer Rouge in the Third Indochina War (1979).
