Editing Ho Chi Minh City (section)

===''State of Vietnam'' and ''Republic of Vietnam'' era===
On 14 June 1949, 10 days after France returned [[French Cochinchina|Cochinchina]] to Vietnam, former Emperor [[Bảo Đại]] made Saigon the capital of the [[State of Vietnam]] with himself as head of state.<ref name="History">{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=K. W. |title=A History of the Vietnamese |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-87586-8 |page=547}}</ref> The state was proclaimed in July. In July 1954, the [[1954 Geneva Conference|Geneva Agreement]] partitioned Vietnam [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone|along]] the [[17th parallel north|17th parallel]] ([[Bến Hải River]]), with the [[Viet Minh|Việt Minh]], under [[Ho Chi Minh]], gaining complete control of [[North Vietnam|the northern half of the country]], while the southern half gained independence from France.<ref name=":4">{{Harvnb|Vo|2011|p=130}}</ref> 

The State officially became the [[Republic of Vietnam]] when Bảo Đại was deposed by his Prime Minister [[Ngô Đình Diệm]] in the 1955 [[1955 State of Vietnam referendum|referendum]],<ref name=":4" /> with Saigon as its capital.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-85109-960-3|editor-last=Tucker|editor-first=Spencer C. |edition=2nd |volume=III |location=California |pages=1010–1011 |chapter=Saigon}}</ref> On 22 October 1956, the city was given the official name, ''{{lang|vi|Đô Thành Sài Gòn}}'' ("Capital City Saigon").<ref name=":6">{{cite web |title=Sài Gòn dưới thời Mỹ Ngụy |url=http://www.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/left/gioi_thieu/lich_su_van_hoa/lich_su/tp_chung_nhan_cua_dong_chay_ls/khang_chien_chong_my/sai_gon_duoi_thoi_my_nguy?left_menu=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518085101/http://www.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/left/gioi_thieu/lich_su_van_hoa/lich_su/tp_chung_nhan_cua_dong_chay_ls/khang_chien_chong_my/sai_gon_duoi_thoi_my_nguy?left_menu=1 |archive-date=2007-05-18 |access-date=2021-05-19 |website=HCM CityWeb |language=vi}}</ref> After the decree of 27 March, 1959 came into effect, Saigon was divided into eight districts and 41 wards.<ref name=":6" /> 

In December 1966, two wards from old An Khánh Commune of Gia Định, were formed into District 1, then seceded shortly later to become District 9.<ref name=":8">{{cite web |title=Lịch sử vùng đất |url=http://www.lienminhhtxhcm.com.vn/VietNam/SaiGon/oldSaiGon/intro1.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907031225/http://www.lienminhhtxhcm.com.vn/VietNam/SaiGon/oldSaiGon/intro1.asp |archive-date=2005-09-07 |access-date=2021-05-22 |publisher=Ho Chi Minh City Cooperative Alliance |language=vi}}</ref> In July 1969, District 10 and District 11 were founded, and by 1975, the city's area consisted of eleven districts, [[Gia Định Province|Gia Định]], [[Củ Chi District]] ([[Hậu Nghĩa Province|Hậu Nghĩa]]), and [[Phú Hòa District]] ([[Bình Dương Province|Bình Dương]]).<ref name=":8" />

Saigon served as the financial, industrial and transport centre of the Republic of Vietnam.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bogle|1972|p=14}}</ref> In the late 1950s, with the U.S. providing nearly $2 billion in aid to the Diệm regime, the country's economy grew rapidly under the [[capitalism|capitalist model]];<ref name=":6" /> by 1960, over half of South Vietnam's factories were located in Saigon.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bogle|1972|p=13}}</ref> However, beginning in the 1960s, Saigon experienced economic downturn and high inflation, as it was completely dependent on U.S. aid and imports from other countries.<ref name=":6" /> As a result of widespread urbanisation, with the population reaching 3.3 million by 1970, the city was described by the [[United States Agency for International Development|USAID]] as being turned "into a huge slum".<ref>{{Harvnb|Bogle|1972|p=31}}</ref> The city also suffered from "prostitutes, drug addicts, corrupt officials, beggars, orphans, and Americans with money", and according to [[Stanley Karnow]], it was "a black-market city in the largest sense of the word".<ref name=":5" />

On 28 April 1955, the [[Vietnamese National Army]] launched [[Battle of Saigon (1955)|an attack]] against [[Bình Xuyên]] military force in the city. The battle lasted until May, killing an estimated 500 people and leaving about 20,000 homeless.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Vo|2011|pp=129–130}}</ref> Ngô Đình Diệm then later turned on other paramilitary groups in Saigon, including the [[Hòa Hảo]] Buddhist reform movement.<ref name=":5" /> On 11 June 1963, Buddhist monk [[Thích Quảng Đức]] self emulated in the city, in protest of the Diệm regime. On 1 November of the same year, Diệm was [[Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem|assassinated]] in Saigon, in a successful coup by [[Dương Văn Minh]].<ref name=":5" />

During the 1968 [[Tet Offensive]], communist forces launched a failed [[Battle of Saigon (1968)|attempt to capture the city]]. Seven years later, on 30 April, 1975, [[Fall of Saigon|Saigon was captured]], ending the [[Vietnam War]] with a victory for North Vietnam,<ref>{{cite web |last=Woollacott |first=Martin |date=21 April 2015 |title=Forty years on from the fall of Saigon: witnessing the end of the Vietnam war |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/apr/21/40-years-on-from-fall-of-saigon-witnessing-end-of-vietnam-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501071233/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/apr/21/40-years-on-from-fall-of-saigon-witnessing-end-of-vietnam-war |archive-date=1 May 2017 |access-date=14 December 2016 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> and the city came under the control of the [[Vietnamese People's Army]].<ref name=":5" />

<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" heights="130" perrow="3" caption="''Gallery of Saigon during the Republic of Vietnam era''">
File:Vietnam Independence Palace 1967.jpg|The [[Independence Palace]] in 1967. It was the [[official residence]] and workplace of the [[Leaders of South Vietnam|President of South Vietnam]].
File:Saigon Opera House, 1967.jpg|The [[Municipal Theatre, Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon Opera House]] as seen from [[Đồng Khởi Street|Tự Do (Liberty) Street]] in 1967.
File:Tu Do Street, Saigon.jpg|Street view of Saigon in 1968.
File:StanVacBuilding1955.jpg|The headquarters of [[Standard Vacuum Oil Company|StanVac]] (now part of [[ExxonMobil|Exxon]]) is an example of Vietnamese modernist architecture which boomed during the era.
</gallery>