The Vietnam War took place in Southeast Asia.
Indochina , originally Indo-China , is a geographical term originating in the early nineteenth century and referring to the continental portion of the region now known as Southeast Asia . The term was later adopted as the name of the colony of French Indochina ( today 's Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos ) , and the entire area of Indochina is now usually referred to as the Indochinese Peninsula or Mainland Southeast Asia . Laos , ( [ ˈlɑːoʊs ] , [ ˈlaʊs ] , [ ˈlɑːɒs ] , or [ ˈleɪɒs ] ລາວ , [ láːw ] , Lāo ) officially the Lao People 's Democratic Republic , ( Lao : ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ , Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao ) or commonly referred to its colloquial name of Muang Lao ( Lao : ເມືອງລາວ , Muang Lao ) is a landlocked country in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula of Mainland Southeast Asia , bordered by Myanmar ( Burma ) and China to the northwest , Vietnam to the east , Cambodia to the southwest , and Thailand to the west and southwest . Vietnam ( ˌ ; [ vîət nāːm ] ) , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( SRV ; , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia . The Vietnam War ( Chiến tranh Việt Nam ) , also known as the Second Indochina War , and known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America ( Kháng chiến chống Mỹ ) or simply the American War , was a war that occurred in Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 .