page_title: Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
section_title: Establishing the DMZ
hierarchical_section_title: Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone / Establishing the DMZ
caption_attribution_description: English: The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam, March, 1968.
context_page_description: The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War to prevent the reunification of Vietnam.
  During the Vietnam War, it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North from South Vietnamese territories.
  The zone ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam on 2 July 1976, though the area remains dangerous due to the numerous undetonated explosives it contains.
context_section_description: The post-colonial conditions of Vietnam were set at the Geneva Conference of 1954; the agreement was finalized on July 21, 1954.
  The Geneva agreement reflected the military results at that time. The northern part of Vietnam, which was almost entirely controlled by the Viet Minh became the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, under Communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The southern part of Vietnam, where the Viet Minh controlled relatively small and remote areas, became the independent State of Vietnam under Bảo Đại, the last scion of the old Vietnamese imperial house. The State of Vietnam later became the Republic of Vietnam.
  The boundary between these two zones was established at the Ben Hai River, which enters the South China Sea at 17 degrees 0 minutes 54 seconds N latitude. The boundary followed the Ben Hai to its headwaters, about 55 km (35 miles) WSW, and thence to the Laotian border.
  The area within 5 km (3 miles) on either side of the border was declared to be a demilitarized zone. Troops of both governments were barred from this area.  3rd Marine Division intelligence estimated the combat strength of NVA and VC forces in the DMZ area in January 1968 was 40,943 troops. This DMZ was ended by the reunified Vietnam on 2 July 1976.
caption: The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam, March 1968, looking west toward Laos.
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