Anam
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or ANNAM, a French protectorate comprising the central part of French Indo-China. Its area is 52,100 square miles. Topography. - Anam is mountainous on the N. but in the E. is nearly level, terminating toward the sea in an alluvial plain yielding good crops of rice, cotton, fruits, ginger, and spices, and a great variety of varnish trees, palms, etc. The principal river is the Mekong, which has numerous tributaries, many of them being joined together by canals, both for irrigation and commerce. Agriculture is the chief occupation, but many of the inhabitants are engaged in the spinning and weaving of cotton and silk into coarse fabrics, the preparation of varnish, iron smelting, and the construction of ships or junks. The chief products of the country are cotton, rice maize, and other cereals. Tobacco, sugar, manioc, and bamboo are also extensively produced. The production of raw silk forms an important industry, and about 800,000 kilograms are produced annually. Copper, iron, zinc, and gold exist in various parts of the country. The imports in 1918 amounted to 5,067,518 francs, and the exports to 8,705,679 francs. The leading exports are cotton yarn, cotton, tea, petroleum, paper goods, and tobacco. The chief imports are sugar, rice, cinnamon, tea, and paper. Pop. about 5,200,000. People. The inhabitants are said to be the ugliest of the Mongoloid races of the peninsula, being under the middle size and less robust than the surrounding peoples. Their language is monosyllabic, and is connected with the Chinese. The religion of the majority is Buddhism, but the educated classes hold the doctrines of Confucius; besides which there are 420,000 Roman Catholics. The capital is Huë. History. Anam was conquered by the Chinese in 214 B. C., but in 1428 A. D. it completely won its independence. The French began to interfere actively in its affairs in 1847 on the plea of protecting the native Christians. By the treaties of 1862 and 1867 they obtained the southern and most productive part of Cochin- China, subsequently known as French Cochin-China; and in 1874 they obtained large powers over Tonquin, notwithstanding the protests of the Chinese. Finally, in 1883, Tonquin was ceded to France, and next year Anam was declared a French protectorate. After a short period of hostilities with China the latter recognized the French claims, and Tonquin is now directly administered by France, while Anam is entirely under French direction.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, Annam was a French protectorate under Emperor Khai Dinh with its capital at Hue; the name has since vanished from the map. Japanese occupation, Bao Dai's abdication in 1945, the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and partition at the 17th parallel cut the old protectorate in two, and the reunification of Vietnam in 1976 left central Vietnam simply as provinces of one state, its population now around 100 million. Hue itself, described here only as the capital, was wrecked in the battle of Tet in 1968, though its citadel and imperial tombs are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Two claims in the account no longer pass: the Mekong does not drain Annam, which is watered by short rivers running off the Annamite chain, and the description of the inhabitants as "the ugliest of the Mongoloid races" belongs to a racial anthropology that has been wholly abandoned.
Written for this edition, 2026.