Saigon, Vietnam
Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam. It was once known as Prey Nokor, an important Khmer sea port prior to annexation by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam 1955–75. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province. It was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after Hồ Chí Minh (although the name Sài Gòn is still unofficially widely used).
The metropolitan area, which consists of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, Thủ Dầu Một, Dĩ An, Biên Hòa and surrounding towns, is populated by more than 9,000,000 people, making it the most populous metropolitan area in Vietnam. The city’s population is expected to grow to 13.9 million in 2025.
My father served as an Intelligence Officer in 20 Indian Division in Saigon in 1945. The site of his first HQ, is the Foreign Correspondent’s Club. A police station marks the site of his second HQ, which he moved to when the first site was not big enough.
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