Six Provinces of Southern Vietnam


The Six Provinces of Southern Vietnam is a historical name for the region of Southern Vietnam, which is referred to in French as Basse-Cochinchine. The region was politically defined and established after the inauguration of the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802, and called by this name from 1832, when Emperor Minh Mạng introduced administrative reforms.
The six provinces into which Emperor Minh Mạng divided Southern Vietnam in 1832 are:
These provinces are often subdivided into two groups: the three eastern provinces of Gia Định, Định Tường, and Biên Hòa; and the three western provinces of Vĩnh Long, An Giang, and Hà Tiên.
The French occupied three eastern provinces in 1862 during the Cochinchina campaign and eventually annexed all six provinces in 1867, establishing the colony of French Cochinchina. In October 1887, Cochinchina was integrated into French Indochina, which lasted until March 1945.

History

The Mekong Delta region was gradually annexed by Vietnam from the Khmer Empire starting in the mid 17th century to the early 19th century, through their Nam tiến territorial expansion campaign. In 1832, Emperor Minh Mạng divided Southern Vietnam into the six provinces Nam Kỳ Lục tỉnh.
According to the Đại Nam nhất thống chí of the Quốc sử quán, in 1698 the lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu established the prefecture of Gia Định. In 1802, emperor Gia Long turned Gia Định prefecture into a township, and in 1808, he renamed Gia Định prefecture into a governorate containing the five townships of Phan Yên, Biên Hòa, Định Tường, Vĩnh Thanh, and Hà Tiên. In 1832, emperor Minh Mạng renamed Phan Yên Citadel into Gia Định Citadel, and the 5 townships were turned into the six provinces of Phan Yên, Biên Hòa, Định Tường, Vĩnh Long, Hà Tiên, and the newly established An Giang. Thus, the Six Provinces was created in 1832; and in 1834 the Six Provinces were collectively called Nam Kỳ. Phan Yên province was renamed to Gia Định province in 1835.
After the French colonial invaders, led by vice-admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly attacked and captured the three eastern provinces of Gia Định, Định Tường, and Biên Hòa in 1862, and invaded the remaining western provinces of Vĩnh Long, An Giang, Hà Tiên in 1867, the French Empire abolished the administrative divisions created by the Nguyễn dynasty. At first, the French used départements instead of prefectures, and arrondissements in place of districts. By 1868, the former Nam Kỳ Lục tỉnh had over 20 arrondissements. Cochinchina was ruled by a French government-appointed governor in Saigon, and each county had a Secrétaire d’Arrondissement. Bạc Liêu county was created in 1882. On 16 January 1899, the counties were changed into provinces per a French government decree, each with a provincial premier who is head of provincial government.

French division into 21 smaller provinces, discontinuation of the ''Six Provinces''

The French government divided the original six provinces into 21 smaller ones. Following the 1899 decrees, starting 01/01/1900 Nam Kỳ would be divided into the following 21 provinces:
The reason for this division into 21 provinces was because the French Empire intended to erase the name "Lục tỉnh" from the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people and language, and cut any feelings of attachment and Vietnamese nationalism with this region to avert potential local revolution or rebellion. However, in 1908 the newspaper Lục Tỉnh Tân Văn whose editor was Gilbert Trần Chánh Chiếu, still commonly used the names "Lục Tỉnh" and "Lục Châu". The French Empire called Southern Vietnam Cochinchine, Northern Vietnam Tonkin and Central Vietnam Annam. Cochinchina itself was an exonym.

Administrative divisions

Sources for entire table: