North Vietnam and South Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa – VNDCCH) was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty recognized in July 1954, after which it became commonly known as North Vietnam. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the anti-communist, French-associated State of Vietnam and later its successor state the Western-allied Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). North Vietnam launched a successful military offensive against South Vietnam in 1975 and was formally reunified with the South the following year to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Republic of Vietnam (RVN; Vietnamese: Việt Nam Cộng hòa, VNCH), commonly known as South Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered recognition in 1949 as the associated State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon. Since 1950, it was a member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War. Following the 1954 partition of Vietnam, it became known as South Vietnam and was established as a republic in 1955. Although South Vietnam failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957, its sovereignty was recognized by 95 countries as of January 1975. It was succeeded by the communist-controlled Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976, North Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.