Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam

Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam and Southern Vietnam are the three main historical, geographical and cultural regions within Vietnam. Each region consists of subregions, with considerable cultural differences originating from each subregions.

Northern Vietnam (Bắc Bộ) includes the following subregions:

• Northeast (Đông Bắc Bộ)
• Northwest (Tây Bắc Bộ)
• Red River Delta (Châu thổ sông Hồng or Đồng bằng sông Hồng)

Central Vietnam (Trung Bộ) includes the following subregions:

• North Central Coast (Bắc Trung Bộ)
• South Central Coast (Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ)
• Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên – "Western Highlands")

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ) includes the following subregions:

• Southeast (Đông Nam Bộ)
• Mekong River Delta (Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long or Tây Nam Bộ - "Southwest")

Historical context

The

Central Vietnam was home to

After the Tây Sơn Wars (1771–1802) and the founding of the Nguyễn dynasty, the country started getting the present shape with the center of power now switched to Huế in Central Vietnam. During French colonialism, the French divided the country into three parts, directly ruling over Cochinchina (southern Vietnam) while establishing protectorates in Annam (central Vietnam) and Tonkin (northern Vietnam). Consequently, Cochinchina was more directly influenced by French culture than the other two regions. Hanoi, being the capital of French Indochina, was the only place in Northern Vietnam with significant French influence.

From 1954 to 1976, Vietnam was again divided into two separate countries, it divided by the

The largest city in the North is Hanoi, the nation's capital; and the country's economic capital and largest city in the South today is Ho Chi Minh City (usually called Saigon).

Cultural differences

The cultural differences between the regions can be divided into two main categories: "tangible" cultural differences such as traditional clothing, cuisine, and so on; and "intangible" cultural differences dealing with stereotypes of behavior, attitude and such between the people of these two regions. Discussions of inherent differences between people in the North and in the South are prohibited and can be classified as "reactionary" in Vietnamese state-controlled media^[1] or ''undermining national unity''.

Perceived traits and stereotypes

While relations between the two groups are generally civil, the increased contact due to the influx of northerners into South since the start of the Vietnam War have given rise to very many stereotypes about people from so different regions; etc.:

• Northerners, especially Hanoians, tend to view themselves as more cultured and refined.^[2][3]
• Southerners consider themselves more dynamic, and tolerant.^[2]
• Northerners are more concerned about status and appearances.^[2][4]
• Southerners are more liberal with their money while Northerners are more thrifty.^[2]
• Northerners are more socially conservative and afraid of change, while Southerners are more dynamic and more socially liberal.^[4]
• Southerners are more
  Socialist and Communist-influenced^[5]
• Southerners are more direct while the northerners are more formal[2]^[4][5]

Cuisine

Cuisine is one of the cultural differences between the regions. Northern Vietnam being the "cradle" of ethnic Vietnamese civilization, bears many of Vietnam's signature dishes (such as

The South's cuisine has been influenced by the cuisines of southern Chinese immigrants and indigenous Cambodians, and thus Southerners prefer sweet and sour flavors, respectively, in many dishes. Examples of sour-flavored food items include canh chua and green mango salad/green papaya salad. Southern cookery also tends to use a significantly larger variety of fresh ingredients while Northern cuisine much relies on preserved and dried goods. The cuisines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia also share considerable similarities in ingredients, cooking style and food dishes, such as hủ tiếu Nam Vang.

Central Vietnamese cooking is distinct from the cuisines of both the Northern and Southern regions, in its use of many small side dishes and requiring more complex preparation (ingredient prep, cooking, serving, etc.). The royal cuisine of Hue places greater importance and food presentation, examples like bánh bèo and bánh bột lọc. It is also distinctive in its spiciness when compared to its counterparts, for example in bún bò Huế. Food items from this region also tend to be lesser in size of individual portions. Central Vietnam dishes also feature a large amount of seafood.

Certain unusual foods are more prevalent in one region than in another. For example, dog meat is much more popular in the North than in the South.^[6] Cat meat is also eaten in Northern parts of the country.^[7][8] Similarly, certain seafood dishes and game meat, such as basa fish or grilled rodent meat, while popular in other parts of the country, is uncommon in the North.

Southern Vietnam has a renowned coffee culture while tea is the preferred beverage in the North.

Clothing

Traditional clothes are also often used to symbolize different regions. In women's attire, commonly the áo tứ thân is associated with the North, the áo ngũ thân with the central region (due to its emergence in the Vietnamese royal court in the 18th century), and the áo bà ba in the South (although many of these clothes are worn across different regions). However, the áo dài is now a very popular and widely worn ladies' attire nationwide.

Linguistic differences

The Vietnamese language features many accents, the three major dialects are those of the North, Center, and South with major differences in

Differences in these accents lie in several different factors, including but not limited to the following:

• Pronunciation of words, an example would be: a Hanoi <d> is pronounced like the English /z/ while a Saigon <d> is pronounced like the English /j/.
• Northern Vietnamese has the full 6 tones, whereas Southern Vietnamese has only 5 (merging two of the tones into one)
• Words ending in "nh" are pronounced differently between North and South (See Vietnamese phonology for details)
• Merging of the "tr" and "ch" sounds in Northern Vietnamese
• Some differences in vocabulary between different regions
• Northerners speak with a higher-pitched accent ^{[citation needed]}.
• Central Vietnamese (in the North-Central Coast, from
  Thừa Thiên – Huế
  ) speak in a high-pitched, diverse accents. In areas of Nghệ An, people living in different villages could speak in completely different accents.
• Southerners, along with the
  Montagnard
  hill tribe ethnicities.

In Central Vietnamese, the number of tones is reduced to 5 (om Quảng Trị and Huế accents) or only 4 (in Hà Tĩnh, Nghệ An and Quảng Bình accents). One of the distinctive feature of Central Vietnamese and Quảng Nam accent is the use of a different set of particles and pronouns, making it stand apart from Northern and Southern Vietnamese. For example, chi, mô, tê, răng and rứa (what, where, that, why and thus) are used instead of gì, đâu, kìa, sao and vậy in Standard Vietnamese.

While these differences may seem superficial to non-Vietnamese speakers, even the difference in phonology. The vocabulary of the different regions also differs, and the difference between Northern and Southern Vietnamese is quite striking.

Kinship terms are especially affected, as each term has a subtly different meaning in each region. In the South, the eldest child in a family is referred by the ordinal number two, while in the North "number two" refers to the second-eldest child. The vocabularies of the different regions also differ. Vocabulary differences can be confusing as sometimes the same word could have different meaning in each dialects. For example, the word mận refers to two different fruits: it is used for Prunus salicina (a type of plum) in the North, while in the South it refers to Syzygium samarangense (the rose apple). Similarly; chè is a dessert in Southern Vietnamese but in the Northern it has two meanings: tea and chè, ốm means sick in Northern Vietnamese and thin in Southern Vietnamese. "bông" refers to flower in Southern Vietnamese but means cotton in Northern Vietnamese, and the word địt refers to flatuence in the South but means "fuck" in the North.

Differences in climate

Vietnam is located in both a tropical and a temperate zone. It is characterized by strong monsoon influences, but has a considerable amount of sun, a high rate of rainfall, and high humidity. Regions located near the tropics and in the mountainous regions are endowed with a temperate climate.^[9]

Northern Vietnam has a

Central and Southern Vietnam, with has a tropical climate, have only two main seasons: a dry season and a rainy season.

Miscellaneous cultural differences

• While Southern Vietnamese often ring in the
  Tết Nguyên Đán with yellow mai (Ochna integerrima) blossoms, Northern Vietnamese often prefer hoa đào (peach
  ) blossoms.

References