For Bookings: www.asiatravel.com For More Video: book.asiatravel.com Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) (Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh pronunciation (help·info) ) is the largest city in Vietnam. It was known as Prey Nokor (Khmer: ) before being annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn; pronunciation (help·info)), it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. In 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province of Gia Định and was officially renamed Hồ Chí Minh City (although the name Sài Gòn - formally known as District 1 - is still commonly used.)[2] The city center is situated on the banks of the Saigon River, 60 kilometers (37 mi) from the South China Sea[3] and 1760 kilometers (1094 mi) south of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The metropolitan area, which consists of Hồ Chí Minh City metro area, Thủ Dầu Một, Di An, Bien Hoa and surrounding towns, is populated by more than 9 million people,[4] making it the most populous metropolitan area[5] in Vietnam and Indochina. The Greater Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area, a metropolitan area covering most part of Dong Nam Bo plus Tien Giang and Long An provinces under planning will have an area of 30000 square kilometers with a population of 20 million inhabitants by 2020.[6] Ho Chi Minh City began as a small fishing village known as Prey Nokor. The area that the city now occupies was originally swampland <b>...</b>