Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam including Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1948. In 1864, all French territories in southern Vietnam were declared to be the new French colony of Cochinchina, which was to be governed by Admiral Jules Marie Dupr矇 from 1868-74. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bo.