Timeline: Vietnam

A chronology of key events:

1930 - Ho Chi Minh founds the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).

Images of founding father Ho Chi Minh abound Born 1890 Founded Indochina Communist Party 1930 President of North Vietnam 1945-69 Died 1969 2003: Legacy wears thin

1941 - ICP organises a guerrilla force, Viet Minh, in response to invasion by Japan during World War II.

1945 - The Viet Minh seizes power. Ho Chi Minh announces Vietnam's independence.

1946 - French forces attack Viet Minh in Haiphong in November, sparking the war of resistance against the colonial power.

1950 - Democratic Republic of Vietnam is recognised by China and USSR.

1954 - Viet Minh forces attack an isolated French military outpost in the town of Dien Bien. The attempt to take the outpost lasts two months, during which time the French government agrees to peace talks in Geneva. At the Geneva conference, Vietnam is split into North and South at the 17th Parallel.

VIETNAM WAR US, South Vietnam failed to stop communist-led unification War, known as "American War" in Vietnam, claimed millions of lives 1955-1975 58,000 Americans died Vietnam War: History On This Day: Saigon surrenders In pictures: The Vietnam War

1956 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem begins campaign against political dissidents.

1957 - Beginning of communist insurgency in the South.

1959 - Weapons and men from North Vietnam begin infiltrating the South.

1960 - American aid to Diem increased.

1962 - Number of US military advisors in South Vietnam rises to 12,000.

1963 - Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas operating in South Vietnam, defeat units of the ARVN, the South Vietnamese Army. President Diem is overthrown.

US enters the war

1964 - US destroyer allegedly attacked by North Vietnamese patrol boats. This triggers start of pre-planned American bombing raids on North Vietnam.

1965 - 200,000 American combat troops arrive in South Vietnam.

1966 - US troop numbers in Vietnam rise to 400,000, then to 500,000 the following year.

AGENT ORANGE Herbicide used by US forces to clear vegetation, depriving enemy of cover Name derives from orange markings on the drums containing the chemical Children born in areas sprayed have disproportionate rate of mental and physical problems Legacy of Agent Orange

1968 - Tet Offensive - a combined assault by Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army on US positions - begins. More than 500 civilians die in the massacre at My Lai.

1969 - Ho Chi Minh dies. President Nixon begins to reduce US ground troops in Vietnam as domestic public opposition to the war grows.

1970 - Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Le Duc Tho, for the Hanoi government, start talks in Paris.

1973 - Ceasefire agreement in Paris, US troop pull-out completed by March.

1975 - North Vietnamese troops invade South Vietnam and take control of the whole country after South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh surrenders.

Reconstruction

1976 - Socialist Republic of Vietnam proclaimed. Saigon is re-named Ho Chi Minh City. Hundreds of thousands flee abroad, including many "boat people".

Clinton visit: US president aimed to redeem "painful past" In pictures: Clinton's Vietnam visit

1979 - Vietnam invades Cambodia and ousts the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. In response, Chinese troops cross Vietnam's northern border. They are pushed back by Vietnamese forces. The number of "boat people" trying to leave Vietnam causes international concern.

1986 - Nguyen Van Linh becomes party leader. He introduces a more liberal economic policy.

1989 - Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia.

1992 - New constitution adopted allowing certain economic freedoms. The Communist Party remains the leading force in Vietnamese society.

1994 - US lifts its 30-year trade embargo.

1995 - Vietnam and US restore full diplomatic relations. Vietnam becomes full member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

1997 - Le Kha Phieu becomes party leader. Tran Duc Luong chosen as president, Phan Van Khai becomes prime minister.

1998 - A senior party member, Pham The Duyet, faces charges of corruption. Economic growth slumps in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

1999 - A former high-ranking party member, Tran Do, is expelled after calling for more democracy and freedom of expression.

Pedal power in the capital, Hanoi

2000 - US President Bill Clinton pays a three-day official visit. The US pledges more help to clear landmines left over from the Vietnam war. The Vietnamese government estimates nearly 40,000 people have been killed by unexploded munitions.

2001 April - The Communist Party chooses Nong Duc Manh as its new leader.

2001 December - US, Vietnam implement a trade agreement which normalises the trade status between them.

2002 January - First sets of remains of Vietnamese soldiers killed in Cambodia are repatriated. More than 10,000 are estimated to have been killed in the wars against the French, the Americans and during Vietnam's 10-year occupation of the country.

2002 May - Russia hands back the Cam Ranh Bay naval base, once the largest Soviet base outside the Warsaw Pact.

National Assembly elections return a victory for the ruling Communist Party. No opposition parties contest the poll.

2002 July - President Tran Duc Luong reappointed for second term by National Assembly, which also reappoints Prime Minister Phan Van Khai for second five-year term.

Art of politics: Ruling communists have no rivals 2006: Communist debate grips Vietnam 2004: Vietnam slow to study political reform

2003 June - Showcase trial of Ho Chi Minh City gangster Nam Cam and 154 others hands down six death sentences.

2003 November - First US warship to visit since the Vietnam War sails into port near Ho Chi Minh City.

2004 January - Vietnam confirms the first human deaths from bird flu. Over the course of the year the virus claims more than 30 lives.

2004 December - First US commercial flight since the end of the Vietnam War touches down in Ho Chi Minh City.

2005 June - Prime Minister Phan Van Khai makes the first visit to the US by a Vietnamese leader since the end of the Vietnam War.

2006 January onwards - Senior officials are investigated over the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars of state money in the transport ministry.

2006 June - As part of an anticipated political shake-up, the prime minister, president and National Assembly chairman are replaced by younger leaders.

2007 January - After 12 years of talks Vietnam becomes the 150th member of the World Trade Organization.

2007 February - Government approves a $33bn plan to build a high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

2007 February - US agrees for the first time to help fund a study into the removal of Agent Orange, the highly toxic defoliant used by US forces, from a former US base in Da Nang.

2007 June - President Nguyen Minh Triet makes first visit to the US by a Vietnamese head of state since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

2007 July - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reappointed, promises to push through economic reforms.

2008 January - Vietnam takes up a two-year, non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

2008 April- Vietnam launches first communications satellite from French Guiana.

2008 July - Monthly inflation rate of 27.04% marks largest on-year increase since 1991.

2008 September - Visiting US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte praises the "close partnership" between the two countries.

2008 October - US and international media campaigners condemn guilty verdicts on two Vietnamese journalists Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai, who had helped to expose a major corruption scandal. Latter not imprisoned after pleading guilty.

2008 November - Vietnam says it plans to enforce a two-child policy in an attempt to control population growth.

2008 December - China and Vietnam resolve border dispute 30 years after 1979 war which left tens of thousands dead.

Government bans bloggers from raising "inappropriate" subjects.

2009 January - Nguyen Viet Chien among more than 15,000 prisoners released before the end of their prison terms in Lunar New Year amnesty - one of Vietnam's largest.

Government dismisses Nguyen Cong Khe and Le Hoang, the editors of the two largest pro-reform newspapers, over their coverage of the October corruption scandal trial.