Indochina

Indochina is another name for the southeastern Asian peninsula that comprises the territory of the countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Laos. This region is heavily affected by the cultural influence of China, and to a lesser extent India. The name French Indochina refers to a former federation of southeastern Asian states comprised of the French protectorates of Cochin China, Tonkin, Annam, Laos, and Cambodia. This federation was located in the easternmost region of the Indochinese peninsula and faced the South China Sea. The people of the region lived under Chinese control from nearly 111 BCE until 939 CE when they achieved independence as the kingdom of Dai Viet. Prior to the sixteenth century the region saw the rise and fall of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia, and the kingdom of Champa in Vietnam. European influence began as early as the sixteenth century, but it was in the nineteenth century that western powers raced to colonize the area. Early on, the French took Cochin China as a colony and gained protectorates over Cambodia, Annam, and Tonkin. In 1887 they formed those four states into a union of Indochina, headed by a governor-general. Later, in 1893, Laos was added to the union. French control of Indochina officially ended at the Geneva Conference of 1954.

From the game's History encyclopedia, AoE3: DE 100.19.18309.