French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China) (French: Indochine française; Lao: ສະຫະພັນອິນດູຈີນ; Khmer: សហភាពឥណ្ឌូចិន; Vietnamese: Đông Dương thuộc Pháp/東洋屬法, IPA: [ɗə̄wŋm jɨ̄əŋ tʰûək fǎp], frequently abbreviated to Đông Pháp; Chinese: 法属印度支那), officially known as the Indochinese Union (French: Union indochinoise) after 1887 and the Indochinese Federation (French: Fédération indochinoise) after 1947, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia.
A grouping of the three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin (north), Annam (centre), and Cochinchina (south) with Cambodia was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and the leased Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan in 1898. The capital was moved from Saigon (in Cochinchina) to Hanoi (Tonkin) in 1902 and again to Da Lat (Annam) in 1939. In 1945 it was moved back to Hanoi.
After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by the Vichy government and was under Japanese occupation until March 1945, when the Japanese overthrew the colonial regime. After the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh, a communist organization led by Hồ Chí Minh, declared Vietnamese independence, but France subsequently took back control of French Indochina. An all-out independence war, known as the First Indochina War, broke out in late 1946 between French and Viet Minh forces.