Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/940

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

818 FRANCE : — ANNAM — CAMBODIA

the bay, was placed under the authority of the Governor-General of Indo- China. The territory has been divided into 3 administrative circumscrip- tions, but the Chinese communal organisation is maintained. Its area is about 190 square miles and its population about 150,000. The imports are chiefly cotton yarns, opium, petroleum ; the exports are straw sacks, swine, mats. The port is a free port. The territory is regularly visited by the vessels of two French companies. Official buildings, a post office, roads, &c. , have been or are being constructed.

British Consul at Hanoi. — T. F. Carlisle.

British Vice-Consul at Saigon. — J. L. O'Connell.

Annam.

French intervention in the aflfairs of Annam, which began as early as 1787, was terminated by a treaty, signed on June 6, 1884, and ratified at Hue on February 23, 1886, by which a French protectorate has been estab- lished over Annam. The King Than Thai, Avho succeeded to the throne in 1889, has, in accordance with the wishes of the French Government, abdicated in favour of his second son, Duy-Tan, 8 years of age (1907), who is placed under the control of a Council of Regency. The ports of Turan, Qui-Nhon, and Xuan Day are opened to European commerce, and the customs revenue conceded to France ; French troops occupy part of the citadel called Mang-Ca) of Hue, the capital (population 60,611). Bin-Dinb, the largest town, has 74,400 inhabitants. Annamite functionaries, under the control of the French Government, administer all the internal affairs of Annam. The area of the protectorate is about 52,100 square miles, with a population in 1911 of 5,554,822, including 1,899 Europeans (exclusive of the militar}^ forces). The population is Annamite in the towns and along the coast, and consists of various tribes of Mois in the hilly tracts. There are 5 secondary schools with 23 teachers and 596 pupils. Local budget, 1912, balanced at 3,256,462 piastres. The Phanrang river has been utilised to irrigate about 10,000 acres, and similar works, on a smaller scale, have been carried out in Central Annam. The productions are rice, maize and other cereals, the areca nut, mulberry, cinnamon, tobacco, sugar, betel, manioc, baniboo, excellent timber, also caoutchouc, cardamoms, coffee, dye, and medicinal plants. Raw silk is produced, amounting annually to about 300,000 kilogrammes, one-third of which is exported, and the remainder used in native manufactures. There are about 215,000 head of cattle in Annam and cattle rearing is of some importance. There are iron, copper, zinc, and gold in the province of Quang-nam ; the mines are worked by natives. At Nongson, near Tourane, coal mines are worked. In North, Central, and Southern Annam there are salt ^^■orks. The chief imports are cotton-yarn, cottons, tea, petroleum, paper goods, and tobacco; chief exports, sugar, rice, cotton and silk tissues, and paper. 132 vessels of 62,336 metric tons entered at the ports in 1908.

Cambodia.

Area, 45,000 square miles ; population in 1911, 1,634,252, of whom 1,092 were Europeans (excluding the military forces). The present King, Sisowath, in 1 904 succeeded his late brother, Norodom, Avho had recognised the French ))rotectorate in 1863. The country is divided into 57 provinces. The two chief, towns are Pnom-Penh {poj)uiation 62,255), the capital of the temtory, and Kampot, a seaport but not accessible for sea-going vessels. The budget is estimated at 4,232,416, dollars, including a sum of 525,000 dollars allowed