 Known as "Nam Bộ" today in Vietnamese, it was historically called as "" (1779–1832), "Nam Kỳ" (1832–1945), "Nam Bộ" (1945–48), and "Nam Phần" (1948–75).Southern Vietnam ("Basse-Cochinchine" in French, or Lower Cochinchina), whose principal city is Saigon, is the newest territory of the Vietnamese people in the movement of "Nam tiến" (Southward expansion).This region was also the first part of Vietnam to be colonized by the French as French Cochinchina.