The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel in Quang Tri province that was the dividing line between North Vietnam and South Vietnam from 22 July 1954 to 2 July 1976, when Vietnam was officially divided into the two military gathering areas, which was supposed to be sustained in the short term after the First Indochina War.
During the Vietnam War (1955–1975) it became important as the battleground demarcation between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. The zone de jure ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam in 1976.