Ho Chi Minh City, also known by its former name of Saigon, is a city in Vietnam. With a municipal population of over 8.4 million, and a metropolitan area of around 12 million people, it is the largest city in the country. The earliest settlement in the area was a Funan temple, founded in the 4th century AD. A settlement called Baigaur, part of the Cham Empire, was established on the site in the 11th century and renamed to Prey Nokor when the empire was invaded by the Khmer people. The Khmer king began allowing Vietnamese people to live in the city from 1623, and it became a Vietnamese city under the leadership of Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh in 1698. Initially called Gia Dinh, the Vietnamese city became Saigon in the 18th century. The city was part of the French Empire from 1862 and after World War II became capital of the state of South Vietnam. The city was taken over by North Vietnam in 1975, an event which ended the Vietnam War.Photograph: Diego Delso