North Vietnam, also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa), was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976.

During World War II, Vietnam was part of French Indochina and also under Japanese occupation. After Japan surrendered, the DRV was proclaimed in Hanoi on September 2, 1945 by Vietminh leader Hồ Chí Minh. In March 1946, an elected National Assembly approved Hồ as the head of the government and former emperor Bảo Đại as supreme advisor. France accepted Hồ's government in March 1946. Non-communist Vietnamese politicians, ousted from the DRV on Oct. 30, went south. In November, the French reoccupied Hanoi and the French Indochina War followed. Bảo Đại agreed to become head of the Cochinchina government in 1949, which was then renamed the State of Vietnam. Following the Geneva Accord of 1954, Vietnam was partitioned. The DRV became the government of North Vietnam while the State of Vietnam retained control in the South.

The Geneva Accord provided that nationwide elections would be held in 1956, but the accord was rejected by South Vietnam. During the Vietnam War (1959–1975), North Vietnam fought to reunify the country under their rule, fighting against the military of South Vietnam and their anti-communist allies. At one point, the U.S. had 600,000 troops in the South. At the end of the war, the North Vietnamese army conquered South Vietnam. The two states were merged in 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.