South Vietnam came into being after the partition of Vietnam in 1954. Though the social construct remained the same, power was shifted to the elites of the country.

The urban and rural set up depended largely on peasant economy and remained unaltered despite the large number of immigrant refugees from North Vietnam.

Unlike North Vietnam, South Vietnam did not make any effort to change the society, cultural values or the laws of the land. The capital of South Vietnam was Saigon.

Political instabilities along with the Vietnam War had devastative effects on the country’s socio-economic status and its people. Almost 12 million people in South Vietnam were displaced. Most of the villages except a few remote ones were ruined.

Former social structures broke down and the entire country was struggling for survival under the absence of a cohesive force. In 1976 Vietnam was reunited and South Vietnam ceased to exist as an independent nation.