Indochina

Meanings

1. A peninsula and geographic region of Southeast Asia, consisting of the mainland portion, not including islands such as those of Indonesia.
2. A former French colony in Southeast Asia comprising the peninsula containing Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; in full, French Indochina.

Etymology

From Indo- + China, modelled after French Indochine. Name first proposed in the early 19th century by Scottish poet and orientalist John Leyden and later first used in Précis de Géographie universelle by Conrad Malte-Brun.