Ownership and Distribution of Communal Land in Central Vietnam from Late 19th Century to 1945

Abstract

The paper explores village land management in Trung Kỳ (central Vietnam during the French colonial period) from the end of the 19^th century to 1945 from the perspective of land ownership and distribution of communal, or public, cultivation land. During the French colonial period, the region had two main forms of land ownership, namely, communal ownership (communal land) and private ownership (private land), with communal ownership of land accounting for a relatively high proportion and mainly characterised as small-scale ownership. The fact that ownership and allocation of communal cultivation land were for local interests coupled with lack of transparency gave rise to conflicts and lawsuits in villages.