Hué

City in central Vietnam, formerly capital of Annam, 13 km/8 mi from the China Sea; population (1995 est) 290,000. It lies in Binh Tri Thien province and was formerly capital of the Vietnamese empire. Industries include textiles and timber. The university was founded in 1957.

The Citadel, within which is the Imperial City enclosing the palace of the former emperor, lies to the west of the Old City on the north bank of the Huong (Perfume) River; the New City is on the south bank. Hué was once an architecturally beautiful cultural and religious centre, reconstructed in the 19th century in imitation of Beijing. Large areas were devastated, however, during the Battle of Hué 31 January-24 February 1968, regarded as the most bitter of the Vietnam War. During the battle to retake the city from the Vietcong, US air strikes took a heavy toll of the civilian population, and there were 5,500 military casualties. When the Vietcong abandoned Hué, in 1972, the looting and violence that followed caused more than 150,000 people to flee the city.