The region of the present Ca Mau province was once a territory of the Kingdom of Funan (in Vietnamese: Vương quốc Phù Nam), which included Laos, Cambodia, and extended east to Thailand, and southern Vietnam (Vietnamese:Nam Bộ). This region later became a part of the Chan La Kingdom (in Vietnamese: Chân Lạp) and the Khmer Empire, which included Cambodia, eastern Thailand, and southern Vietnam. In 1757, the land belonging to Ca Mau province (in Khmer language "the black land") was ceded by the Chan Lap king to the Nguyen Lord of Vietnam with an early settlement of Khmer, Chinese and Vietnamese. During the French colonial period, Ca Mau was only a small town. During the Vietnam War, the area nearby Ca Mau was a stronghold (in Vietnamese: Chiến khu cách mạng) for the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam also known as the "Viet Cong," a Hanoi-backed guerrilla group fighting the United States Army and the South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War. After 1975, Ca Mau was made the administrative seat and the governmental center of Minh Hai province, which included Ca Mau andBac Lieu province). In 1995, Ca Mau province broke off from Minh Hai province with Ca Mau its capital. In 1999, the prime minister by a decree recognized Ca Mau (in Vietnamese: Thị xã) as a city – Ca Mau city (3rd class urban area as per Vietnamese laws). In 2010, the Prime Minister further upgraded Ca Mau to a 2nd class urban area
