Con Son Pennitary

Côn Sơn Island is the largest island of the Côn Đảo archipelago, off the coast of southern Vietnam. The island is also known after its Malay name as Poulo Condore, this name being well-known during the times of French Indochina. The Con Dao Islands (Vietnamese: Côn Đảo) are an archipelago of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, in southeastern Vietnam, and a district of this province.

Early modern era

In 1702, the British East India Company founded a settlement on the island of Poulo Condor off the south coast of southern Vietnam, and in 1705 the garrison and settlement were destroyed.

In 1787, through the Treaty of Versailles Nguyễn Ánh (the future Emperor Gia Long) promised to cede Pulo-Condore to the French. In exchange King Louis XVI promised to help Nguyễn Ánh to regain the throne, by supplying 1,650 legionaires (1,200 Kaffir troops, 200 artillery men and 250 soldiers) on four frigates.

In 1861, the French colonial government established a prison on the island to house political prisoners. In 1954, it was turned over to the South Vietnamese government, who continued to use it for the same purpose. Not far from the prison is Hàng Dương Cemetery, where some of the prisoners were buried. During the 1960s, political prisoners were housed in habitable environment with visitation rights. They had reading room and could listen to radio from the outside world.

The island was also used by the U.S. Coast Guard as a LORAN station.

The prison on Côn Sơn Island was closed in 1975, when Vietnam unified under Communism.