HUE, a town of French Indo-China, capital of Annam, on the Hue river (Song-Huong-Giang) inaccessible to large ships, about 8 m. from its mouth in the China Sea. Pop. about 6o,000, of whom only some hundreds are Europeans. The country immediately surrounding it is flat, alluvial land, traversed by streams and canals and largely occupied by rice fields. Beyond the plain rises a circle of hills formed by spurs of the mountains of Annam. Hue consists of a native market town and a European quarter in which the palace of the French resident general is situated, sep arated by the official Annamite part of the town. The latter con tains the royal palace, the houses of the native ministers and officials, the arsenals, etc. The palace stands inside a separate enclosure. Glass- and ivory-working are carried on, but otherwise industry is of only local importance. Rice is imported by way of the river. A frequent service of steam launches connects the town with the ports of Thuan-an, at the mouth of the river, and Tour ane, on the bay of that name. Tourane is also united to Hue by a railway opened in 1906. In the vicinity the chief objects of in terest are the tombs of the dead kings of Annam.
