Sign in

Private company

Opium Regie

Colonial state opium monopoly in French Indochina (1881–1945)

The Opium Regie (incorrectly translated as the Opium Regime) was the French colonial state government monopoly over opium, first developed as the Régie de l'opium in the colony of French Cochinchina, and later as the Régie General de l'opium in the whole of French Indochina. Opium, alongside salt and alcohol, was used as a tool of financial debt and asset management by the French, in order to subjugate and pacify the region's economies and bring the local monarchs under the umbrella of the French Empire, and those that weren't, as trading partners.2 It was founded in 1897.1 It is headquartered in Saigon.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1897Founded1
  • HeadquartersSaigon1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Saigon - Manufacture d'Opium
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Opium Regie (incorrectly translated as the Opium Regime) was the French colonial state government monopoly over opium, first developed as the Régie de l'opium in the colony of French Cochinchina, and later as the Régie General de l'opium in the whole of French Indochina. Opium, alongside salt and alcohol, was used as a tool of financial debt and asset management by the French, in order to subjugate and pacify the region's economies and bring the local monarchs under the umbrella of the French Empire, and those that weren't, as trading partners.2

Timeline

  1. 1954Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1945Dissolved Dissolved1
  3. 1897Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3