Map of Vietnam | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: France occupied all of Vietnam by 1884. Independence was declared after World War II but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by communist forces under HO Chi Minh who took control of the north. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese forces overran the south. Economic reconstruction of the reunited country has proven difficult as aging Communist Party leaders have only grudgingly initiated reforms necessary for a free market.


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Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, between China and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Southeast Asia

Area
Total area total: 329,560 km²
Land: 325,360 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries: total 3,818 km, Cambodia 982 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 1,555 km

Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)

Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

Elevation

Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil deposits, forests

Land use
Arable land: 22%
Permanent crops: 2%
Meadows and pastures: 1%
Forest and woodland: 40%
Other: 35%

Irrigated land: 18,300 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 74,393,324 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 1.71% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Vietnamese

Ethnic groups: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese 3%, Muong, Thai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham

Languages: Vietnamese (official), French, Chinese, English, Khmer, tribal languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Religions: Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islam, Protestant

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 36% (female 13,225,916; male 13,918,321)
15-64 years: 59% (female 22,353,710; male 21,223,739)
65 years and over: 5% (female 2,236,453; male 1,435,185) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.71% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 26.25 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 7.6 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.51 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices are contributing to deforestation; soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threatening marine life populations; inadequate supplies of potable water because of groundwater contamination
Current issues natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding
Current issues international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Nuclear Test Ban

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 44.6 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.72 years
Male: 63.66 years
Female: 67.91 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.21 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
Total population: 88%
Male: 93%
Female: 83%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Conventional short form: Vietnam
Local long form: Cong Hoa Chu Nghia Viet Nam
Local short form: Viet Nam

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Hanoi

Administrative divisions: 50 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural; An Giang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Bac Thai, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lac, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Bac, Ha Giang, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hai Hung, Hai Phong*, Ho Chi Minh*, Hoa Binh, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Minh Hai, Nam Ha, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam-Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Song Be, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phu, Yen Bai

Dependent areas

Independence: 2 September 1945 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day, 2 September (1945)

Constitution: 15 April 1992

Legal system: based on Communist legal theory and French civil law system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Le Duc ANH (since 23 September 1992)
Head of government: Prime Minister Vo Van KIET (since 9 August 1991); First Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 10 August 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen KHANH (since NA February 1987); Deputy Prime Minister Tran Duc LUONG (since NA February 1987)
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president on proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the Assembly

Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly QuocHoi: elections last held 19 July 1992 (next to be held NA July 1997); results - VCP is the only party; seats - (395 total) VCP or VCP-approved 395

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACCT, AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Liaison Officer Le Van BANG
In the us liaison office: address NA, Washington, DC
In the us mailing address: NA
In the us telephone: NA
In the us FAX: NA
In the us note: negotiations between representatives of the US and Vietnam concluded 28 January 1995 with the signing of an agreement to establish liaison offices in Hanoi and Washington
From the us chief of mission: Liaison Officer James HALL
From the us liaison office: address NA, Hanoi
From the us mailing address: NA
From the us telephone: NA
From the us FAX: NA
From the us note: negotiations between representatives of the US and Vietnam concluded 28 January 1995 with the signing of an agreement to establish liaison offices in Hanoi and Washington

Flag description: red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Vietnam has made significant progress in recent years moving away from the planned economic model toward a more effective market-based economic system. Most prices are now fully decontrolled, and the Vietnamese currency has been effectively devalued and floated at world market rates. In addition, the scope for private sector activity has been expanded, primarily through decollectivization of the agricultural sector and introduction of laws giving legal recognition to private business. Nearly three-quarters of export earnings are generated by only two commodities, rice and crude oil. Led by industry and construction, the economy did well in 1993 and 1994 with output rising 7% and 9% respectively. However, the industrial sector remains burdened by noncompetitive state-owned enterprises the government is unwilling or unable to privatize. Unemployment looms as a serious problem with roughly 20% of the work force without jobs and with population growth swelling the ranks of the labor force yearly.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 8.8% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 36% of GDP; paddy rice, corn, potatoes make up 50% of farm output; commercial crops (rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas) and animal products 50%; since 1989 self-sufficient in food staple rice; fish catch of 943,100 metric tons (1989 est.), note - the third largest exporter of rice in the World, behind the US and Thailand

Industries: food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil

Industrial production growth rate: 13% (1994 est.), accounts for 21% of GDP

Labor force: 32.7 million
By occupation agricultural: 65%
By occupation industrial and service: 35% (1990 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1994 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $3.6 billion
Expenditures: $4.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
Commodoties: petroleum, rice, agricultural products, marine products, coffee
Partners: Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, South Korea

Imports: $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
Commodoties: petroleum products, machinery and equipment, steel products, fertilizer, raw cotton, grain
Partners: Singapore, Japan, South Korea, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $4 billion Western countries;, 4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia;

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: new dong (D) per US$1 - 11,000 (October 1994), 10,800 (November 1993), 8,100 (July 1991), 7,280 (December 1990), 3,996 (March 1990)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 9.7 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 125 kWh (1993)

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system: NA telephones; 2 telephones/1000 persons; the inadequacies of the obsolete switching equipment and cable system are a serious constraint on the business sector and on economic growth, and restrict access to the international links that Vietnam has established with most major countries; the telephone system is not generally available for private use
Local: NA
Intercity: NA
International: 3 satellite earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $435 million, 2.5% of GDP (1994)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 48
With paved runways over 3047 m: 8
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 13
With paved runways under 914 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 5

Airports with paved runways
Over 3047 m: 8
2438 to 3047 m: 3
15-24 to 2437 m: 5
914 to 1523 m: 13
Under 914 m: 7

Airports with unpaved runways
15-24 to 2438 m: 2
914 to 1523 m: 5
Under 914 m: 5

Heliports

Pipelines: petroleum products 150 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 meter draft

Merchant marine
Total: 109 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 449,963 GRT/932,837 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 92, oil tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; unresolved maritime boundary with Thailand; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: opium producer and increasingly important transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe; growing opium addiction; small-scale heroin producer