Map of Vietnam | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | 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military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973.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 alongside China Laos and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N 106 00 E

Map reference: Southeast Asia

Area
Comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries

Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims

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 and gas deposits forests hydropower

Land use

Irrigated land: 18,600 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding

Geography


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Population: 78,773,873 (July 2000 est.)
Growth rate: 1.49% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 37% (1998 est.)

Nationality

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

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

Religions: Buddhist Taoist Roman Catholic indigenous beliefs Muslim Protestant Cao Dai Hoa Hao

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.49% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 21.62 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 6.26 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.51 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 31.13 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate: 2.53 children born/woman (2000 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

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Hanoi

Administrative divisions: 58 provinces (tinh singular and plural) 3 municipalities* (thu do singular and plural); An Giang Bac Giang Bac Kan Bac Lieu Bac Ninh Ba Ria-Vung Tau Ben Tre Binh Dinh Binh Duong Binh Phuoc Binh Thuan Ca Mau Can Tho Cao Bang Dac Lac Da Nang Dong Nai Dong Thap Gia Lai Ha Giang Hai Duong Hai Phong* Ha Nam Ha Noi* Ha Tay Ha Tinh Hoa Binh Ho Chi Minh* Hung Yen Khanh Hoa Kien Giang Kon Tum Lai Chau Lam Dong Lang Son Lao Cai Long An Nam Dinh Nghe An Ninh Binh Ninh Thuan Phu Tho Phu Yen Quang Binh Quang Nam Quang Ngai Quang Ninh Quang Tri Soc Trang Son La Tay Ninh Thai Binh Thai Nguyen Thanh Hoa Thua Thien-Hue Tien Giang Tra Vinh Tuyen Quang Vinh Long Vinh Phuc 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

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Quoc-Hoi (450 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court chief justice is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president

Political parties and leaders: only party - Communist Party of Vietnam or CPV [Le Kha PHIEU general secretary]

International organization participation: ACCT APEC AsDB ASEAN CCC ESCAP FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU NAM OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation

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 is a poor densely populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress was achieved from 1986 to 1996 in moving forward from an extremely low starting point - growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems existing in the Vietnamese economy but rather than prompting reform reaffirmed the government's belief that shifting to a market oriented economy leads to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 4% in 1998 and rose slightly to an estimated 4.8% in 1999. These numbers masked some major difficulties that are emerging in economic performance. Many domestic industries including coal cement steel and paper have reported large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient foreign producers. Foreign direct investment has fallen dramatically from $8.3 billion in 1996 to about $1.6 billion in 1999. Meanwhile Vietnamese authorities have slowed implementation of the structural reforms needed to revitalize the economy and produce more competitive export-driven industries. Privatization of state enterprises remains bogged down in political controversy while the country's dynamic private sector is denied both financing and access to markets. Reform of the banking sector - considered one of the riskiest in the world - is proceeding slowly raising concerns that the country will be unable to tap sufficient domestic savings to finance growth. Administrative and legal barriers are also causing costly delays for foreign investors and are raising similar doubts about Vietnam's ability to attract additional foreign capital.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4.8% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1850 (1999 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: paddy rice corn potatoes rubber soybeans coffee tea bananas; poultry pigs; fish

Industries: food processing garments shoes machine building mining cement chemical fertilizer glass tires oil coal steel paper

Industrial production growth rate: 10.3% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 38.2 million (1998 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 67%
By occupation industry and services: 33% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 25% (1995 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 37% (1998 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4% (1999 est.)

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: $11.5 billion (f.o.b. 1999 est.)
Commodities: crude oil marine products rice coffee rubber tea garments shoes
Partners: Japan Germany Singapore Taiwan Hong Kong France South Korea US China

Imports: $11.6 billion (f.o.b. 1999 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment petroleum products fertilizer steel products raw cotton grain cement motorcycles
Partners: Singapore South Korea Japan France Hong Kong Taiwan Thailand Sweden

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $7.3 billion Western countries; $4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia; $9 billion to $18 billion nonconvertible debt (former CEMA Iraq Iran)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: new dong (D) per US$1 - 14,020 (January 2000) 13,900 (December 1998) 11,100 (December 1996) 11,193 (1995 average) 11,000 (October 1994) 10,800 (November 1993)


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Electricity
Production: 20.62 billion kWh (1998)
Consumption: 19.177 billion kWh (1998)
Exports: 0 kWh (1998)
Imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 775,000 (1995)
Mobile cellular: 178,000 (1998)

Telephone system: while Vietnam's telecommunication sector lags far behind other countries in Southeast Asia Hanoi has made considerable progress since 1991 in upgrading the system; Vietnam has digitalized all provincial switch boards while fiber-optic and microwave transmission systems have been extended from Hanoi Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City to all provinces; the density of telephone receivers nationwide doubled from 1993 to 1995 but is still far behind other countries in the region

Broadcast media

Internet
Service providers isps: 5 (1999)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $650 million (FY98)
Percent of gdp: 2.5% (FY98)

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 (1999 est.)

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 m draft

Merchant marine

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; maritime boundary with Thailand resolved August 1997; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; agreement on land border with China was signed in December 1999 but details of alignment have not been made public

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: minor producer of opium poppy with 2,100 hectares cultivated in 1999 capable of producing 11 metric tons of opium; probably minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe; growing opium/heroin addiction; possible small-scale heroin production