VIETNAM

LOCATION
Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the west by Laos,
Thailand, and Cambodia. Its southern borders are the Gulf of Thailand and
the South China Sea. To the north, China borders Vietnam. The Gulf of
Tonkin lies to the east. In size, Vietnam is slightly larger than the state
of New Mexico.
 
CLIMATE
The southern part of Vietnam provides a tropical environment. Northern
Vietnam is monsoonal with a hot rainy season that runs from mid-May to
mid-September. The remainder of the year in this region is hot and dry.
 
POPULATION
As of July 2000, the estimated population is 78,773,873. Vietnam’s ethnic
composition is 85% to 90% Vietnamese, 3% Chinese, and 7% to 12% comprised of
Muong, Tai, Meo, Khmer, Man, and Cham. In total, there are 40,031,925
females, and 38,741,948 males.
 
RELIGION
Various religious groups can be found in Vietnam. These religions
affiliations include Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Protestant,
Cao Dai, Hoa Hoa. The exact number of persons belonging to each religion
cannot be determined.
 
GENERAL
The official name of the country is Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The
capital is Hanoi. Its government is that of a communist state. The
communist party has a General Secretary who serves as the head of the
government. Vietnam was occupied by the French beginning 1884. Independence
was declared after World War II; however, the French continued to occupy and
control Vietnam until 1954 when they were defeated by Ho Chi Minh and his
communist forces.
 
NATURAL RESOURCES
Vietnam’s natural resources are coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore
oil, gas deposits, and forests. Although it has many natural resources, the
country is not well organized. This lack of organization has prevented
Vietnam from appearing to be a wealthy country.
Agriculture in Vietnam produces paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soy
beans, coffee, tea, bananas, poultry, fish, and pigs. Of these products,
rice, coffee and tea are some of the country’s main exports.
 
TRANSPORTATION
Vietnam has 2,652 kilometers of railways. The country’s highways total
93,300 kilometers, with only 25% of the road being paved. There are seven
ports with a total of 133 ships.
Vietnam offers 36 airports with paved runways and 12 airports with unpaved
runways.
Vietnam is a minor producer of opium poppy capable of producing 11 metric
tons of opium. It is believed that the opium produced is destined for the
U.S.A.
 
CURRENCY
The unit of currency of Vietnam is the dong. One new dong equals 100 xu 
 
Facts and figures courtesy of the CIA World Facts Book.
 
ADDITIONAL LINKS
If you wish to see a little of the country, visit www.best.com/~vtb/travel/hanoi/