Before coming to Vietnam, why not find out a few facts and figures? This Vietnam Factbook can help you to understand the country and the people a little more and make your trip more enjoyable.
- Basic Information
- 54 Ethnic Groups
- Weather and climate
- Traditions, customs and rites
- Festivals, Holidays and Recreation
- Tales and Legends
- International border entry/exit gates
Location
Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and East Sea, and Cambodia.
Area
Total Area: 329,560sp km (land: 325,360 sp km; water: 4,200 sp km)
Land boundaries: Total: 4,639 km (Border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2.130 km)
Coastline: 3,444 km (excluding islands)
Maritime claims: Territorial sea: 12 nm, Contiguous zone: 12 nm, Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 nm, Continental Shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate
Tropical in the South. Monsoonal in the North with hot rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season ( October to March)
Terrain
Low, flat delta in the South and North. Central Highlands are hilly. North and Northwest are mountainous
Elevation Extremes: Lowest point: East Sea 0m, Highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144m
Resources
Natural Resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower
Land Use: arable land: 20.14%, permanent crops: 6.93%, other: 72.93% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 30,000sp km (2003)
Natural Hazards
Occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River Delta.
Environment
International Agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements.
Current Environmental 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 the environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Geography
Note: extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point.
Population
About 92 million (2013 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27% (male 11,826,457/female 10,983,069), 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 28,055,941/female 28,614,553), 65 years and over: 5.8% (male 1,924,562/female 2,998,384) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 25.9 years, male: 24.8 years, female: 27.1 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.02% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 16.86 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 6.22 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female, under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female, 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female, 65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female, total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Birth
Infant mortality rate: total: 25.14 deaths/1,000 live births (male: 25.54 deaths/1,000 live births, female: 24.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.85 years (male: 68.05 years, female: 73.85 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS
Adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2003 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 220,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 9,000 (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases
degree of risk: high (food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, vector-borne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and plague are high risks in some locations, animal contact disease: rabies, water contact disease: leptospirosis, note: at present, H5N1 avian influenza poses a minimal risk; during outbreaks among birds, rare cases could occur among US personnel who have close contact with infected birds or poultry (2005)
Nationality
Noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural), adjective: Vietnamese.
Kinh (Viet) 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, others 4.1% (1999 census)
Religions
Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, none 80.8% (1999 census)
Languages
Vietnamese (official), English (second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write, total population: 90.3%, male: 93.9%, female: 86.9% (2002)
More information
If you would like more information about the Vietnam factbook, please send us an email (vietnomadhn@gmail.com). We will try to help you.
Source: Internet
