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- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South
- China Sea, between China and Cambodia
- Map references:
- Southeast Asia
- Area:
- total area:
- 329,560 sq km
- land area:
- 325,360 sq km
- comparative area:
- 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
- International disputes:
- 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
- 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
- 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 sq km (1989 est.)
- 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
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Geography
- natural hazards:
- occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding
- 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
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 74,393,324 (July 1995 est.)
- 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.)
- Population growth rate:
- 1.71% (1995 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 26.25 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Death rate:
- 7.6 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- -1.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 44.6 deaths/1,000 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.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Vietnamese (singular and plural)
- adjective:
- Vietnamese
- Ethnic divisions:
- Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese 3%, Muong, Thai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham
- Religions:
- Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islam, Protestant
- Languages:
- Vietnamese (official), French, Chinese, English, Khmer, tribal languages
- (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
- total population:
- 88%
- male:
- 93%
- female:
- 83%
- Labor force:
- 32.7 million
- by occupation:
- agricultural 65%, industrial and service 35% (1990 est.)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- 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
- Abbreviation:
- SRV
- Digraph:
- VM
- 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
- 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
- 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 (Quoc-Hoi):
- 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:
- only party - Vietnam Communist Party (VCP), DO MUOI, general secretary
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Government
- Member of:
- 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 US:
- chief of mission:
- Liaison Officer Le Van BANG
- liaison office:
- address NA, Washington, DC
- mailing address:
- NA
- telephone:
- NA
- FAX:
- NA
- 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
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Liaison Officer James HALL
- liaison office:
- address NA, Hanoi
- mailing address:
- NA
- telephone:
- NA
- FAX:
- NA
- 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:
- red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- 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.
- National product:
- GDP - purchasing power parity - $83.5 billion (1994 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- 8.8% (1994 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $1,140 (1994 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 14.4% (1994)
- Unemployment rate:
- 20% (1994 est.)
- Budget:
- revenues:
- $3.6 billion
- expenditures:
- $4.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)
- Exports:
- $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
- commodities:
- petroleum, rice, agricultural products, marine products, coffee
- partners:
- Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, South Korea
- Imports:
- $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
- commodities:
- petroleum products, machinery and equipment, steel products, fertilizer, raw
- cotton, grain
- partners:
- Singapore, Japan, South Korea, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan
- External debt:
- $4 billion Western countries; $4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia;
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 13% (1994 est.); accounts for 21% of GDP
- Electricity:
- capacity:
- 2,200,000 kW
- production:
- 9.7 billion kWh
- consumption per capita:
- 125 kWh (1993)
- Industries:
- food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical
- fertilizer, glass, tires, oil
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Economy
- Agriculture:
- 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
- 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
- Economic aid:
- recipient:
- $2 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 1995,
- Japan largest contributor with $650 million pledged for 1995
- Currency:
- 1 new dong (D) = 100 xu
- 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)
- Fiscal year:
- calendar year
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Transportation
-
-
- Railroads:
- total:
- 3,059 km (including 224 km not restored to service after war damage)
- standard gauge:
- 151 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 2,454 km 1.000-m gauge
- other gauge:
- 230 km NA-m dual gauge (three rails)
- Highways:
- total:
- 85,000 km
- paved:
- 9,400 km
- unpaved:
- gravel, improved earth 48,700 km; unimproved earth 26,900 km
- Inland waterways:
- 17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up
- to 1.8 meter draft
- Pipelines:
- petroleum products 150 km
- Ports:
- Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hon Gai, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang
- 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
- Airports:
- total:
- 48
- with paved runways over 3,047 m:
- 8
- with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m:
- 3
- with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m:
- 5
- with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 13
- with paved runways under 914 m:
- 7
- with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m:
- 2
- with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m:
- 5
- with unpaved runways under 914 m:
- 5
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Communications
-
-
- Telephone system:
- NA telephones; 2 telephones/1,000 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
- Radio:
- broadcast stations:
- AM NA, FM 228, shortwave 0
- radios:
- 7 million (1991)
- Television:
- broadcast stations:
- 36 (repeaters 77)
- televisions:
- 2.5 million (1991)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Vietnam
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; includes Ground forces, Navy (includes Naval
- Infantry), and Air Force
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 18,799,370; males fit for military service 11,913,116; males
- reach military age (17) annually 742,394 (1995 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $435 million, 2.5% of GDP (1994)
-