Vietnam

Vietnam Background

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. 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military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973.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. Despite the return of peace, for over two decades the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to experience protests from the Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands over loss of land to Vietnamese settlers and religious persecution.

Vietnam Information

• Population: 82,689,518 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural) adjective: Vietnamese
• Location:: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia
• Religions:: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim
• Ethnic Groups:: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups
• Land Boundaries:: total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km
• Area: total: 329,560 sq km land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km
• Coast Line: 3,444 km (excludes islands)
• 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
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin contiguous zone: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 19.97% permanent crops: 5.95% other: 74.08% (2001)
• 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 an
• Natural Resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower
• Highways: total: 93,300 km paved: 23,418 km unpaved: 69,882 km (1999 est.)
• Railways: total: 2,600 km standard gauge: 178 km 1.435-m gauge dual gauge: 253 km three-rail track combining 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (2003) narrow gauge: 2,169 km 1.000-m gauge
• Ports & Harbours: Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vinh, Vung Tau
• Airports: 19 (2003 est.)