INTRODUCTION TO VIETNAM

Introduction:

Vietnam, country of Southeast Asia, south of China and east of Cambodia and Laos. Its total area is 331,690 sq km (128,066 sq mi). The capital is Hanoi.

Land and Resources:

Vietnam has four major regions. In the northwest is a mountainous extension of China's Yunnan Plateau. To the east is the Red River delta, a lowland along the Gulf of Tonkin. To the south the Truong Son and an associated coastal plain form the backbone of central Vietnam. The southernmost region is the Mekong River Delta.

Vietnam's climate is generally tropical. Abundant vegetation grows throughout the country, and tropical rain forests are inhabited by large mammals such as elephants, deer, and leopards, as well as by many species of reptiles and birds.

Vietnam's northern highlands contain valuable minerals, including iron, anthracite coal, phosphate, zinc, chromite, tin, and apatite. Petroleum and natural gas deposits lie offshore.

Population:

Vietnam's total population is 75,123,880 (1997 estimate). The Vietnamese, related to the southern Chinese, account for about 88 percent of the population. Some 79 percent of the population lives in rural villages. Large cities include Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Haiphong, Ðà Nang, and Hue.

Vietnamese is the official language. Of religious believers in Vietnam, a majority follow Buddhism in a variety of sects. Christianity claims 6 million followers in the country, many of them members of the Roman Catholic church.

Vietnamese culture was influenced by both China and France, but the postwar government focused contemporary Vietnamese art and literature programs on more indigenous traditions in an attempt to move away from Western influences.

Economy:

The leading sector of the Vietnamese economy is agriculture, which, with fishing and forestry, employs 71 percent of the labor force. A major exporter of rice, Vietnam also raises cassava, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, tea, soybeans, and rubber. Vietnam's coast and rivers include rich fishing sites. Most mining activities are confined to the northwest and offshore areas. Areas holding Vietnam's petroleum and natural gas reserves, however, are also claimed by China. The major Vietnamese factories, concentrated in the north, include producers of paper, cement, textiles, and food products. Tourism is growing in importance to the nation's economy.

The unit of currency is the new dông (10,962 new dông equal U.S.$1; 1994).

Government:

Under the 1992 constitution the Communist Party has a leading role in Vietnamese government and society. The head of state is the president, and the prime minister runs the government. The legislative National Assembly has a maximum of 400 members, elected to five-year terms.