Socialist Republic of Vietnam

National name: Công Hòa Xa Hôi Chú Nghia Viêt Nam

President: Nguyen Minh Triet (2006)

Prime Minister: Nguyen Tan Dung (2006)

Land area: 125,622 sq mi (325,361 sq km); total area: 127,244 sq mi (329,560 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 84,402,966 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 25.1/1000; life expectancy: 70.8; density per sq mi: 672

Capital (2003 est.): Hanoi, 2,543,700 (metro. area), 1,396,500 (city proper)

Largest cities: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), 5,894,100 (metro. area), 3,415,300 (city proper); Haiphong, 581,600; Da Nang, 452,700; Hué 271,900; Nha Trang, 270,100; Qui Nho'n, 199,700

Monetary unit: Dong

Languages: Vietnamese (official); English (increasingly favored as a second language); some French, Chinese, Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Ethnicity/race: 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)

Religions: Buddhist 9%, Catholic 7%, Hoa Hao 2%, Cao Dai 1%, Protestant, Islam, none 81%

Literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $253.2 billion; per capita $3,000. Real growth rate: 8.4%. Inflation: 8.4%. Unemployment: 5.5%. Arable land: 20%. Agriculture: paddy rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood. Labor force: 44.39 million; agriculture 56.8%, industry 37%, services 6.2% (July 2005). Industries: food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building; mining, coal, steel; cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, paper. Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower. Exports: $32.23 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes. Imports: $36.88 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles. Major trading partners: U.S., Japan, China, Australia, Germany, Singapore, UK, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2.6 million (2000); mobile cellular: 730,155 (2000). Radio broadcast stations: AM 65, FM 7, shortwave 29 (1999). Radios: 8.2 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: at least 7 (plus 13 repeaters) (1998). Televisions: 3.57 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2000). Internet users: 400,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,142 km (2002). Highways: total: 93,300 km; paved: 23,418 km; unpaved: 69,882 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 m draft. Ports and harbors: Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vinh, Vung Tau. Airports: 47 (2002).

International disputes: demarcation of the land boundary with China continues, but maritime boundary and joint fishing zone agreement remains unratified; Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese squatters and armed encroachments along border; China occupies Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; involved in a complex dispute over Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding “code of conduct.”


 

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