Vietnam

Vietnam

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Công-hòa xâ-hôi chu-nghia Viêt Nam/Socialist Republic of Vietnam Area 329,600 sq km/127,258 sq mi Capital Hanoi Language Vietnamese (official), French, English, Khmer, Chinese, local languages Religion mainly Buddhist; Christian, mainly Roman Catholic (8–10%); Taoist, Confucian, Hos Hoa, and Cao Dai sects Time difference GMT +7 Major holidays 1 January, 30 April, 1 May, 1–2 September; variable: Têt, Lunar New Year (January/February, 3 days)


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Haiphong, Da Nang, Can Tho, Nha Trang, Bien Hoa, Hué Major ports Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Da Nang, Haiphong Physical features Red River and Mekong deltas, centre of cultivation and population; tropical rainforest; mountainous in north and northwest Airports three international airports and seven major domestic airports; total passengers carried: 4.6 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 2,605 km/1,619 mi; total passenger journeys: 12 million (2003) Roads total road network: 215,628 km/133,985 mi, of which 25% paved (2000 est); passenger cars: 2.9 per 1,000 people (2000 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Nguyen Minh Triet from 2006 Head of government Nguyen Tan Dung from 2006 Political system communist Political executive communist Administrative divisions 60 provinces and a city under central government Political party Communist Party Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 455,000; plus 5 million reservists and paramilitary forces of 40,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is compulsory for two years Defence spend (% GDP) 7 (2004 est) Education spend (% GDP) 2.6 (2002 est) Health spend (% GDP) 1.5 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency dong GDP (US$) 52.4 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 7.8 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 51.7 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 3,010 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 7.6% (2006 est) Unemployment 2.4% (2005 est) Labour force 57.9% agriculture, 17.4% industry, 24.7% services (2004) Foreign debt (US$) 20.2 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners USA, China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Germany, Malaysia, UK, Hong Kong Resources petroleum, coal, tin, zinc, iron, antimony, chromium, phosphate, apatite, bauxite Industries food processing, chemicals, machinery, textiles, beer, glass and glassware, cigarettes, crude steel, cement, fertilizers, tourism (steady growth in the early 1990s) Exports crude petroleum, textiles and garments, footwear, coal, coffee, marine products, handicrafts, light industrial goods, rubber, nuts, tea, tin. Principal market: USA 20.6% (2005) Imports machinery, equipment and parts, refined petroleum, steel, material for textiles industry, computers and electronic goods, artificial fertilizers, basic manufactures, consumer goods. Principal source: China 17% (2005) Arable land 20.1% (2006 est) Agricultural products rice (world's fifth-largest producer), coffee, tea, rubber, cotton, groundnuts, sugar cane, coconuts; livestock rearing; fishing


POPULATION

Population 85,344,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.3% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 259 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 27 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 29%, 15–59 63%, 60+ 8% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 84% Viet (also known as Kinh), 2% Chinese, 2% Khmer, 8% consists of more than 50 minority nationalities, including the Hmong, Meo, Muong, Nung, Tay, Thai, and Tho tribal groups Life expectancy 70 (men); 74 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 23 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 94% (men); 87% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 5.3 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 2 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.5 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 13,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 93 (urban); 67 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 18.8 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 11.4 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 109 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 207 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 1.3 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 12.7 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

300 BC Rise of Dong Son culture. 111 BC Came under Chinese rule. 1st–6th centuries AD Southern Mekong delta region controlled by independent Indianized Funan kingdom. 939 Chinese overthrown by Ngo Quyen at battle of Bach Dang River; first Vietnamese dynasty founded. 11th century Theravada Buddhism promoted. 15th century North and South Vietnam united, as kingdom of Champa in the south was destroyed in 1471. 16th century Contacts with French missionaries and European traders as political power became decentralized. early 19th century Under Emperor Nguyen Anh authority was briefly recentralized. 1858–84 Conquered by France and divided into protectorates of Tonkin (North Vietnam) and Annam (South Vietnam). 1887 Became part of French Indo-China Union, which included Cambodia and Laos. late 19th–early 20th century Development of colonial economy based in south on rubber and rice, drawing migrant labourers from north. 1930 Indo-Chinese Communist Party (ICP) formed by Ho Chi Minh to fight for independence. 1941 Occupied by Japanese during World War II; ICP formed Vietminh as guerrilla resistance force designed to overthrow Japanese-installed puppet regime headed by Bao Dai, Emperor of Annam. 1945 Japanese removed from Vietnam at end of World War II; Vietminh, led by Ho Chi Minh, in control of much of the country, declared independence. 1946 Vietminh war began against French, who tried to reassert colonial control and set up noncommunist state in south in 1949. 1954 France decisively defeated at Dien Bien Phu. Vietnam divided along 17th parallel between communist-controlled north and US-backed south. 1963 Ngo Dinh Diem, leader of South Vietnam, overthrown in military coup by Lt-Gen Nguyen Van Thieu. 1964 US combat troops entered Vietnam War as North Vietnamese army began to attack South and allegedly attacked US destroyers in the Tonkin Gulf. 1969 Death of Ho Chi Minh, who was succeeded as Communist Party leader by Le Duan. US forces, which numbered 545,000 at their peak, gradually began to be withdrawn from Vietnam as a result of domestic opposition to the rising casualty toll. 1973 Paris ceasefire agreement provided for the withdrawal of US troops and release of US prisoners of war. 1975 Saigon captured by North Vietnam, violating Paris Agreements. 1976 Socialist Republic of Vietnam proclaimed. Hundreds of thousands of southerners became political prisoners; many more fled abroad. Collectivization extended to south. 1978 Diplomatic relations severed with China. Admission into Comecon. Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. 1979 Sino-Vietnamese 17-day border war; 700,000 Chinese and middle-class Vietnamese fled abroad as refugee ‘boat people’. 1986 Death of Le Duan and retirement of ‘old guard’ leaders; pragmatic Nguyen Van Linh became Communist Party leader. 1987–88 Over 10,000 political prisoners released. 1989 Troops fully withdrawn from Cambodia. 1991 Cambodia peace agreement signed. Relations with China normalized. 1992 New constitution adopted, guaranteeing economic freedoms. Relations with South Korea normalized. 1994 US 30-year trade embargo removed. 1995 Full diplomatic relations re-established with USA. Vietnam became full member of ASEAN. 1997 Diplomatic relations with the USA restored. Tran Duc Luong and Phan Van Khai elected president and prime minister respectively. Size of standing army reduced. 1998 Vietnamese currency devalued. New emphasis placed on agricultural development after export and GDP growth slumped to 3%. 1999 Vietnam signed trade agreement with USA, encouraging foreign investment. 2000 US president Clinton visited Vietnam. 2001 Nong Duc Manh chosen as Communist Party's new leader. Trade agreement with USA implemented; trade status normalized. 2002 Russia returned control of Cam Ranh Bay naval base. Ruling Communist Party victorious in National Assembly elections; poll not contested by opposition parties. President Tran Duc Luong reappointed; Prime Minister Phan Van Khai also reappointed for second term. 2003 First US warship to visit since Vietnam War entered port near Ho Chi Minh City. 2004 First human deaths from bird flu in Vietnam confirmed; virus claimed more than 30 lives during year. First US commercial flight to Vietnam since end of war touched down in capital. 2005 Prime Minister Phan Van Khai visited USA; first such visit since end of Vietnam War. 2006 Lengthy investigation of senior officials over alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars of state money in transport ministry initiated. Younger politicians brought in to replace National Assembly chairman, prime minister, and president, as part of anticipated political shake-up. 2007 Vietnam became 150th member of World Trade Organization, after 12 years of negotiations. For first time, US agreed to help fund study into removal of highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange from former US base in Da Nang. President Nguyen Minh Triet made first visit to USA by Vietnamese head of state since 1975. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reappointed.


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