Vietnam, State of Southeast Asia; 331 100 km2, 95.5 million residents (2019).Vietnam is located on the west coast of the South China Sea and borders north to China and west to Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam also includes Phu Quôc Island off the coast of Cambodia as well as Côn Dao Islands and some other small islands off the east coast. Furthermore, Vietnam is one of the states that claim the Paracel Islands and the Sprat Islands further out into the South China Sea. Vietnam consists of 63 provinces which are grouped into seven regions. North Vietnam and South Vietnam were united in 1976 to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Then the country’s largest city, Saigon, also changed its name to Hô Chi Minh City. The capital is Hanoi (3.4 million residents, 2017).
Country facts
- Công Hoa Xa Hôi Chu Nghia Viêt Nam / Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Country abbreviation: UN
- Area: 331 100 km2
- Population (2019): 95.5 million residents
- Capital: Hanoi
- Main language: Vietnamese
- State: Republic
- Head of State: Nguyễn Phú Trọng
- Head of Government: Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
- Per capita GDP (2018): US $ 2,564
- GNI per capita (2018): US $ 2,400
- Coin unit: 1 unit = 10 ha = 100 xu
- Currency code: VND
- Country number (telephony): 84
- Internet domain name: vn
- Time difference compared to Sweden: +6
- National Day: September 2 (Proclamation of the Republic, 1945)
Nature
- Land use: forest (40%), agricultural land (22%), other (38%)
- Highest mountain: Phăng-xi-păng (3 143 m asl)
Population
- Population density (2019): 288 residents per km2
- Natural population growth (2019): 1.2%; birth rate 15 ‰, death rate 7 ‰
- Age structure (2019): 0-14 years (23%), 15-64 (70%), 65- (7%)
- Average life expectancy (2019): men 71 years, women 76 years
- Infant mortality (2019): 14 per 1,000 live births
- Population forecast 2050: 108 million residents
- HDI (2017): 0.694 (place 116 of 189)
- Urbanization rate (2019): 35%
- Most populous cities (2017): Hô Chi Minh City (6.6 million residents), Hanoi (3.4 million), -a-Năng (915,000)
Business
- Industry’s contribution to GDP (2017): agriculture (15%), industry (33%), service (52%)
- Export (2017): USD 214 100 million
- Main export products: Clothing and textiles, electronic products, crude oil, seafood and fish
- Main exporting countries: USA, China, Japan
- Imports (2017): US $ 202,600 million
- Main import products: machinery, fuel, raw materials for the textile industry
- Main importing countries: China, South Korea, Japan
- Railway network (2014): 2 600 km
Throughout most of Vietnam, the Annamitic Mountains extend in the northwest-southeast direction, which occupies about two-thirds of the country’s area. Large plains in the north and south are the core areas of the country. The plains are important cultivation areas for mainly rice and sugar cane and are often affected by floods. Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate. The south-west monsoon during May-October brings heavy rains.
The state’s highest body is Parliament, whose members are elected by universal suffrage for five years. Parliament elects the country’s president for his own term of office and also appoints, on the proposal of the president, vice president, prime minister and chairman of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Vietnam’s economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world since the early 1990s. The driving forces have been high export growth, but also a rapidly growing domestic market. Large parts of the former state-owned industry have now been privatized. Agriculture has shown stable growth; rice is the most important export crop. The industry has experienced high growth, but production is relatively capital intensive. Tourism has also become increasingly important.
Vietnam Map
