Basic Facts

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia.

Area: approximately 329,560 square kilometers

Land boundaries:
Total: 4,639 kilometers
Boundaries countries: Cambodia 1,228 kilometers, China 1,281 kilometers, Laos 2,130 kilometers.

Coastline: 3,444 kilometers

Climate: tropical in the south; monsoonal in the 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.

Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: South China Sea 0 meter
Highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 meters

Population: 81,098,416 (July 2002 est.)

Age: 0-14 years: 31.6% (male 13,259,152; female 12,392,089)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 24,938,098; female 26,083,681)
65 years and over: 5.5% (male 1,749,531; female 2,675,865) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.43% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 20.89 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.14 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: total population: 097 male (s)/ female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 29.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.86 years; female: 72.5 years; male: 67.4 years.

Total fertility rate: 2.44 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality: Vietnamese

Ethnic groups: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese 3%, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups.

Religions: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim.

Languages: Vietnamese (official), English, some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malaya-Polynesian)

Literacy: (definition: age 15 and over can read and write)
Total population: 93.7%
Male: 96.5%
Female: 91.2%

Country name:
Conventional long form: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Conventional short form: Vietnam
Abbreviation: SRV
Local short form: Viet Nam
Local long form: Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam

Government type: Communist State

Capital: Hanoi

Administrative divisions: 58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural); An Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lac, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Hai Phong*, Ha Nam, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Ho Chi Minh*, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai

Independence: 2 September 1945 (From France)

Constitution: 15 April 1992

Legal system: based on communist legal theory and French civil law system

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