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Area: 330,991 km2
Population: Appr. 86,160,000 people (2008)
Geograpghy: Viet Nam lies on the Eastern Seaboard of the Indochina Pensinsula. It borders China to the North and Laos and Cambodia to the West. To the East and South lies what the Vietnamese call the East Sea. Mountains and hills cover four-fifths of Viet Nam’s territory with the Truong Son range stretching over 1,400 km. Mount Fansipan (3,142m) is the highest peak in Southeast Asia.
The most populated areas in Viet Nam are the lowland alluvial plains, the Red River Delta (15,000 km2, with a 3,000 km-long dyke network) in the North, and the Mekong Delta (22,000 km2) in the South. Viet Nam’s two biggest rivers, the Red River and the Mekong River, respectively discharge 122,109 m3 and 1.4 million m3 of water. Viet Nam’s 3,260 km-long coastline features beautiful beaches like Tra Co, Lang Co, Nha Trang, Vung Tau and Ha Tien. National parks include Ba Vi, Cat Ba and Cuc Phuong in the North, Bach Ma in the Center and Cat Tien in the South.
(source: www.bando.com.vn)
History: Viet Nam’s history may be divided into five periods:
Prehistory: There is evidence of human settlements in northern Viet Nam as far back as 500,000- 300,000 BC. In the third century BC, King An Duong Vuong founded Au Viet.
Chinese occupation: Northern Viet Nam was occupied by China from 189 BC to 939 AD.
Independence: Local kings ruled the area from 399 to 1860 AD.
French colonialism: The French colonized Viet Nam from 1860 to 1945.
Independence: The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam was founded following the 1945 Revolution, when President Ho Chi Minh declared independence.
Resources: Mineral: Coal, iron, aluminium, tin, apatite, oil.
Agricultural and forestry products: rice, maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts, soy beans, rubber, tobacco, lacquer, coffee, tea, cotton, coconut, sugar cane, jute, and tropical and subtropical fruit.
Climate: Viet Nam is essentially a tropical country with a humid monsoon climate. The annual temperature is over 20 degrees Celcius throughout the country (Ha Noi 23.4 C; Hue 25.1 C; Ho Chi Minh City 26.9 C).
In July, the average temperature in Ha Noi is 28.6 C; in Hue, 28.9 C; and in Ho Chi Minh City, 27.6 C.
Lowland areas receive around 1,500 mm of rain per year, while mountainous areas receive 2,000 mm to 3,000 mm. Humidity can reach 90 percent in rainy season.
Viet Nam has two seasons: cool and dry from November to April and hot and rainy from May to October. The difference between summer and winter temperatures is dramatic in the North (varying up to 12 decrees Celsius). The South is warm year-round, with seasonal variations in temperaturee averaging just three degrees Celsius.
Admiinistrative divisions: Viet Nam has four major cities (Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Da Nang) and 57 provinces.
National ethnic groups: There are 54 ethnic groups living in Viet Nam. The Viet or Kinh people account for 88 percent of Viet Nam’s population and are mostly concentrated in the lowlands. In contrast, most of the country’s 5.5 million ethnic minority peoples live in mountainous areas. Major groups include the Tay 9960,000), the Nung (152,000), the Thai (770,000), the Muong (700,000), H’mong (441,000), the Zao (340,000), the Khmer (720,000), the Bana (100,000), the Giarai (184,000) and the Ede (140,000).
Religions: The three main religious influences in Viet Nam are Buddhism, Confucianism and the Cult of Mother-Worshipping.
Vietnamese language and scripts: More than 80% of the population speaks Vietnamese or Kinh/Viet Nam, the natinal language. Many ethnic minority people speak Kinh and their own native language.
Three scripts have influenced Viet Nam’s history: (i) Chinese Han ideograms were used until the beginning of the 20th century; (ii) The Nom script, created between the 11th and 14th centuries, was derived from Han script to transcrible the popupar national language; and (iii) European missionaries in the 17th century first developed quoc ngu, the Romanised transcription of the Vietnamese language used to this day.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam
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