Vietnam , officially the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost
countryIn geography, a country is a geographical region. The term is often applied to a political division or the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region...
on the
IndochinaIndochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.The word has French origins, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.Historically, the countries of...
PeninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
in
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
. It is bordered by
ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
to the north,
LaosLaos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
to the northwest,
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
to the southwest, and the
South China SeaThe South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of mainland China and Taiwan,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,*north east of the Malay peninsula and Singapore, and...
to the east. With a
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of over 86 million, Vietnam is the
13th most populous country in the world.
The people of Vietnam regained independence and broke away from China in AD 938 after their victory at the battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive dynasties flourished along with geographic and political expansion deeper into Southeast Asia, until it was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. Efforts to resist the French eventually led to their expulsion from the country in the mid-20th century, leaving a nation divided politically into two countries. Fighting between the two sides continued during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, ending with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.
Emerging from this prolonged military engagement, the war-ravaged nation was politically isolated. The government’s centrally planned economic decisions hindered post-war reconstruction and its treatment of the losing side engendered more resentment than reconciliation. In 1986, it instituted economic and political reforms and began a path towards international reintegration. By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with most nations. Its economic growth had been among the highest in the world in the past decade. These efforts culminated in Vietnam joining the
World Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
in 2007 and its successful bid to become a non-permanent member of the
United Nations Security CouncilThe United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
in 2008.
Etymology
Việt Nam was adopted as the official name of the country by Emperor
Gia LongEmperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
in 1804. It is variation on "Nam Việt," (南越,
Southern Việt) a name for the country used in ancient times. In 1839, Emperor
Minh MạngMinh Mạng was the second emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 14 February, 1820 until 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Canh, had died in 1801...
renamed the country
Đại Nam ("Great South"). In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English.
Pre-Dynastic era
The area now known as Vietnam has been inhabited since
PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic Age, Era, or Period, or Old Stone Age, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
times, and some archaeological sites in
Thanh Hoa ProvinceThanh Hóa is a province in the North Central Coast of Vietnam. Its capital is Thanh Hóa City. The province has a well-known sea resort called Sầm Sơn, which is situated about 15 km from the provincial capital....
purportedly date back several thousand years. Archaeologists link the beginnings of Vietnamese civilization to the late
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
, Early Bronze Age, Phung-nguyen culture, which was centered in
Vinh Phuc ProvinceVĩnh Phúc Province is a province in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam.It is divided into one city , one town , and seven districts:#Bình Xuyên#Lập Thạch#Tam Đảo#Tam Dương#Vĩnh Tường#Yên Lạc...
of contemporary Vietnam from about 2000 to 1400
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
. By about 1200
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
, the development of wet-
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
cultivation and bronze casting in the
Ma RiverThe Ma River is a river in Asia, originating in northwestern Vietnam. It runs for 400 km through Vietnam, Laos, and then back through Vietnam, meeting the sea at the Gulf of Tonkin....
and
Red RiverThe Red River, also known as the Hong - Red, Song Cai, Song Ca - Mother River , or Yuan River , is a river that flows from southwestern China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin....
plains led to the development of the
Dong Son cultureThe Đông Sơn culture was a prehistoric Bronze Age culture that was centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. Its influence flourished to other parts of Southeast Asia, including the Indo-Malayan Archipelago from about 1000 BC to 1 BC....
, notable for its elaborate bronze drums. The bronze weapons, tools, and drums of Dongsonian sites show a Southeast Asian influence that indicates an indigenous origin for the bronze-casting technology. Many small, ancient
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
mineMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
sites have been found in northern Vietnam. Some of the similarities between the Dong Sonian sites and other Southeast Asian sites include the presence of boat-shaped coffins and burial jars, stilt dwellings, and evidence of the customs of betel-nut-chewing and teeth-blackening.
Dynastic era
The legendary Hồng Bàng Dynasty of the
Hùng kingsHùng Vương was the first king of Văn Lang or Lạc Việt . Legend tells of the dragon lord, Lạc Long Quân and the mountain fairy, Âu Cơ who had 100 children. As the parents belonged to different realms, they parted ways, each taking 50 of the 100 sons to their respective homes...
is considered by many Vietnamese as the first Vietnamese state, known as Văn Lang. In 257 BCE, the last Hùng king lost to Thục Phán, who consolidated the Lạc Việt tribes with his Âu Việt tribes, forming Âu Lạc and proclaiming himself
An Dương VươngAn Duong Vuong is the title of Thục Phán , who ruled over the ancient kingdom of Âu Lạc from 257 to 207 BCE, after defeating the state of Văn Lang and uniting the two tribes Âu Việt and Lạc Việt...
. In 207 BCE, a Chinese general named
Zhao TuoZhao Tuo , was a Chinese commanding general of the Qin Dynasty who later founded the kingdom of Nanyue . The period of rule under Zhao Tuo is also known to the Vietnamese as the Triệu Dynasty.-Life:Early life...
defeated
An Dương VươngAn Duong Vuong is the title of Thục Phán , who ruled over the ancient kingdom of Âu Lạc from 257 to 207 BCE, after defeating the state of Văn Lang and uniting the two tribes Âu Việt and Lạc Việt...
and consolidated Âu Lạc into
NanyueNanyue was an ancient kingdom that consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and much of modern northern Vietnam. The kingdom was established by the Chinese general Zhao Tuo of the Qin dynasty who assimilated the customs of the Yue peoples and central China...
. In 111 BCE, the Chinese
Han DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
consolidated Nanyue into their empire.
For the next thousand years, Vietnam was mostly under Chinese rule. Early independence movements such as those of the
Trưng SistersThe Trung Sisters , known in Vietnamese as Hai Bà Trưng , and individually as Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị , were two 1st century Vietnamese women leaders who successfully repelled Chinese invasions for three years, and are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam.The sisters were born in Northern...
and of
Lady TriệuTriệu Thị Trinh , also known as Triệu Ẩu or Bà Triệu was a Vietnamese female warrior in 3rd century Vietnam who managed, for a time, to successfully resist the Kingdom of Wu during their occupation of Vietnam...
were only briefly successful. It was independent as Vạn Xuân under the Anterior Ly Dynasty between 544 and 602. By the early 10th century, Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not independence, under the Khúc family.
In 938
CECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
, a Vietnamese lord named
Ngô QuyềnNgô Quyền , was a Vietnamese prefect and general during the Southern Han Dynasty occupation of Giao Châu in the Red River Valley in what is now northern Vietnam. In 938, he soundly defeated the Chinese at the famous Battle of Bạch Đằng River north of modern Haiphong and ended 1,000 years of...
defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River and regained independence after 10 centuries under
Chinese controlThe Third Chinese domination of Vietnam saw two Chinese imperial dynasties rule over the Chinese controlled region of Chiaozhou ....
. Renamed as Đại Việt, the nation went through a golden era during the
LýThe Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Posterior Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh...
and Trần Dynasties. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, Đại Việt repelled three
Mongol invasionsMongol invasions of Vietnam or Mongol-Vietnamese War refer to the three times that the Mongol Empire and its chief khanate the Yuan Dynasty invaded Đại Việt during the Tran Dynasty and the Kingdom of Champa: in 1257-1258, 1284-1285, and 1287-1288. The Mongols were defeated by Đại Việt and were...
.
BuddhismBuddhism came to Vietnam as early as the second century CE through the North from central Asia and via Southern routes from India. Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana school, although some ethnic minorities adhere to the Theravada school...
flourished and became the state religion. Following the brief Hồ Dynasty, Vietnamese independence was momentarily interrupted by the
ChineseThe fourth Chinese domination was a period of the history of Vietnam, from 1407 to 1427, upon which, the country was ruled by the Ming Dynasty administration.-Administration and government:...
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, but was restored by Lê Lợi, the founder of the
Lê DynastyThe Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
. Vietnam reached its zenith in the Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of Emperor
Lê Thánh TôngLê Thánh Tông was emperor of Đại Việt from 1460 until his death. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest emperors of Vietnamese history and the Vietnamese “Hammurabi.”-Early years:...
(1460–1497). Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese expanded southward in a process known as (
southward expansion). They eventually conquered the kingdom of
ChampaThe kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origins and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832...
and part of the
Khmer EmpireThe Khmer Empire was the third largest empire of South East Asia , based in what is now Cambodia. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia...
.
Towards the end of the Lê Dynasty, civil strife engulfed much of Vietnam. First, the Chinese-supported Mạc Dynasty challenged the Lê Dynasty's power. After the Mạc Dynasty was defeated, the Lê Dynasty was reinstalled, but with no actual power. Power was divided between the Trịnh Lords in the North and the Nguyễn Lords in the South, who engaged in a civil war for more than four decades. During this time, the Nguyễn expanded southern Vietnam into the
Mekong DeltaThe Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of...
, annexing the
ChampaThe kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origins and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832...
in the central highlands and the Khmer land in the Mekong. The civil war ended when the Tây Sơn brothers defeated both and established their new dynasty. However, their rule did not last long and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguyễn Lords led by
Nguyen AnhEmperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
with the help of the French. Nguyen Anh unified Vietnam, and established the Nguyễn Dynasty, ruling under the name Gia Long.
Western colonial era
Vietnam's independence was gradually eroded by
FranceThe French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire...
in a series of military conquests from 1859 until 1885 when the entire country became part of
French Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
was propagated widely in Vietnamese society. Most of the
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
settlers in Indochina were concentrated in
CochinchinaCochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1948. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
(southern third of Vietnam whose principal city was Saigon). Developing a
plantation economyA plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
to promote the exports of
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
,
indigoIndigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue color . Historically, indigo was extracted from plants, and this process was important economically because blue dyes were once rare. Nearly all indigo produced today - several thousand tons each year - is synthetic...
,
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
and
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
, the French largely ignored increasing calls for self-government and civil rights. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders such as
Phan Boi ChauPhan Bội Châu was a pioneer of Vietnamese twentieth century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the Reformation Society ....
,
Phan Chu TrinhPhan Chu Trinh also known as Phan Châu Trinh was a famous early 20th century Vietnamese nationalist. He also used the alias Tây Hồ. He sought to end France's brutal occupation of Vietnam...
,
Phan Dinh PhungPhan Đình Phùng was a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in Vietnam. He was the most prominent of the Confucian court scholars involved in anti-French military campaigns in the 19th century and was cited after his death by 20th-century nationalists as a...
, Emperor
Ham NghiEmperor Hàm Nghi ; Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch , at the "Purple Forbidden City" of Huế) was the eighth Emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty. He reigned for only one year ....
and
Ho Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam .Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing...
calling for independence. However, the French maintained control of their colonies until
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the
Japanese war in the PacificThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
triggered the invasion of
French Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
in 1941. This event was preceded by the establishment of the
Vichy FrenchVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
administration, a puppet state of
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
then ally of the Japanese Empire. The natural resources of Vietnam were exploited for the purposes of the Japanese Empire's military campaigns into the British Indochinese colonies of Burma, the
Malay PeninsulaThe Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia, with its narrowest point at the Isthmus of Kra. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its teminus, is the most southern point of the Asian mainland...
and India.
First Indochina War
In 1941, the Viet Minh — a communist and nationalist liberation movement — emerged under
Ho Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam .Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing...
, to seek independence for Vietnam from France as well as to oppose the Japanese occupation. An estimated 2 million Vietnamese, or 10% of the population
then, died during the
Vietnamese famine of 1944–45The Vietnamese Famine of 1945 was a famine that occurred in northern Vietnam from October 1944 to May 1945, during the Japanese occupation of the country. Between 400,000 and 2 million people are estimated to have starved to death during this time.-Causes:There were many causes of this famine...
. Following the military defeat of Japan and the fall of its
Empire of VietnamThe Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the whole of Vietnam between March 11 and August 23, 1945.-History:...
in August 1945, Viet Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed a provisional government, which asserted independence on 2 September. In the same year the Provisional French Republic sent the
French Far East Expeditionary CorpsThe French Far East Expeditionary Corps was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army sent in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific War.-Pacific War :...
, which was originally created to fight the Japanese occupation forces, in order to pacify the liberation movement and to restore French rule. On November 20, 1946, triggered by the Haiphong Incident, the
First Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union’s French Far East Expeditionary...
between Viet Minh and the French forces ensued, lasting until 20 July 1954.
Despite fewer losses — Expeditionary Corps suffered 1/3 the casualties of the Chinese and Soviet-backed Viet Minh — during the course of the war, the French and
Vietnamese loyalistsThe Vietnamese National Army or Vietnam National Army was the State of Vietnam's military force created in 1949 at the instigation of French General de Lattre...
eventually suffered a major strategic setback at the Siege of Dien Bien Phu, which allowed Ho Chi Minh to negotiate a ceasefire with a favorable position at the ongoing
Geneva conference of 1954The Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
. Colonial administration ended as French Indochina was dissolved. According to the
Geneva Accords of 1954The Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
the forces of former French supporters and communist nationalists were separated south and north, respectively, with the
Vietnamese Demilitarized ZoneThe Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam as a result of the First Indochina War.During the Second Indochina War , it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North Vietnamese territory from South Vietnamese territory.-...
, at the 17th parallel, between. A
Partition of VietnamThe Partition of Vietnam was the establishment of the 17th parallel as the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone in 1954, splitting Vietnam into halves after the First Indochina War.The Geneva Conference was held at the conclusion of the First Indochina War...
, with Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in
North VietnamNorth Vietnam, also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976....
, and Emperor
Bao DaiBảo Đại , born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy , was the 13th and last ruler of the Nguyễn Dynasty. From 1926 to 1945, he served as king of Annam, now the northern two-thirds of Vietnam. During this period, he was “protected” by France as Annam was part of French Indochina...
's
State of VietnamThe State of Vietnam was a state that claimed authority over all of Vietnam during the First Indochina War, and replaced the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam . The provisional government was a brief transitional administration between colonial Cochinchina and an independent state...
in the
South VietnamSouth Vietnam refers to a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the State of Vietnam and later as the “Republic of Vietnam” . Its capital was Saigon...
, was not intended by the
1954 AgreementsThe Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
, and they expressly forbade the interference of third powers. Counter to the counsel of his American advisor, the State of Vietnam Prime Minister
Ngo Dinh DiemNgô Đình Diệm , was the first President of South Vietnam .-Family and childhood:...
toppled Bao Dai in a
fraudulent referendumThe State of Vietnam referendum of 1955 determined the future form of government of the State of Vietnam, the nation that was to become the Republic of Vietnam. It was contested by Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem, who proposed a republic, and former emperor Bao Dai. Bao Dai had abdicated as emperor in...
organised by his brother
Ngo Dinh Nhu', , was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first President, Ngô Ðình Diệm. He was widely regarded as the brains behind Diem's autocratic regime.-Biography:...
, and proclaimed himself president of the Republic of Vietnam. The Accords mandated nationwide elections by 1956, which Diem refused to hold, despite repeated calls from the North for talks to discuss elections.
Vietnam War
In July 1955, South Vietnamese President
Ngo Dinh DiemNgô Đình Diệm , was the first President of South Vietnam .-Family and childhood:...
rejected the nationwide elections agreed to by France and North Vietnam at the
Geneva Conference of 1954The Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
. The pro-Hanoi Vietcong began a guerrilla campaign in the late 1950s to overthrow Diem's government, which an official Vietcong statement described as a "disguised colonial regime".
In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diem's pro-Catholic discrimination erupted following the banning of the
Buddhist flagThe Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.-History:...
and the
Hue Vesak shootingsThe Hue Vesak shootings refer to the deaths of nine unarmed Buddhist civilians on May 8, 1963 in the city of Huế in South Vietnam, at the hands of the army and security forces of the government of Ngo Dinh Diem...
. This resulted in a series of mass demonstrations known as the
Buddhist crisisThe Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam from May 1963 to November 1963. The crisis was precipitated by the shootings of nine unarmed civilians on May 8 in the central city of Hue who were protesting a ban of the Buddhist flag...
. With Diem unwilling to bend, his brother orchestrated the
Xa Loi Pagoda raidsThe Xa Loi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam shortly after midnight on August 21, 1963...
. As a result, America's relationship with Diem broke down and resulted in
coupOn November 1, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of the Buddhist crisis and, in general, his increasing oppression of national groups in the name of fighting the Communist-dominated...
that saw
Diem killedThe arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d'état led by General Duong Van Minh in November 1963...
.
Diem was followed by a series of military regimes that often lasted only months before being toppled by another. With this instability, the communists began to gain ground. There were more than a dozen governments before the pairing of
Nguyen Cao KyNguyễn Cao Kỳ is a Vietnamese politician, who served as Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, and then as Vice President until his retirement from politics in 1971.-Biography:...
and
Nguyen Van ThieuNguyễn Văn Thiệu was a general and served as president of South Vietnam .- Biography :Born in a coastal village, central Vietnam , Thiệu was a son of a small but well-to-do landowner...
took control of a junta in mid-1965. Thieu gradually outmanoevred Ky and cemented his grip on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971.
To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the US began increasing its contribution of military advisers. US forces became embroiled in ground combat operations in 1965 and at their peak they numbered more than 500,000. Communist forces attacked most major targets in South Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive, and althought their campaign failed militarily, it shocked the American establishment, and caused them to think that the communists could not be defeated. Communist forces supplying the Vietcong carried supplies along the
Truong Son RoadThe Ho Chi Minh trail was a path that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
, which passed through Laos and Cambodia. The US president authorized
Operation MenuOperation Menu was the codename of a covert United States Strategic Air Command bombing campaign conducted in eastern Cambodia from 18 March 1969 until 26 May 1970, during the Vietnam War...
, a
SACThe Strategic Air Command was both a major command in the United States Air Force and a "specified command" in the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
bombing campaign in Laos and Cambodia, which he kept secret from the US Congress.
Its own casualties mounting, and facing opposition to the war at home and condemnation abroad, the U.S. began withdrawing from ground combat roles according to the
Nixon DoctrineThe Nixon Doctrine was put forth in a press conference in Guam on July 25, 1969 by Richard Nixon. He stated that the United States henceforth expected its allies to take care of their own military defense, but that the U.S. would aid in defense as requested...
; the process was subsequently called . The effort had mixed results. The
Paris Peace AccordsThe Paris Peace Accords of 1973, intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam Conflict, ended direct U.S. military involvement and temporarily stopped the fighting between north and south...
of 27 January 1973, formally recognized the sovereignty of Vietnam "as recognized by the
1954 GenevaThe Geneva Conference was a conference between many countries that agreed to end hostilities and restore peace in French Indochina and Vietnam...
AgreementsThe Geneva Agreements of 1954 arranged a settlement which brought about an end to the First Indochina war. The agreement was reached at the end of the Geneva Conference. A ceasefire was signed and France agreed to withdraw its troops from the region. French Indochina was split into three...
". Under the terms of the accords all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March 1973. Limited fighting continued, before the north
captured the province of Phuoc Long in December 1974The Battle of Phuoc Long took place in Phuoc Long Province, about 100km from South Vietnam's capital, Saigon, at present day Phuoc Binh. The campaign against Phuoc Long reflected North Vietnam's change in policy after the strategic raids of 1974, taking full advantage of South Vietnam's critical...
and started a
full-scale offensiveThe Ho Chi Minh Campaign , was the final title applied to a series of increasingly large-scale and ambitious offensive operations by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam which began on 13 December 1974...
, culminating in the
Fall of SaigonThe Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the North Vietnamese army on April 30 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.North Vietnamese forces...
on 30 April 1975. South Vietnam briefly come under the nominal rule of a Provisional Revolutionary Government while under military occupation by North Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, North and South were merged to form a
Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Postwar period
Upon taking control of the bomb-ravaged country, the Vietnamese communists banned all other political parties and forced public servants and military personnel of the Republic of Vietnam into re-education camps. The government also embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories. Reconstruction of the war-ravaged country was slow, and serious humanitarian and economic problems confronted the communist regime. Millions of people
fled the countryBoat people is a term that usually refers to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate en masse in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made, rendering them unseaworthy and unsafe...
in crudely built boats, creating an international humanitarian crisis. In 1978, the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia (sparking the
Cambodian-Vietnamese WarThe Cambodian–Vietnamese War was a series of conflicts between the two countries, culminating in the Vietnamese invasion and subsequent occupation of Cambodia and the removal of the Khmer Rouge regime from power...
) which removed the
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan....
from power. This action worsened relations with China, which launched a brief incursion into northern Vietnam (the
Sino-Vietnamese WarThe Sino–Vietnamese War, also known as the Third Indochina War, was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
) in 1979. This conflict caused Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid.
Doi Moi (renovation)
At the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in December 1986, reformers, upset by the lack of economic progress after the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, replaced the "old guard" with new leadership. The reformers were led by 71 year old
Nguyen Van LinhNguyễn Văn Linh was a political leader of the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1986 to 1991. During his time in office, Linh was a strong advocate of "doi moi" , an economic plan whose aim is to turn Vietnam economy to a market...
, who became the party's new general secretary. Linh was a native of northern Vietnam who had served in the south both during and after the war. In a historic shift, the reformers implemented free-market reforms known as (
renovation), which carefully managed the transition from a command economy to a
Socialist-oriented market economyThe socialist-oriented market economy is the official name given to the current economic system in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and is the result of the Doi moi economic reforms, which led to the displacement of the centrally-planned economy with a market socialist...
. With the authority of the state remaining unchallenged, private ownership of farms and companies engaged in commodity production, deregulation and foreign investment were encouraged while the state maintained control over strategic industry. The
economy of VietnamThe economy of Vietnam is a developing mixed economy. Over the past 20 years, Vietnam has made a shift from a centrally planned economy to a Socialist-oriented market economy . Over that period, the economy has experienced rapid growth...
subsequently achieved rapid growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction and housing, exports and foreign investment.
Government and politics
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a
single-party stateA single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
. A new state constitution was approved in April 1992, replacing the 1975 version. The central role of the Communist Party was reasserted in all organs of government, politics and society. Only political organizations affiliated with or endorsed by the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections. These include the
Vietnamese Fatherland FrontFor the national railway company of Switzerland, see SBB-CFF-FFS.The Vietnamese Fatherland Front founded February 1977 , is an umbrella group of pro-government "mass movements" in Vietnam, and has...
, worker and trade unionist parties. Although the state remains officially committed to
socialismSocialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on...
as its defining creed, the ideology's importance has substantially diminished since the 1990s. The
President of VietnamThe President of Vietnam is the head of state of Vietnam, although the functions of the President are often ceremonial. The President is responsible for appointing the Prime Minister and the Cabinet from among the members of the National Assembly, basing his or her decision upon indications from...
is the titular
head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
and the nominal commander in chief of the military of Vietnam, chairing the Council on National Defense and Security. The
Prime Minister of Vietnam-Office:The Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of the executive branch of the Vietnamese government. The Prime Minister presides over the Vietnamese cabinet, and is responsible for appointing and supervising ministers...
Nguyen Tan Dung is the
head of governmentHead of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister, President of the Government, Premier, etc...
, presiding over a council of ministers composed of 3 deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions.
The
National Assembly of VietnamThe Constitution of Vietnam recognizes the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as "the highest organ of state power." The National Assembly, a 493-member unicameral body elected to a five-year term, meets twice a year...
is the unicameral
legislatureA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
of the government, composed of 498 members. It is superior to both the executive and judicial branches. All members of the council of ministers are derived from the National Assembly. The
Supreme People's Court of VietnamThe Supreme People's Court of Vietnam is the highest court and the Court of Appeal in Vietnam. It functions under the authority of the National Assembly of Vietnam.Judges are appointed by the National Assembly of Vietnam for five year terms....
, which is the highest court of appeal in the nation, is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the
provincial municipal courtsProvincial Municipal Courts of Vietnam are lower level courts in Vietnam's judicial system. These courts are essentially provincial courts and report directly to the central government in Hanoi.Other courts in Vietnam:* Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam...
and the
local courtsLocal Courts of Vietnam or People's Courts deal with legal issues at the district precinct levels. These courts report to provincial or municipal governments.Matters dealt by this court include:* labour disputes* individual disputes...
.
Military courtsMilitary Courts of Vietnam deals with criminal matters within the military of Vietnam. They are part of the court system in Vietnam:* Supreme People's Court of Vietnam* Local Courts of Vietnam* Provincial Municipal Courts of Vietnam-References:*...
are also a powerful branch of the judiciary with special jurisdiction in matters of national security. All organs of Vietnam's government are controlled by the Communist Party. Most government appointees are members of the party. The General Secretary of the Communist Party is perhaps one of the most important political leaders in the nation, controlling the party's national organization and state appointments, as well as setting policy.
The
Vietnam People's ArmyThe Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
(VPA) is the official name for the combined military services of Vietnam, which is organized along the lines of China's
People's Liberation ArmyThe People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on 1 August 1927—celebrated annually as "PLA Day"—as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. The VPA is further subdivided into the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces (including Strategic Rear Forces and Border Defense Forces), the
Vietnam People's NavyThe Vietnamese People's Navy is part of the Vietnamese People's Armed Forces and is responsible for the protection of national waters, islands, and interests of the maritime economy, as well as for the coordination of maritime police, customs service and the border defense force.-History:Following...
, the
Vietnam People's Air ForceVietnamese People's Air Force or Không Quân Nhân Dân Việt Nam is the air force of Vietnam. It was the successor of the North Vietnamese Air Force and absorbed the Republic of Vietnam Air Force following the re-unification of Vietnam in 1975....
and the Vietnamese People's Coast Guard. Through Vietnam's recent history, the VPA has actively been involved in Vietnam's workforce to develop the economy of Vietnam, in order to coordinate national defense and the economy. The VPA is involved in such areas as industry, agriculture, forestry, fishery and telecommunications. The total strength of the VPA is close to 500,000 officers and enlisted members. The government also organizes and maintains provincial militias and police forces. The role of the military in public life has steadily been reduced since the 1980s.
Human rights
In its 2004 report on
Human Rights PracticesHuman rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
, the U.S. Department of State characterized Vietnam’s human rights record as “poor” and cited the continuation of “serious abuses.” According to the report, the government has imposed restrictions on
freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
,
freedom of the pressFreedom of the press consists ofconstitutional or statutory protections pertaining to the media and published materials.With respect to governmental information, any government distinguishes which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information...
,
freedom of assemblyFreedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
, and
freedom of associationFreedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
.
International relations
The current Vietnamese foreign policy is: "Implement consistently the foreign policy line of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development; the foreign policy of openness and diversification and multi-lateralization of international relations. Proactively and actively engage in international economic integration while expanding international cooperation in other fields. Vietnam is a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the international community, actively taking part in international and regional cooperation processes."
As of December 2007, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 172 countries. Vietnam holds membership of 63 international organizations such as the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
, ASEAN,
NAMThe Non-Aligned Movement is an international organisation of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The movement is largely the brainchild of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former president of Egypt Gamal Abdul Nasser and Yugoslav...
,
La FrancophonieLa Francophonie, or the Francophonie, is an international organization of polities and governments with French as the mother or customary language, wherein a significant proportion of people are francophones or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture.Formally known...
, WTO and 650 non-government organizations.
Subdivisions
Vietnam is divided into
58 provinceA province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Roman provinces:The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French province , which comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of activity which a...
s (known in
VietnameseVietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national and official language of Vietnam...
as
tỉnh, from the Chinese 省, shěng). There are also
5 centrally controlled municipalities existing at the same level as provinces (
thành phố trực thuộc trung ương).
The provinces are further subdivided into
provincial municipalitiesProvincial cities , sometimes translated provincial municipalities, are cities lesser in rank than direct-controlled municipalities of the Republic of China...
(
thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh),
townshipA township is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government. Specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country.-Uses of the term:...
s (
thị xã) and
countiesA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
(
huyện), and then, subdivided into
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
s (
thị trấn) or
communesThe Communes of Vietnam are the third-level administrative units in Vietnam after Districts. In Vietnam a rural commune is referred to as a xã...
(
xã).
The centrally controlled municipalities are subdivided into
districtDistricts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
s (
quận) and counties, and then, subdivided into wards (
phường).
Geography and climate
Vietnam is approximately 331,688 km² (128,066
sq miThe square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile.
) in area (not including Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands), larger than Italy and almost the size of Germany. The perimeter of the country running along its international boundaries is 4,639 km (2,883 mi). The topography consists of hills and densely forested mountains, with level land covering no more than 20%. Mountains account for 40% of the area, with smaller hills accounting for 40% and tropical forests 42%. The northern part of the country consists mostly of highlands and the
Red River DeltaThe Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
. Phan Xi Păng, located in
Lào Cai provinceLao Cai is a province of northeastern Vietnam.- Administration :Lào Cai is divided into one city and eight districts:* Bắc Hà* Bảo Thắng* Bảo Yên* Bát Xát* Mường Khương* Sa Pa* Si Ma Cai* Văn Bàn...
, is the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143 m (10,312 ft). The south is divided into coastal lowlands, Annamite Chain peaks, extensive forests, and poor soil. Comprising five relatively flat plateaus of basalt soil, the highlands account for 16% of the country's arable land and 22% of its total forested land.
The delta of the Red River (also known as the ), a flat, triangular region of , is smaller but more intensely developed and more densely populated than the Mekong River Delta. Once an inlet of the Gulf of Tonkin, it has been filled in by the enormous alluvial deposits of the rivers over a period of millennia, and it advances one hundred meters into the Gulf annually. The Mekong delta, covering about , is a low-level plain no more than three meters above sea level at any point and criss-crossed by a maze of canals and rivers. So much sediment is carried by the Mekong's various branches and tributaries that the delta advances sixty to eighty meters into the sea every year.
Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November to April, the monsoon winds usually blow from the northeast along the China coast and across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture; consequently the winter season in most parts of the country is dry only by comparison with the rainy or summer season. The average annual temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains and plateaus and in the south than in the north. Temperatures in the southern plains (Ho Chi Minh City and the
Mekong DeltaThe Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of...
) varies less, going between 21 and 28 °
CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(70 and 82.5 °
FFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
) over the course of a year. The seasons in the mountains and plateaus and in the north are much more dramatic, and temperatures may vary from 5 °C (41 °F) in December and January to 37 °C (98.6 °F) in July and August.
Nature
Vietnam has two World's Natural Heritage sites:
Halong BayHa Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Ha Long City, Cam Pha Town and part of Van Don District...
and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and 6 World's
biosphere reserveThe UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme was established in 1977 to promote an interdisciplinary approach to research, training and communications in ecosystem conservation and rational use of natural resources.-Development:...
s including:
Can Gio Mangrove ForestCan Gio Biosphere Reserve is a wetland located 40 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. This reserve has been listed the biosphere reserve by UNESCO...
,
Cat TienCat Tien National Park is an important national park located in the south of Vietnam, approximately 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. It has an area of about 720 km² and protects one of the largest areas of lowland tropical rainforests left in Vietnam....
,
Cat BaCát Bà National Park is an important national park in northern Vietnam. Cát Bà is situated in Ha Long Bay, is administered by the city of Hai Phong, and belongs to the Cát Hải district of Hai Phong....
, Kien Giang,
Red River DeltaThe Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
,
Western Nghe AnGeneral DescriptionThe Proposed Biosphere Reserve is located in the tropical and temperate zone. It is profoundly influenced by a North-East and South-West monsoon. Because topography of Annamite range influences circulation of atmosphere, there are big climatic differences in the area...
.
Biodiversity
Vietnam is in the Indomalaya ecozone.
According to chapter 1 of the 2005 National Environmental Present Condition Report, "Biodiversity Subject of Vietnam Environment Protection Agency", in terms of
species diversitySpecies diversity is an index that incorporates the number of species in an area and also their relative abundance. It is generally a much more useful value than species richness....
Vietnam is one of twenty five countries considered to possess a high level of biodiversity, and is ranked 16th in biological diversity (having 16% world's species) (page 9). 15,986 flora were identified, of which 10% are endemic (p9). Statistics indicate that there are 307 nematodes, 200
oligochaetaOligochaeta is a subclass in the biological phylum Annelida and includes various earthworms. Specifically, it contains the terrestrial megadrile earthworms , and freshwater or semi-terrestrial microdrile forms including the tubificids, pot worms and ice worms , blackworms and...
, 145
acarinaAcarina or Acari are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and its fossil history goes back to at least the early Devonian era; possibly even the Ordovician. As a result, acarologists have proposed a complex set of taxonomic ranks to...
, 113 springtails, 7750 insects, 260 reptiles, 120 amphibians, 840 birds and 310 mammals of which 100 birds and 78 mammals are endemic (p9,10). Vietnam also has 1438 fresh water microalgae (9,6% species in the world) (Table 1.2, p9). It is also noted that there are 794 aquatic invertebrates and 2458 sea fish (p10,11). In recent years, there have been 13 genera, 222 species, and 30 taxa of flora newly described, and 6 mammals have been discovered such as the
saolaThe Saola or Vu Quang ox, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid , one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laotian border. Its name Saola means spindle-[horned]...
,
giant muntjacThe Giant Muntjac is a species of muntjac deer. It is the largest muntjac species and was discovered in 1994 in Vu Quang, Ha Tinh province of Vietnam and in central Laos....
,
Edwards's PheasantEdwards's Pheasant, Lophura edwardsi, is a bird of the pheasant family Phasianidae that is endemic to the rainforests of Vietnam. It is 58–67 cm long, with red legs and facial skin. The male is a mainly blue-black bird with a crest,and the female is a drab brown bird. The alarm call is a...
,
Tonkin Snub-nosed LangurThe Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey or Dollman's Snub-nosed Monkey is a species of colobine endemic to northwestern Vietnam....
, livistona halongensis,
geothelphusa vietnamica, and others (frame 1.4, p11,12). In agricultural
genetic diversityGenetic diversity is a level of biodiversity that refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary....
, Vietnam is one of the world's twelve original cultivar centers (p13). The Vietnam National Cultivar Gene Bank is preserving 12,300 cultivars of 115 species (p14).
In chapter 4 of that report, it is said that the Vietnamese government spent 49.07 million USD for preserving biodiversity in 2004 (p71) and has established 126 conservation areas including 28
national parks (p73).
Economy
Historically, Vietnam has been an agricultural civilization based on wet rice cultivating. The Vietnam War destroyed much of the economy of Vietnam. Upon taking power, the Government created a
planned economyA planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the state or workers' councils manage the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services...
for the nation. Collectivization of farms, factories and economic capital was implemented, and millions of people were put to work in government programs. For a decade, united Vietnam's economy was plagued with inefficiency and corruption in state programs, poor quality and underproduction and restrictions on economic activities and trade. It also suffered from the trade embargo from the United States and most of Europe after the Vietnam War. Subsequently, the trade partners of the Communist blocs began to erode. In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress introduced significant economic reforms with
market economyA market economy is economy based on the division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system set by supply and demand....
elements as part of a broad economic reform package called "đổi mới" (
Renovation), resulting in a
Socialist-oriented market economyThe socialist-oriented market economy is the official name given to the current economic system in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and is the result of the Doi moi economic reforms, which led to the displacement of the centrally-planned economy with a market socialist...
. Private ownership was encouraged in industries, commerce and agriculture. Vietnam achieved around 8% annual
GDPThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
growth from 1990 to 1997 and continued at around 7% from 2000 to 2005, making it the world's second-fastest growing economy. Simultaneously, foreign investment grew threefold and domestic savings quintupled. Manufacturing,
information technologyInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
and high-tech industries form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy. Vietnam is a relative newcomer to the oil business, but today it is the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia with output of . Vietnam is one of Asia's most open economies: two-way trade is around 160% of GDP, more than twice the ratio for China and over four times India's.
Vietnam is still a relatively poor country with an annual GDP of US$280.2 billion at purchasing power parity (2006 estimate). This translates to a purchasing power of about US$3,300 per capita (or US$726 per capita at the market exchange rate). Inflation rate was estimated at 7.5% per year in 2006. Deep poverty, defined as a percent of the population living under $1 per day, has declined significantly and is now smaller than that of China, India, and the Philippines.
As a result of several
land reformLand reforms is an often-controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government administers possession and use of land...
measures, Vietnam is now the largest producer of
cashewThe cashew is a tree in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The plant is native to northeastern Brazil. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú...
nuts with a one-third global share, the largest producer of
black pepperBlack pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single...
accounting for one-third of the world's market and second largest
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
exporter in the world after
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
. Vietnam has the highest percent of land use for permanent crops, 6.93%, of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Besides rice, key exports are
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
,
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
,
rubberNatural rubber is an elastomer that was originally derived from a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, found in the sap of some plants. The purified form of natural rubber is the chemical polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically...
, and fishery products. However, agriculture's share of economic output has declined, falling as a share of GDP from 42% in 1989 to 20% in 2006, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the unemployment rate in Vietnam is 4.3%. Among other steps taken in the process of transitioning to a market economy, Vietnam in July 2006 updated its intellectual property legislation to comply with TRIPS. Vietnam was accepted into the
WTOThe World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
on November 7, 2006. Vietnam's chief trading partners include China, Japan, Australia,
ASEANThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN , is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand...
countries, the U.S. and Western European countries.
Military
Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam, The Vietnam People's Army (VPA), is the official collective term for the
armed forcesThe armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In some countries...
of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The VPA consists of the Vietnam People's
Ground ForcesThe Hungarian Ground Forces are one of the branches of the Hungarian armed forces. It is the army which handles Ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APC's, IFV's and ground support...
, Vietnam People's
NavyA navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
, Vietnam People's
Air ForceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
, and Vietnam People's
Coast GuardA coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries.-Role:...
.
Transport
The modern transport network of Vietnam was originally developed under French rule for the purpose of raw materials harvesting, and reconstructed and extensively modernized following the Vietnam War. The road system is the most popular form of transportation in the country. Vietnam’s road system includes national roads administered by the central level; provincial roads managed by the provincial level; district roads managed by the district level; urban roads managed by cities and towns; and commune roads managed by the commune level.
BicycleA bicycle, also known as a bike, push bike or cycle, is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist....
s, motor scooters and motorcycles remain the most popular forms of road transport in Vietnam's cities, towns, and villages although the number of privately owned automobiles is also on the rise, especially in the larger cities. Public bus operated by private companies is the main long distance travel means for many people. Traffic congestion is a serious problem in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as the cities' roads struggle to cope with the booming numbers of automobiles. There are also more than 17,000 km of navigable
waterwayA waterway is any navigable body of water. These include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
s, which play a significant role in rural life owing to the extensive network of rivers in Vietnam.
The nation has seven developed ports and harbors at
Cam RanhCam Ranh is a town in southern Khanh Hoa Province, in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is the second-largest in the province, after Nha Trang. It is located on Cam Ranh Bay....
,
Da NangDa Nang is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea...
, Hai Phong,
Ho Chi Minh CityHo Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) (Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh is the largest city in Vietnam. It was known as Prey Nokor before being annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon (Vietnamese: Sài Gòn; ), it was the capital of...
, Hong Gai (Halong City),
Qui Nhon Qui Nhơn or Quy Nhơn is a coastal city in the Binh Dinh Province of central Vietnam. It comprises 16 wards and 5 communes with 284 km² general area. Qui Nhon is the capital of the Binh Dinh province and as of 1999 its population was 240,000. Historically the primary commercial activities of...
, and
Nha TrangNha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
.
Population
Recent census estimates the population of Vietnam at beyond 84 million.
Vietnamese peopleThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
, also called "Viet" or "Kinh", account for 86.2% of the population. Their population is concentrated in the alluvial deltas and coastal plains of the country. A homogeneous social and ethnic group, the Kinh exert political and economic control. There are more than 54 ethnic minority groups throughout the country, but the Kinh are purveyors of the dominant culture. Most ethnic minorities, such as the
MuongMuong may refer to:*Muong people, third largest of Vietnam’s 53 minority groups**Muong language, spoken by the Mường people of Vietnam*No Muong, king of the southern Laotian Kingdom of Champasak in 1811...
, a closely related ethnic of the Kinh, are found mostly in the highlands covering two-thirds of the territory. Before the Vietnam War, the population of the
Central HighlandsTây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....
was almost exclusively
DegarThe Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
(over 40 hill tribal groups), until Diem's governments enacted a program of settling Kinh in indigenous areas. The
HoaHoa refers to a minority in Vietnam consisting of persons considered to be ethnic Chinese . They are often referred to as either Chinese Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, or ethnic Chinese in/from Vietnam by the Vietnamese populace, Overseas Vietnamese, and other ethnic Chinese...
(ethnic Chinese) and
Khmer KromThe Khmer Krom - Khmer people living in the Delta and the Lower Mekong area. Mostly regarded as the indigenous ethnic Khmer minority living in southern Vietnam...
are mainly lowlanders. The largest ethnic minority groups include the
HmongHmong may refer to:*Hmong people, an ethnic group in China and Southeast Asia*Hmong language, a cluster of closely related Hmong-Mien languages*Hmong customs and culture*Hmong cuisine...
,
DaoThe Yao nationality is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south...
,
Tay-People:* Warren Tay, British ophthalmologist** Tay-Sachs disease, named after Warren Tay* Tay, nickname of the basketball player Tayshaun Prince* Tay Zonday, singer* Phonte, rapper in Little Brother* Tay people, an ethnic group in Vietnam-Places:...
,
ThaiThe Thai are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of languages, and the...
, and Nung. From 1978 to 1979, some 450,000 ethnic
ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
left Vietnam.
Languages
The people of Vietnam speak
VietnameseVietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national and official language of Vietnam...
as a native language. In its early history, Vietnamese writing used Chinese characters. In the 13th century, the Vietnamese developed their own set of characters called Chữ nôm. The celebrated epic ( or ) by Nguyễn Du was written in Chữ nôm. During the French colonial period, Quốc ngữ, the romanized Vietnamese alphabet used for spoken Vietnamese, which was developed in 17th century by Jesuit Alexandre De Rhodes and several other Catholic
missionariesA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
, became popular and brought literacy to the masses.
Various other languages are spoken by several minority groups in Vietnam. The most common of these are
TàyThe Tai languages are a subgroup of the Kradai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai-Kadai languages, including standard Thai, the national language of Thailand, Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos, Myanmar's Shan language, and Zhuang, a major...
,
MườngThe Mường language is spoken by the Mường people of Vietnam. It is in the Austroasiatic language family and closely related to Vietnamese. It is a tonal language with five tones...
,
KhmerKhmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
,
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Nùng, and
H'MôngHmong or Mong is the common name for a group of dialects of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong-Mien/Miao-Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos...
. The
French languageFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, a legacy of colonial rule, is still spoken by some older Vietnamese as a second language, but is losing its popularity. Vietnam is also a full member of the Francophonie.
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
— and to a much lesser extent
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
,
CzechCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. Czech is similar to and mutually intelligible with Slovak and, to a lesser extent, to Polish and Sorbian. - Official status :Czech is widely...
, or
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
— is sometimes known among those whose families had ties with the Soviet bloc. In recent years,
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is becoming more popular as a second language. English study is obligatory in most schools.
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
have also become more popular.
Religions
For much of Vietnamese history, Mahayana Buddhism,
TaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
and
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
have strongly influenced the religious and cultural life of the people. About 85% of Vietnamese identify with
BuddhismBuddhism came to Vietnam as early as the second century CE through the North from central Asia and via Southern routes from India. Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana school, although some ethnic minorities adhere to the Theravada school...
, though not all practice on a regular basis. About 8% of the population are
ChristiansChristianity was first introduced to Vietnam in 16th century and established a solid position in Vietnamese society since 17-18th centuries. At present Vietnam has the fourth-largest Roman Catholic population in Asia, after the Philippines, India and possibly the People's Republic of China...
(about six million Roman Catholics and fewer than one million Protestants, according to the census of 2007). Christianity was introduced first by the Portuguese and the Dutch traders in the 16th and 17th centuries, then further propagated by French missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, and to a lesser extent, by American Protestant missionaries during the presence of American forces during the 1960s and early 1970s, largely among the Montagnards of South Vietnam. The largest Protestant churches are the Evangelical Church of Vietnam and the Montagnard Evangelical Church. Two thirds of Vietnam's Protestants are ethnic minorities.
Vietnam is deeply suspicious and wary of
Roman CatholicismThe Roman Catholic Church in Vietnam is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. Vietnam has the fifth largest Catholic population in Asia, after the Philippines, India, China and Indonesia....
. This mistrust originated during the 19th century when some Catholics collaborated with the
French colonistsFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
and in helping French priests in uprisings against the emperors. Furthermore, the Catholic Church's strongly anti-communist stance have made it an a government enemy. The Vatican Church is banned and only government-controlled organisations are permitted. Relationship with the Vatican, however, has improved in recent years. Membership of
SunniSunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short...
and Bashi
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, a small minority faith, is primarily practiced by the ethnic
ChamThe Cham people are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They are concentrated between the Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia and central Vietnam's Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang areas. Approximately 4,000 Chams also live in Thailand; many of whom have moved south to...
minority, though there are also a few ethnic Vietnamese adherents in the southwest. The communist government rejects criticism that it does not allow religious freedom.
The vast majority of Vietnamese people of Asian religions practice Ancestor Worship.
From the articles of
Religions by countryThis article gives an overview about religion by country. Note that the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, will show dual figures; those are the percentage of people who believe in God and the percentage of nominal adherents who celebrate traditional religious holidays although...
,
Religion in VietnamThe earliest established religions in Vietnam are Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism . Significant minorities of adherents to Roman Catholicism, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao and smaller minorities of adherents to Protestantism, Islam, Hinduism, and Theravada Buddhism were established later, in...
and
Demographics of VietnamThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Vietnam, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
; 85% is nominal/secular Buddhists including predominant 83% East Asian Buddhist or "Triple religion" (80% of people are worship the mixture of Mahayana Buddhism mainly,
TaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
,
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
with Ancestor Worship; 2%
Hòa HảoHòa Hảo is a religious tradition, based on Buddhism, founded in 1939 by Huynh Phu So, a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider So to be a prophet, and Hoa Hao a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Buu Son Ky Huong...
with 1% of some new Vietnamese-Buddhist sects as Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa, Pure Land Buddhist, etc) and 2% Theravada Buddhism, mainly among
Khmer peopleThe Khmer people; ខ្មែរ ; are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon-Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
but the census of Government showed that only over 10 million people have taken
refugeBuddhists are said to "take refuge" in, or to "go for refuge" to, the Three Jewels . This is often done formally in lay and monastic ordination ceremonies.The general signification of Three Jewels is: * the Buddha;...
in the
Three JewelsThe Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem, are the three things that Buddhists take refuge in, and look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge.The Three Jewels are:...
; 8% Christians (7% Catholics and 1% Protestants); 3% Caodaism; 2.5% Tribal animism; less than 70 thousand
MuslimsIslam in Vietnam is primarily the religion of the Cham people, a minority ethnic group related to Malays; however, roughly one-third of the Muslims in Vietnam are of other ethnic groups...
(mainly
Cham peopleThe Cham people are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They are concentrated between the Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia and central Vietnam's Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang areas. Approximately 4,000 Chams also live in Thailand; many of whom have moved south to...
); small
HinduHinduism in Southeast Asia influenced the former Champa civilization in southern parts of Central Vietnam, Funan in Cambodia, the Khmer Empire in Indochina, the Srivijayan kingdom on Sumatra, the Singhasari kingdom and the Majapahit Empire based in Java, Bali, and the Philippine archipelago...
communities (over 50 thousand people) and a small number of Baha'is and Jews.
Education
Vietnam has an extensive state-controlled network of schools, colleges and universities but the number of privately run and mixed public and private institutions is also growing. General education in Vietnam is imparted in 5 categories:
Kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
,
elementary schoolAn elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
s,
middle schoolMiddle school or junior high school serves as a "bridge" between elementary school and high school. The terms can be used in different ways in different countries, sometimes interchangeably...
s,
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
s, and
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
/
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. Courses are taught mainly in Vietnamese. A large number of public schools have been organized across cities, towns and villages with the purpose of raising the national literacy rate which is already among the highest in the world. There are a large number of specialist colleges, established to develop a diverse and skilled national workforce. A large number of Vietnam's most acclaimed universities are based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Facing serious crises, Vietnam's education system is under a holistic reform launched by the government. In Vietnam, education from age 6 to 11 is free and mandatory. Education above these ages is not free, therefore some poor families may find it hard to come up with the tuition for their children without some forms of public or private assistance. Regardless, school enrollment is among the highest in the world and the number of colleges and universities increased quite dramatically in recent years, from 178 in 2000 to 299 in 2005.
Science and technology
Historically, Vietnamese scholars did not practice "science" in its generally accepted meaning, but many academic fields were well-developed, especially social sciences and humanities. It has at least ten centuries of commentary and analytic writings. Among the best known works are those of "Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư" - of Ngô Sĩ Liên. Writings that deal with geography, nature, customs and people were also written such as "Dư địa chí" by Nguyễn Trãi. In mathematics, arithmetics and geometry has been taught in schools since the 15th century, using the famous textbook: "Đại thành toán pháp" by Lương Thế Vinh. Lương Thế Vinh also introduced the notion of
zero0 is both a number and the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals. It plays a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, zero is used as a placeholder in place value systems...
while Mạc Hiển Tích had used the term "số ẩn" (unknown/secret/hidden number) to refer to negative numbers even earlier. In the later centuries, much knowledge was collected into encyclopedias such as "Vân đài loại ngữ" by Lê Quý Đôn and "Lịch triều hiến chương loại chí" by Phan Huy Chú.
Culture
Vietnam is an agricultural civilization based on wet rice cultivation with ancient
Dong Son cultureThe Đông Sơn culture was a prehistoric Bronze Age culture that was centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. Its influence flourished to other parts of Southeast Asia, including the Indo-Malayan Archipelago from about 1000 BC to 1 BC....
as one of its defining aspects. The major stimulation of Vietnamese culture's development comes from indigenous factors, with Chinese and Indian influence serving to further enrich it. Through history, Cham culture and the cultures of other minority ethnic groups in Vietnam have been integrated with Vietnamese culture in correlated effects.
The official spoken and written language of Vietnam is
VietnameseVietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national and official language of Vietnam...
.
In the socialist era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media and the cultural influences of socialist programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences were shunned and emphasis placed on appreciating and sharing the culture of communist nations such as the Soviet Union, China,
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
and others. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen a greater exposure to Southeast Asian, European and American culture and media.
One of the most popular Vietnamese traditional garments is the "", worn often for special occasions such as weddings or festivals. White Áo dài is the required uniform for girls in many high schools across Vietnam. Áo Dài was once worn by both genders but today it is worn mainly by females, except for certain important traditional culture-related occasions where some men do wear it.
Vietnamese cuisineVietnamese cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of Vietnam; fish sauce, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables are commonly used. Vietnamese recipes use a diverse range of herbs, including lemongrass, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander and Thai basil leaves.The...
uses very little oil and many vegetables. The main dishes are often based on
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
,
soy sauceSoy sauce , soya sauce or is produced by fermenting soybeans with the molds Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus soyae along with roasted grain, water, and salt. Soy sauce was invented in China, where it has been used as a condiment for close to 2,500 years...
, and
fish sauceFish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, and Cambodian cuisine and is used in other Southeast Asian countries...
. Its characteristic flavors are sweet (sugar), spicy (
serrano pepperThe serrano pepper is a type of chili pepper that originated in the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. Unripe serranos are green, but the color at maturity varies. Common colors are green, red, brown, orange, or yellow....
s), sour (lime), nuoc mam (fish sauce), and flavored by a variety of mint and basil.
Vietnamese music varies slightly in the three regions: or North, or Central, and or South. Northern classical music is Vietnam's oldest and is traditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
troupe. Central classical music shows the influences of Champa culture with its melancholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively attitude.
Football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
is the most popular sport in Vietnam. Sports and games such as
badmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
,
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
, ping pong, and
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
are also popular with large segments of the population.
Volleyball Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules...
, especially women's volleyball, is watched by a fairly large number of Vietnamese people. The (expatriate Vietnamese) community forms a prominent part of Vietnamese cultural life, introducing Western sports, films, music and other cultural activities in the nation.
Vietnam is home to a small film industry.
Among countless other traditional Vietnamese occasions, the
traditional Vietnamese weddingThe traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most important ceremonies in Vietnamese culture, with influence from Confucian and Buddhist ideologies.-Traditional Wedding Clothes since the Nguyen Dynasty:...
is one of the most important. Many of the age-old customs in a Vietnamese wedding continue to be celebrated by both Vietnamese in Vietnam and overseas, often combining both western and eastern elements.
Media
Vietnam's media sector is controlled by the government to follow the official communist party line, though some newspapers are relatively outspoken. The Voice of Vietnam is the official state-run radio broadcasting service that covers the nation. It also broadcasts internationally via shortwave, renting transmitters in other countries and provides broadcasts from its website.
Vietnam TelevisionVietnam Television, or VTV, is the national television broadcaster for Vietnam. Like all media of Vietnam, its programming is directly controlled by the government.which is constialntly changeing.-History:...
is the national television broadcasting company. As Vietnam moved toward a free-market economy with its Đổi mới measures, the government has relied on the print media to keep the public informed about its policies. The measure has had the effect of almost doubling the numbers of
newspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
s and magazines since 1996. Vietnam is putting considerable effort into modernization and expansion of its telecommunication system, but its performance continues to lag behind that of its more modern neighbors.
Tourism
Vietnam's number of visitors for tourism and vacation has increased steadily over the past ten years. About 3.56 million international guests visited Vietnam in 2006, an increase of 3.7% from 2005. The country is investing capital into the coastal regions that are already popular for their beaches and boat tours. Hotel staff and tourism guides in these regions speak a good amount of English.
International rankings
| Organization |
Survey |
Ranking |
Heritage FoundationThe Heritage Foundation is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C.The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies drew significantly from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. Heritage has since continued to...
/The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, in New York City, with Asian and European editions. As of 2007, it has a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million, with approximately 931,000...
|
Index of Economic Freedom |
142 out of 157 |
| The Economist The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in an office in the City of Westminster, London. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. While The Economist calls itself a...
|
Worldwide Quality-of-life Index, 2005 |
61 out of 111 |
Reporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders, or RWB is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud...
|
Worldwide Press Freedom Index |
155 out of 167 |
| Transparency International Transparency International is an international non-governmental organization addressing corruption . This includes, but is not limited to, political corruption. It is widely known for producing its annual Corruptions Perceptions Index , a comparative listing of corruption worldwide. The...
|
Corruption Perceptions Index Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index ordering the countries of the world according to "the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians"...
|
111 out of 163 |
| United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. The UNDP is an executive board within the United Nations General Assembly...
|
Human Development Index |
109 out of 177 |
| World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland which brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world...
|
Global Competitiveness Report The Global Competitiveness Report is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. The first report was released in 1979. The 2009-2010 report covers 133 major and emerging economies, down from 134 considered in the 2008-2009 report as Moldova was excluded due to lack of survey data...
|
77 out of 125 |
Other documents
- Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (4th ed 2001), most widely used short history.
- Jahn GC. 2006. The Dream is not yet over. In: P. Fredenburg P, Hill B, editors. Sharing rice for peace and prosperity in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Victoria, (Australia): Sid Harta Publishers. p 237-240
- Karrnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History. Penguin (Non-Classics); 2nd edition (June 1, 1997). ISBN 0-14-026547-3
- McMahon, Robert J. Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War: Documents and Essays (1995) textbook
- Tucker, Spencer. ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1998) 3 vol. reference set; also one-volume abridgment (2001)
- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 7th edition, Oxford University Press
Oxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
.
External links
Government
General information
Media
- State-run
- Voice of Vietnam: State radio broadcaster
- Vietnam Television: State television broadcaster
- Vietnam News Agency: Official state news agency
- Nhân Dân (The People
Nhân Dân is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam. According to the newspaper, it is “the voice of the Party, State and people of Vietnam.”...
): Official Communist Party newspaper
- Quân đội Nhân Dân: Newspaper of the People's Army
The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
- Công an Nhân dân: Newspaper of the People's Police
People's Police of Vietnam is one of Armed Forces of Vietnam.This force was created on August 19, 1945.-Functions:The People's Police of Vietnam prevents and investigates crime, as well as traffic control and other duties.-Highest Rank :...
- Vietnam Net: Largest Vietnamese portal, run by the government-owned Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corporation
- Hà Nội Mới (New Hanoi): run by the Hanoi Communist Party
- Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Saigon): run by the Ho Chi Minh City Communist Party
NEWLIN
- Non state-ru
While all media in Vietnam must be sponsored by a Communist Party organization and be registered with the government, the following media sources have less government control than others.
- VnExpress: Popular online newspaper
- Tuổi Trẻ (Youth): Daily newspaper with highest circulation, affiliated with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Organization of Ho Chi Minh City
- Thanh Niên (Youth): Major daily newspaper, affiliated with the Vietnam National Youth Federation
- Lao Động (Labour): Major daily newspaper, affiliated with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (the sole labour union in Vietnam)
- Tiền Phong (Vanguard): Major daily newspaper, affiliated with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth organization
- Vietnam Economic Times – for foreign investors.
Other