Factbook, Basic, Useful (Essential) Information About Vietnam

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

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia.

Area: total: 329,560 sq km (land: 325,360 sq km, water: 4,200 sq km)

Land boundaries: total: 4,639 km (border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km)

Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm, contiguous zone: 12 nm, exclusive economic zone: 200 nm, continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin.

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)

Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest.

Elevation extremes: lowest point: South China Sea 0 m, highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m.

Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydro-power.

Land use: arable land: 20.14%, permanent crops: 6.93%, other: 72.93% (2005)

Irrigated land: 30,000 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta.

Geography - note: extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point.

Population: 84,402,966 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 27% (male 11,826,457/female 10,983,069), 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 28,055,941/female 28,614,553), 65 years and over: 5.8% (male 1,924,562/female 2,998,384) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 25.9 years, male: 24.8 years, female: 27.1 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.02% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 16.86 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 6.22 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female, under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female, 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female, 65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female, total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 25.14 deaths/1,000 live births (male: 25.54 deaths/1,000 live births, female: 24.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.85 years (male: 68.05 years, female: 73.85 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 9,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural), adjective: Vietnamese.

Ethnic groups: Kinh (Viet) 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, others 4.1% (1999 census)

Religions: Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, none 80.8% (1999 census)

Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write, total population: 90.3%, male: 93.9%, female: 86.9% (2002)