Vietnam Fast Facts

Fast Facts

Population: 83, 305, 000 Capital: Hanoi; 3, 977, 000 region: 331, 114 square kilometers (127, 844 square kilometers) Language: Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese, Khmer, regional languages Religion: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian, indigenous beliefs, Muslim Currency: Dong endurance: 72 GDP per Capita: U.S. $2, 300 Literacy percentage: 94

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Vietnam, in Southeast Asia, extends 1, 600 kilometers (1, 000 miles) north to south, it is no more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide at its narrowest point near the country's center. The Red River delta lowlands inside north are divided from the huge Mekong Delta within the south by long, slim seaside plains supported by the forested Annam highlands. Hanoi, the main city, could be the main city on Red River and Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, may be the primary city on Mekong.

Independent for almost a thousand many years, Vietnam fell victim to French colonialism when you look at the mid-19th century. During Japanese career in World War II, communist frontrunner Ho Chi Minh formed the Vietminh, an alliance of communist and noncommunist nationalist groups. Armed struggle won independency in 1954 and generated the partition of Vietnam.

For two decades noncommunist South Vietnam, along with the U.S., fought North Vietnam, backed by China together with Soviet Union. American troops withdrew in 1973, as well as 2 many years later on South Vietnam dropped. In 1976 the nation ended up being reunified under a communist regime.

To replace support lost if the U.S.S.R. dissolved, financial policy encouraged a free-market system as well as trade aided by the western. Vietnam saw remarkable economic progress throughout all of the 1990s. In 1995 the U.S. resumed diplomatic relations. Economic growth stalled, however, using the Asian financial crisis. A stock exchange premiered in 2000, and Vietnam has seen increasing degrees of international investment.

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