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INTRODUCTION
Background: France occupied all of Vietnam
by 1884. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French
continued to rule until 1954 when communist forces under Ho Chi
MINH, who took control of the north, defeated them. US economic
and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt
to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following
a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese
forces overran the south. Economic reconstruction of the reunited
country has proven difficult, as aging Communist Party leaders have
only grudgingly initiated reforms necessary for a free market.
GEOGRAPHY
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
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.
Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season
(mid-
May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)
Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower.
note: extending 1,650 km north to south,
the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point.
PEOPLE
Population: 79,939,014 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 32.13% (male 13,266,585; female 12,415,384)
15-64 years: 62.44% (male 24,357,343; female 25,556,187)
65 years and over: 5.43% (male 1,722,094; female 2,621,421) (2001
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.45% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 21.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 6.22 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.56 years
male: 67.12 years
female: 72.19 years (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer,
Cham,
mountain groups
Religions: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly
Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim.
Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (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: 93.7%
male: 96.5%
female: 91.2% (1995 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Government type: Communist state
Capital: Hanoi
Administrative divisions: 58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural),
3 municipalities* (thu do,
singular and plural); An Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac
Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc,
Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lak, Da Nang, Dong Nai,
Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Hai Phong*, Ha Nam, Ha
Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Ho Chi Minh*, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa,
Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long
An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen,
Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang,
Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue,
Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai
Independence: 2 September 1945 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 2 September (1945)
Legal system: based on communist legal theory and French civil law
system.
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Tran Duc LUONG (since 24 September 1997)
and Vice President Nguyen Thi BINH (since NA October 1992).
head of government: Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI
(since 25 September 1997); First Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
DUNG (since 29 September 1997); Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Cong
TAN (since 29 September 1997) and Pham Gia KHIEM (since 29 September
1997)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the
proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National
Assembly.
Elections: president elected by the National
Assembly from among its members for a five-year term; election last
held 25 September 1997 (next to be held when National Assembly meets
following legislative elections in NA 2002); prime minister appointed
by the president from among the members of the National Assembly;
deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister.
election results: Tran Duc LUONG elected president;
percent of National Assembly vote - NA%
ECONOMY
Economy - overview: Vietnam is a poor, densely
populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war,
the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the
rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress
was achieved from 1986 to 1996 in moving forward from an extremely
low starting point - growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993
to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems
existing in the Vietnamese economy but, rather than prompting reform,
reaffirmed the government's belief that shifting to a market oriented
economy leads to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6%
in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth continued at the moderately strong
level of 5.5%, a level that should be matched in 2001. These numbers
mask some major difficulties in economic performance. Many domestic
industries, including coal, cement, steel, and paper, have reported
large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient
foreign producers; this problem apparently eased in 2000. Foreign
direct investment fell dramatically, from $8.3 billion in 1996 to
about $1.6 billion in 1999. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities have
moved slowly in implementing the structural reforms needed to revitalize
the economy and produce more competitive, export-driven industries.
GDP: purchasing power parity
- $154.4 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,950 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 25%
industry: 35%
services: 40% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty
line: 37% (1998 est.)
Household income or Consumption
by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.5%
highest 10%: 29% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.6% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 38.2 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 67%, industry and services
33% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 25% (1995 est.)
Budget: revenues: $5.3 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8
billion (1999 est.)
Industries: food processing, garments, shoes, machine building,
mining,
cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper
Industrial production growth rate: 10.7% (2000 est.)
Agriculture - products: paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans,
coffee, tea,
bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs; fish.
Exports: $14.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee,
rubber, tea, garments,
Shoes.
Exports - partners: China, Japan, Germany, Australia, US, France,
Singapore, UK,
Taiwan
Imports: $15.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, petroleum products,
fertilizer, steel
products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles.
Imports - partners: Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China,
Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, US, Sweden
Debt - external: $13.2 billion (2000)
Currency: dong (VND)
Currency code: VND
Exchange rates: dong per US dollar - 14,530 (January 2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year.
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