Vietnam
General
Population: 90,549,390 (2011)
Land Area: 329,560 sq km
Natural Resources: Phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower
Capital: Hanoi
Political System: Communist State
State Leader: Nguyen Minh Triet (2006)
Head of Government: Nguyen Tan Dung (2006)
Languages: Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Khmer, Local languages
Currency: Dong (VND)
Major Religions: Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hoa 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, None 80.8%
Major Ethnicities: Kinh 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, Other 4.1%
Life Expectancy: 72.18 years (2011)
Economy
GDP Official Exchange Rate: 103.6 billion (2010)
GDP Purchasing Power Parity: 276.6 billion (2010)
GDP Per Capita (PPP): 3,100 (2010)
GDP Growth Rate: 6.8% (2010)
GDP Structure: Agriculture 20.6%, Industry 41.1%, Services 38.3% (2010)
Labour Force By Occupation: Agriculture 53.9%, Industry 20.3%, Services 25.8% (2009)
Industries: Food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building, mining, coal, steel, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, paper
Agriculture Products: Paddy rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood
Human Development Index: 0.593 (128th)
Tourism Revenue: 86 million (1998)
Unemployment Rate: 2.9% (2010)
Military
Army Size: 484 000 (2004)
Budget: 2.5% of GDP (2005)
Current Situation
Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is bordered by Cambodia, China and Laos. Following the Vietnam War, Vietnam's economy suffered greatly due to the destruction caused by the war and several embargoes imposed on it. During the 1990's the government opened up the economy and introduced market reforms. The growth rate since the introduction of reforms has been very high and the economy continues to grow today. It is the largest exporter of cashews in the world and the second largest exporter of rice. New industries have also been introduced in order to diversify the economy.
Photo Gallery
Sources
CIA World Factbook: Vietnam
Wikipedia: Vietnam
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/VNM.html
Updated on: January 3, 2012