vietnam - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Cng ha X hi ch ngha Vit Nam

Flag Emblem

Motto: "c lp T do Hnh phc""Independence Freedom Happiness"

Anthem: Tin Qun Ca

(English: "Army March")

Location of Vietnam (green)

in ASEAN (dark grey) [Legend]

Capital Hanoi212N 10551E

Largest city Ho Chi Minh City

Official languages Vietnamese

Official scripts Vietnamese

Ethnic groups 85.7% Kinh(Viet)1.9% Tay1.7% Tai1.5% Mng1.4% Kh me1.1% Hoa1.1% Nng1% Hmong4.1% Others

Religion Vietnamese folkreligion

VietnamFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vietnam ( i/vitnam/;[7] Vietnamese: [vit nm]), officially the

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV; Cng ha X hi ch nghaVit Nam ( listen)), is the easternmost country on the Indochina

Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 90.5 millioninhabitants as of 2014, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country,and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnamtranslates as "Southern Viet" (synonymous with the much older termNam Viet); it was first officially adopted in 1802 by Emperor GiaLong, and was adopted again in 1945 with the founding of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh. The countryis bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia

to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.[8] Its capitalcity has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and SouthVietnam in 1976.

Vietnam was part of Imperial China for over a millennium, from111 BC to AD 938. The Vietnamese became independent fromImperial China in 938, following the Vietnamese victory in theBattle of Bch ng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynastiesflourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically intoSoutheast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by theFrench in the mid-19th century. Following a Japanese occupation inthe 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First IndochinaWar, eventually expelling the French in 1954. Thereafter, Vietnamwas divided politically into two rival states, North and SouthVietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavyintervention from the United States, in what is known as theVietnam War. The war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in1975.

Vietnam was then unified under a communist government butremained impoverished and politically isolated. In 1986, thegovernment initiated a series of economic and political reformswhich began Vietnam's path towards integration into the world

economy.[9] By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with allnations. Since 2000, Vietnam's economic growth rate has been

among the highest in the world,[9] and, in 2011, it had the highest

Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies.[10] Itssuccessful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World TradeOrganization in 2007.

Contents

1 Etymology

2 History

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Vietnam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam

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Demonym Vietnamese

Government Marxist-Leninistsingle-party state

- Communist PartyGeneral Secretary

Nguyn Ph Trng

- President Trng Tn Sang

- Prime Minister Nguyn Tn Dng

- Chairman ofNational Assembly

Nguyn Sinh Hng

Legislature National Assembly

Formation

- Viet Minh declareindependence fromFrance

2 September 1945

- Fall of Saigon 30 April 1975

- Reunification 2 July 1976[1]

- Current constitution 28 November 2013 (ineffect since 1 January2014)

Area

- Total 332,698 km2 (65th)128,565 sq mi

- Water (%) 6.4[2]

Population

- 2014 estimate 90,630,000[3] (13th)

- Density 273.11/km2 (46th)707.4/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate

- Total Int$509.466 billion[3]

(36th)

- Per capita Int$5,621[3] (127th)

GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate

- Total $187.848 billion[3]

(54th)

- Per capita $2,072[3] (133rd)

Gini (2008) 35.6[4]

medium

HDI (2013) 0.638[5]

medium 121st

Currency ng ()[6] (VND)

Time zone Indochina Time(UTC+07:00)

- Summer (DST) No DST (UTC+7)

Drives on the right

Calling code +84

2.1 Prehistory

2.2 Bronze Age

2.3 Dynastic Vietnam2.4 18621945: French Indochina

2.5 194654: First Indochina War

2.6 19541975: Vietnam War

2.7 1976present: reunification and reforms

3 Government and politics

3.1 Legislature

3.2 Military

3.3 International relations

3.4 Administrative subdivisions

4 Geography4.1 Climate

4.2 Ecology and biodiversity

5 Economy

5.1 Trade

5.2 Science and technology

5.3 Transport

5.3.1 Air

5.3.2 Road

5.3.3 Rail

5.3.4 Water6 Demographics

6.1 Ethnicity

6.2 Languages

6.3 Religion

6.4 Education

6.5 Health

7 Culture

7.1 Media

7.2 Music

7.3 Literature7.4 Festivals

7.5 Tourism

7.6 Clothing

7.7 Sport

7.8 Cuisine

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

11 Further reading

12 External links

Etymology

The name Vit Nam (Vietnamese pronunciation: [vit nam]) is a

variation of "Nam Vit" (Chinese: ; pinyin: Nnyu; literally"Southern Vit"), a name that can be traced back to the Triu


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ISO 3166 code VN

Internet TLD .vn

A ng Sn bronze drum, c.800 BC.

Dynasty of the 2nd century BC.[11] The word Vit originated as ashortened form of Bch Vit (Chinese: ; pinyin: Biyu), aword applied to a group of peoples then living in southern China

and Vietnam.[12] The form "Vietnam" () is first recorded in the

16th-century oracular poem Sm Trng Trnh.[13] The name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and

17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that dates to 1558.[14]

Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long.[15] It was revived in the early 20th

century by Phan Bi Chu's History of the Loss of Vietnam, and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party.[16] Thecountry was usually called Annam until 1945, when both the imperial government in Hu and the Viet Minh

government in Hanoi adopted Vit Nam.[17] Since the use of Chinese characters was discontinued in 1918, thealphabetic spelling of Vietnam is official.

History

Prehistory

Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithicage. Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lng Sn and Ngh An provinces

in northern Vietnam.[18] The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene

provenance, and include isolated tooth fragments from Tham Om and Hang Hum.[19] Teeth attributed to Homo sapiens

from the Late Pleistocene have also been found at Dong Can,[20] and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu,[20]

Lang Gao[21] and Lang Cuom.[22]

Bronze Age

By about 1000 BC, the development of wet-rice cultivation and bronze castingin the Ma River and Red River floodplains led to the flourishing of the ngSn culture, notable for its elaborate bronze drums. At this time, the earlyVietnamese kingdoms of Vn Lang and u Lc appeared, and the culture'sinfluence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast

Asia, throughout the first millennium BC.[23][24][25]

Dynastic Vietnam

The Hng Bng dynasty of the Hng kings is considered the first Vietnamesestate, known in Vietnamese as Vn Lang. In 257 BC, the last Hng king wasdefeated by Thc Phn, who consolidated the Lc Vit and u Vit tribes to

form the u Lc, proclaiming himself An Dng Vng. In 207 BC, a Chinese general named Zhao Tuo defeated AnDng Vng and consolidated u Lc into Nanyue. However, Nanyue was itself incorporated into the empire of theChinese Han dynasty in 111 BC after the HanNanyue War.

For the next thousand years, Vietnam remained mostly under Chinese rule.[26] Early independence movements, suchas those of the Trng Sisters and Lady Triu, were only temporarily successful, though the region gained a longer

period of independence as Vn Xun under the Anterior L dynasty between AD 544 and 602.[27] By the early 10thcentury, Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not true independence, under the Khc family.

In AD 938, the Vietnamese lord Ng Quyn defeated the forces of the Chinese Southern Han state at Bch ng River

and achieved full independence for Vietnam after a millennium of Chinese domination.[28] Renamed as i Vit(Great Viet), the nation enjoyed a golden era under the L and Trn dynasties. During the rule of the Trn Dynasty, i


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Map of Vietnam showing the

conquest of the south (the Nam

tin), 10691757.

900

1100

1475

1650

1760

The Imperial City in Hu.

Vit repelled three Mongol invasions.[29] Meanwhile, Buddhism flourished andbecame the state religion.

Following the 14067 MingH War which overthrew the H dynasty, Vietnameseindependence was briefly interrupted by the Chinese Ming dynasty, but was restoredby L Li, the founder of the L dynasty. The Vietnamese dynasties reached theirzenith in the L dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of EmperorL Thnh Tng (14601497). Between the 11th and 18th centuries, Vietnam

expanded southward in a process known as nam tin ("southward expansion"),[30]

eventually conquering the kingdom of Champa and part of the Khmer Empire.[31][32]

From the 16th century onwards, civil strife and frequent political infightingengulfed much of Vietnam. First, the Chinese-supported Mc dynasty challengedthe L dynasty's power. After the Mc dynasty was defeated, the L dynasty wasnominally reinstalled, but actual power was divided between the northern Trnhlords and the southern Nguyn lords, who engaged in a civil war for more than fourdecades before a truce was called in the 1670s. During this time, the Nguynexpanded southern Vietnam into the Mekong Delta, annexing the Central Highlandsand the Khmer lands in the Mekong Delta.

The division of the country ended a century later when the Ty Sn brothersestablished a new dynasty. However, their rule did not last long, and they weredefeated by the remnants of the Nguyn lords, led by Nguyn nh and aided by the

French.[33] Nguyn nh unified Vietnam, and established the Nguyn dynasty,ruling under the name Gia Long.

18621945: French Indochina

Vietnam's independence was gradually eroded by France aided by largeCatholic militias in a series of military conquests between 1859 and 1885. In1862, the southern third of the country became the French colony ofCochinchina. By 1884, the entire country had come under French rule and wasformally integrated into the union of French Indochina in 1887. The Frenchadministration imposed significant political and cultural changes onVietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education wasdeveloped, and Roman Catholicism was propagated widely. Most Frenchsettlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina, basing themselves

around Saigon.[34] The royalist Cn Vng movement rebelled against Frenchrule and was defeated in the 1890s after a decade of resistance. Guerrillas of the Cn Vng movement murdered

around a third of Vietnam's Christian population during this period.[35]

Developing a plantation economy to promote the export of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, the French largely ignoredincreasing calls for Vietnamese self-government and civil rights. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, withleaders such as Phan Bi Chu, Phan Chu Trinh, Phan nh Phng, Emperor Hm Nghi and Ho Chi Minh fighting orcalling for independence. However, the 1930 Yn Bi mutiny of the Vit Nam Quc Dn ng was suppressed

easily.[36] The French maintained full control of their colonies until World War II, when the war in the Pacific led tothe Japanese invasion of French Indochina in 1941. Afterwards, the Japanese Empire was allowed to station its troopsin Vietnam while permitting the pro-Vichy French colonial administration to continue. Japan exploited Vietnam'snatural resources to support its military campaigns, culminating in a full-scale takeover of the country in March 1945

and the Vietnamese Famine of 1945, which caused up to two million deaths.[37]


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French Indochina in 1913.

U.S. helicopter spraying chemical

defoliants (probably Agent Orange)

over the Mekong Delta, 1969.

194654: First Indochina War

In 1941, the Viet Minh a communist and nationalist liberation movement emerged under the MarxistLeninist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, who soughtindependence for Vietnam from France and the end of the Japanese occupation.Following the military defeat of Japan and the fall of its puppet Empire ofVietnam in August 1945, the Viet Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed aprovisional government, which asserted national independence on 2 September.In the same year, the Provisional Government of the French Republic sent theFrench Far East Expeditionary Corps to restore colonial rule, and the Viet Minh

began a guerrilla campaign against the French in late 1946.[38] The resulting

First Indochina War lasted until July 1954.[39]

The defeat of French and Vietnamese loyalists in the 1954 Battle of Dien BienPhu allowed Ho Chi Minh to negotiate a ceasefire from a favorable position atthe subsequent Geneva Conference. The colonial administration was ended andFrench Indochina was dissolved under the Geneva Accords of 1954, whichseparated the loyalist forces from the communists at the 17th parallel north

with the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. Two states formed after thepartition Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north andEmperor Bo i's State of Vietnam in the south. A 300-day period of freemovement was permitted, during which almost a million northerners, mainly

Catholics, moved south, fearing persecution by the communists.[43]

The partition of Vietnam was not intended to be permanent by the Geneva Accords, which stipulated that Vietnam

would be reunited after elections in 1956.[44] However, in 1955, the State of Vietnam's Prime Minister, Ng nhDim, toppled Bo i in a fraudulent referendum organised by his brother Ng nh Nhu, and proclaimed himself

president of the Republic of Vietnam.[45]

19541975: Vietnam War

The pro-Hanoi Viet Cong began a guerrilla campaign in the late 1950s to

overthrow Dim's government.[46] In the North, the communist government

launched a land reform program,[47] and executed between 50,000[48] and

172,000[47] people in campaigns against wealthy farmers and landowners, amid

broader purges.[47][49][50][51] In 1960 and 1962, the Soviet Union and NorthVietnam signed treaties providing for further Soviet military support. In theSouth, Dim went about crushing political and religious opposition,

imprisoning or executing tens of thousands.[52][53]

In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Dim's regime erupted into mass

demonstrations, leading to a violent government crackdown.[54] This led to thecollapse of Dim's relationship with the United States, and ultimately to the

1963 coup in which Dim and Nhu were assassinated.[55] The Dim era wasfollowed by more than a dozen successive military governments, before thepairing of Air Marshal Nguyn Cao K and General Nguyn Vn Thiu tookcontrol in mid-1965. Thieu gradually outmaneuvered Ky and cemented his grip

on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971.[56] Under this political instability, the communists began to gainground.

To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the United States began increasing its

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Saigon Trade Center, one of the first

skyscrapers to be built in Ho Chi

Minh City after the Doi Moi reforms.

contribution of military advisers, using the 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident as a pretext for such intervention. US forces

became involved in ground combat operations in 1965, and at their peak they numbered more than 500,000.[57][58] TheUS also engaged in a sustained aerial bombing campaign. Meanwhile, China and the Soviet Union provided North

Vietnam with significant material aid and 15,000 combat advisers.[59][60] Communist forces supplying the Viet Cong

carried supplies along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which passed through Laos.[61]

The communists attacked South Vietnamese targets during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Although the campaign failed

militarily, it shocked the American establishment, and turned US public opinion against the war.[62][63] Facing anincreasing casualty count, rising domestic opposition to the war, and growing international condemnation, the USbegan withdrawing from ground combat roles in the early 1970s. This process also entailed an unsuccessful effort to

strengthen and stabilize South Vietnam.[64]

Following the Paris Peace Accords of 27 January 1973, all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March1973. In December 1974, North Vietnam captured the province of Phc Long and started a full-scale offensive,

culminating in the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.[65] South Vietnam was briefly ruled by a provisional governmentwhile under military occupation by North Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.[1] The war left Vietnam devastated, with the total death toll standing at between

800,000 and 3.1 million.[37][66][67]

1976present: reunification and reforms

In the aftermath of the war, under L Dun's administration, the government

embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories.[68]

This caused economic chaos and resulted in triple-digit inflation, while nationalreconstruction efforts progressed slowly. At least one million South Vietnamesewere sent to reeducation camps, with an estimated 165,000 prisoners dying.[69][70] Between 100,000[69][71][72] and 200,000[73] South Vietnamese were

executed in extrajudicial killings;[74] another 50,000 died performing hard

labor in "New Economic Zones".[69][75] In the late 1970s and early 1980s,millions of people fled the country in crudely built boats, creating an

international humanitarian crisis;[76][77] hundreds of thousands died at sea.[78]

In 1978, the Vietnamese military invaded Cambodia to remove from power the

Khmer Rouge, who had been attacking Vietnamese border villages.[79] Vietnamwas victorious, installing a government in Cambodia which ruled until

1989.[80] This action worsened relations with the Chinese, who launched a brief

incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979.[81] This conflict caused Vietnam torely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid.

At the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam inDecember 1986, reformist politicians replaced the "old guard" government

with new leadership.[82][83] The reformers were led by 71-year-old Nguyn

Vn Linh, who became the party's new general secretary.[82][83] Linh and thereformers implemented a series of free-market reforms known as i Mi ("Renovation") which carefully

managed the transition from a planned economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy".[84][85]

Though the authority of the state remained unchallenged under i Mi, the government encouraged privateownership of farms and factories, economic deregulation and foreign investment, while maintaining control over

strategic industries.[85] The Vietnamese economy subsequently achieved strong growth in agricultural and industrialproduction, construction, exports and foreign investment. However, these reforms have also caused a rise in income


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The Presidential Palace in Hanoi,

formerly the Palace of The Governor-

General of French Indochina.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in

Hanoi.

Vietnamese President Trng Tn

Sang with his first lady during the

Moscow Victory Day Parade, 9 May

2015

inequality and gender disparities.[86][87][88]

Government and politics

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, along with China, Cuba, Laos, and NorthKorea, is one of the world's five remaining single-party socialist statesofficially espousing communism. Its current state constitution, 2013Constitution, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in allorgans of government, politics and society. The General Secretary of theCommunist Party performs numerous key administrative and executivefunctions, controlling the party's national organization and state appointments,as well as setting policy. Only political organizations affiliated with or endorsedby the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. Theseinclude the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and worker and trade unionist parties.Although the state remains officially committed to socialism as its defining

creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist,[89] with The

Economist characterizing its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists".[90]

The President of Vietnam is the titular head of state and the nominalcommander-in-chief of the military, serving as the Chairman of the Council ofSupreme Defense and Security. The Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head ofgovernment, presiding over a council of ministers composed of three deputyprime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions.

Legislature

The National Assembly of Vietnam is the unicameral legislature of the state,composed of 498 members. Headed by a Chairman, it is superior to both theexecutive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointedfrom members of the National Assembly. The Supreme People's Court ofVietnam, headed by a Chief Justice, is the country's highest court of appeal,though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the SupremePeople's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and numerous local courts.Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of national security.Vietnam maintains the death penalty for numerous offences; as of February

2014, there are around 700 inmates on death row in Vietnam.[91]

Military

The Vietnam People's Armed Forces consists of the Vietnam People's Army,the Vietnam People's Public Security and the Vietnam Civil Defense Force. TheVietnam People's Army (VPA) is the official name for the active militaryservices of Vietnam, and is subdivided into the Vietnam People's GroundForces, the Vietnam People's Navy, the Vietnam People's Air Force, the Vietnam Border Defense Force and theVietnam Coast Guard. The VPA has an active manpower of around 450,000, but its total strength, including

paramilitary forces, may be as high as 5,000,000.[92] In 2011, Vietnam's military expenditure totalled approximately

US$2.48 billion, equivalent to around 2.5% of its 2010 GDP.[93]

International relations

Throughout its history, Vietnam's key foreign relationship has been with its largest neighbour and one-time imperial


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Vietnamese troops on one of the

disputed Spratly Islands in 2009.

master, China. Vietnam's sovereign principles and insistence on culturalindependence have been laid down in numerous documents over the centuries,such as the 11th-century patriotic poem Nam quc sn h and the 1428proclamation of independence Bnh Ng i co. Though China and Vietnamare now formally at peace, significant territorial tensions remain between the

two countries.[94]

Currently, the formal mission statement of Vietnamese foreign policy is to:"Implement consistently the foreign policy line of independence, self-reliance,peace, cooperation and development; the foreign policy of openness anddiversification and multi-lateralization of international relations. Proactivelyand actively engage in international economic integration while expanding

international cooperation in other fields."[95] Vietnam furthermore declares itself to be "a friend and reliable partner ofall countries in the international community, actively taking part in international and regional cooperation

processes."[95]

By December 2007, Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with 172 countries, including the United States,

which normalized relations in 1995.[96][97] Vietnam holds membership of 63 international organizations, including theUnited Nations, ASEAN, NAM, Francophonie and WTO. It is furthermore a member of around 650 non-government

organizations.[98]

Administrative subdivisions

Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces (Vietnamese: tnh, from the Chinese , shng). There are also fivemunicipalities (thnh ph trc thuc trung ng), which are administratively on the same level as provinces.

A clickable map of Vietnam exhibiting its 58 provinces and 5 centrally controlled municipalities.


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Red River Delta

Bc NinhH NamHi DngHng YnNam nhNinh BnhThi BnhVnh PhcHanoi (municipality)Hai Phong (municipality)

Northeast

Bc GiangBc KnCao BngH GiangLng SnLo CaiPh ThQung NinhThi NguynTuyn QuangYn Bi

Northwest

in BinHa BnhLai ChuSn La

North Central Coast

H TnhNgh AnQung BnhQung TrThanh HaTha ThinHu


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Topographic map of Vietnam.

The provinces are subdivided into provincial municipalities (thnh ph trc thuc tnh), townships (th x) andcounties (huyn), which are in turn subdivided into towns (th trn) or communes (x). The centrally controlledmunicipalities are subdivided into districts (qun) and counties, which are further subdivided into wards (phng).

Geography

Vietnam is located on the eastern Indochina Peninsula between the latitudes 8and 24N, and the longitudes 102 and 110E. It covers a total area of

approximately 331,210 km2 (127,881 sq mi),[2] making it almost the size ofGermany. The combined length of the country's land boundaries is 4,639 km

(2,883 mi), and its coastline is 3,444 km (2,140 mi) long.[2] At its narrowestpoint in the central Qung Bnh Province, the country is as little as 50kilometres (31 mi) across, though it widens to around 600 kilometres (370 mi)in the north. Vietnam's land is mostly hilly and densely forested, with level landcovering no more than 20%. Mountains account for 40% of the country's landarea, and tropical forests cover around 42%.

The northern part of the country consists mostly of highlands and the Red RiverDelta. Phan Xi Png, located in Lo Cai Province, is the highest mountain inVietnam, standing 3,143 m (10,312 ft) high. Southern Vietnam is divided intocoastal lowlands, the mountains of the Annamite Range, and extensive forests.Comprising five relatively flat plateaus of basalt soil, the highlands account for16% of the country's arable land and 22% of its total forested land. The soil inmuch of southern Vietnam is relatively poor in nutrients.

The Red River Delta, a flat, roughly triangular region covering 15,000 km2

(5,792 sq mi),[99] is smaller but more intensely developed and more denselypopulated than the Mekong River Delta. Once an inlet of the Gulf of Tonkin, it has been filled in over the millennia by

riverine alluvial deposits. The delta, covering about 40,000 km2 (15,444 sq mi), is a low-level plain no more than 3meters (9.8 ft) above sea level at any point. It is criss-crossed by a maze of rivers and canals, which carry so muchsediment that the delta advances 60 to 80 meters (196.9 to 262.5 ft) into the sea every year.

A panorama of Vietnam's H Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Climate

Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety in topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerablyfrom place to place. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November to April, the monsoon windsusually blow from the northeast along the Chinese coast and across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerablemoisture. Consequently, the winter season in most parts of the country is dry only by comparison with the rainy orsummer season. The average annual temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains, and higher inthe south than in the north. Temperatures vary less in the southern plains around Ho Chi Minh City and the MekongDelta, ranging between 21 and 28 C (69.8 and 82.4 F) over the course of the year. Seasonal variations in themountains and plateaus and in the north are much more dramatic, with temperatures varying from 5 C (41.0 F) in


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Mai Chu village

The saola, one of the world's rarest

mammals, is native to Vietnam.

Paddy fields in Sa Pa.

December and January to 37 C (98.6 F) in July and August.

Ecology and biodiversity

Vietnam has two World Natural Heritage Sites H Long Bay and PhongNha-K Bng National Park and six biosphere reserves, including Cn GiMangrove Forest, Ct Tin, Ct B, Kin Giang, the Red River Delta, andWestern Ngh An.

Vietnam lies in the Indomalaya ecozone. According to the 2005 National

Environmental Present Condition Report.[100] Vietnam is one of twenty-fivecountries considered to possess a uniquely high level of biodiversity. It isranked 16th worldwide in biological diversity, being home to approximately16% of the world's species. 15,986 species of flora have been identified in thecountry, of which 10% are endemic, while Vietnam's fauna include 307nematode species, 200 oligochaeta, 145 acarina, 113 springtails, 7,750 insects,260 reptiles, 120 amphibians, 840 birds and 310 mammals, of which 100 birds

and 78 mammals are endemic.[100]

Vietnam is furthermore home to 1,438 species of freshwater microalgae,constituting 9.6% of all microalgae species, as well as 794 aquatic invertebrates

and 2,458 species of sea fish.[100] In recent years, 13 genera, 222 species, and 30 taxa of flora have been newly

described in Vietnam.[100] Six new mammal species, including the saola, giant muntjac and Tonkin snub-nosed

monkey have also been discovered, along with one new bird species, the endangered Edwards's pheasant.[101] In thelate 1980s, a small population of Javan rhinoceros was found in Ct Tin National Park. However, the last individual

of the species in Vietnam was reportedly shot in 2010.[102]

In agricultural genetic diversity, Vietnam is one of the world's twelve original cultivar centers. The Vietnam National

Cultivar Gene Bank preserves 12,300 cultivars of 115 species.[100] The Vietnamese government spent US$49.07million on the preservation of biodiversity in 2004 alone, and has established 126 conservation areas, including 28

national parks.[100]

Economy

In 2012, Vietnam's nominal GDP reached US$138 billion, with a nominal GDP

per capita of $1,527, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[3]

According to a December 2005 forecast by Goldman Sachs, the Vietnameseeconomy will become the world's 21st-largest by 2025, with an estimated

nominal GDP of $436 billion and a nominal GDP per capita of $4,357.[103]

According to a 2008 forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vietnam may be thefastest-growing of the world's emerging economies by 2025, with a potential

growth rate of almost 10% per annum in real dollar terms.[104] In 2012, HSBCpredicted that Vietnam's total GDP would surpass those of Norway, Singapore

and Portugal by 2050.[105]

Vietnam has been, for much of its history, a predominantly agricultural civilization based on wet rice cultivation. Thereis also an industry for Bauxite mining in Vietnam, an important material for the production of aluminum. However, theVietnam War destroyed much of the country's agrarian economy, leading the post-war government to implement aplanned economy to revitalise agriculture and industrialise the nation. The collectivization of farms, factories andeconomic capital was implemented, and millions of people were put to work in government programs. For a decadefollowing the Vietnam War, Vietnam's economy was plagued with inefficiency and corruption in state programs, poor


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Hanoi's Keangnam Hanoi Landmark

Tower, the tallest building in

Vietnam.

Floating market of Cn Th

quality and underproduction, and restrictions on economic activity. It alsosuffered from the post-war trade embargo instituted by the United States andmost of Europe. These problems were compounded by the erosion of the Sovietbloc, which included Vietnam's main trading partners, in the late 1980s.

In 1986, the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party introducedsocialist-oriented market economic reforms as part of the i Mi reformprogram. Private ownership was encouraged in industries, commerce and

agriculture.[106] Thanks largely to these reforms, Vietnam achieved around 8%annual GDP growth between 1990 to 1997, and the economy continued to growat an annual rate of around 7% from 2000 to 2005, making Vietnam one of theworld's fastest growing economies. Growth remained strong even in the face ofthe late-2000s global recession, holding at 6.8% in 2010, but Vietnam'syear-on-year inflation rate hit 11.8% in December 2010, according to a GSO

estimate. The Vietnamese dong was devalued three times in 2010 alone.[107]

Manufacturing, information technology and high-tech industries now form alarge and fast-growing part of the national economy. Though Vietnam is arelative newcomer to the oil industry, it is currently the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, with a total 2011

output of 318,000 barrels per day (50,600 m3/d).[108] In 2010, Vietnam was ranked as the 8th largest crude petroleum

producers in the Asia and Pacific region.[109] Like its Chinese neighbours, Vietnam continues to make use of centrallyplanned economic five-year plans.

Deep poverty, defined as the percentage of the population living on less than $1 per day, has declined significantly in

Vietnam, and the relative poverty rate is now less than that of China, India, and the Philippines.[110] This decline in thepoverty rate can be attributed to equitable economic policies aimed at improving living standards and preventing therise of inequality; these policies have included egalitarian land distribution during the initial stages of the i Mi

program, investment in poorer remote areas, and subsidising of education and healthcare.[111] According to the IMF,

the unemployment rate in Vietnam stood at 4.46% in 2012.[3]

Trade

Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has applied sequenced trade liberalisation, atwo-track approach opening some sectors of the economy to international

markets while protecting others.[111][112] In July 2006, Vietnam updated itsintellectual property legislation to comply with TRIPS, and it became amember of the WTO on 11 January 2007. Vietnam is now one of Asia's mostopen economies: two-way trade was valued at around 160% of GDP in 2006,more than twice the contemporary ratio for China and over four times the ratio

for India.[113] Vietnam's chief trading partners include China, Japan, Australia,the ASEAN countries, the United States and Western Europe.

Vietnam's Customs office reported in July 2013 that the total value ofinternational merchandise trade for the first half of 2013 was US$124 billion, which was 15.7% higher than the sameperiod in 2012. Mobile phones and their parts were both imported and exported in large numbers, while in the naturalresources market, crude oil was a top-ranking export and high levels of iron and steel were imported during thisperiod. The U.S. was the country that purchased the highest amount of Vietnam's exports, while Chinese goods were

the most popular Vietnamese import.[114]

As a result of several land reform measures, Vietnam has become a major exporter of agricultural products. It is nowthe world's largest producer of cashew nuts, with a one-third global share; the largest producer of black pepper,accounting for one-third of the world's market; and the second-largest rice exporter in the world, after Thailand.


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The TOPIO 3.0 humanoid robot

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 777 at

Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Vietnam is the world's second largest exporter of coffee.[115] Vietnam has the highest proportion of land use forpermanent crops 6.93% of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Other primary exports include tea, rubber,and fishery products. However, agriculture's share of Vietnam's GDP has fallen in recent decades, declining from 42%in 1989 to 20% in 2006, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen.

In 2014 the country negotiated a free trade agreement with the European Union which would give it access to the EU'sGeneralized System of Preferences, which provides preferential access to European markets for developing countries

through reduced tariffs.[116]

Science and technology

Vietnamese scholars developed many academic fields during the dynastic era,most notably social sciences and the humanities. The country boasts amillennium-deep legacy of analytical histories, such as the i Vit s k tonth of Ng S Lin. Vietnamese monks led by the abdicated Emperor TrnNhn Tng developed the Trc Lm Zen branch of philosophy in the 13thcentury. Arithmetics and geometry have been widely taught in Vietnam sincethe 15th century, using the textbook i thnh ton php by Lng Th Vinhas a basis. Lng Th Vinh introduced Vietnam to the notion of zero, whileMc Hin Tch used the term s n (en: "unknown/secret/hidden number") torefer to negative numbers. Vietnamese scholars furthermore producednumerous encyclopedias, such as L Qu n's Vn i loi ng.

In recent times, Vietnamese scientists have made many significant contributions in various fields of study, mostnotably in mathematics. Hong Ty pioneered the applied mathematics field of global optimization in the 20th century,while Ng Bo Chu won the 2010 Fields Medal for his proof of fundamental lemma in the theory of automorphicforms. Vietnam is currently working to develop an indigenous space program, and plans to construct the US$600

million Vietnam Space Center by 2018.[117] Vietnam has also made significant advances in the development of robots,

such as the TOPIO humanoid model.[118] In 2010, Vietnam's total state spending on science and technology equalled

around 0.45% of its GDP.[119]

Transport

Much of Vietnam's modern transport network was originally developed under French rule to facilitate thetransportation of raw materials, and was reconstructed and extensively modernized following the Vietnam War.

Air

Vietnam operates 21 major civil airports, including three internationalgateways: Noi Bai in Hanoi, Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang, andTan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Son Nhat is the nation's largest airport,handling 75% of international passenger traffic. According to a state-approvedplan, Vietnam will have 10 international airports by 2015 besides theaforementioned three, these include Lien Khuong International Airport, PhuBai International Airport, Cam Ranh International Airport, Phu QuocInternational Airport, Cat Bi International Airport, Cn Th InternationalAirport and Long Thanh International Airport. The planned Long ThanhInternational Airport will have an annual service capacity of 100 millionpassengers once it becomes fully operational in 2020.

Vietnam Airlines, the state-owned national airline, maintains a fleet of 69 passenger aircraft,[120][121] and aims tooperate 150 by 2020. Several private airlines are also in operation in Vietnam, including Air Mekong, Jetstar Pacific


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A section of the NorthSouth

Expressway linking Cu Gi and

Ninh Bnh

Airlines, VASCO and VietJet Air.

Road

Vietnam's road system includes national roads administered at the central level;provincial roads managed at the provincial level; district roads managed at thedistrict level; urban roads managed by cities and towns; and commune roadsmanaged at the commune level. Bicycles, motor scooters and motorcyclesremain the most popular forms of road transport in Vietnam's urban areas,although the number of privately owned automobiles is also on the rise,especially in the larger cities. Public buses operated by private companies arethe main mode of long-distance travel for much of the population.

Road safety is a serious issue in Vietnam on average, 30 people are killed in

traffic accidents every day.[122] Traffic congestion is a growing problem inHanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as the cities' roads struggle to cope with theboom in automobile use.

Rail

Vietnam's primary cross-country rail service is the Reunification Express, which runs from Ho Chi Minh City toHanoi, covering a distance of nearly 2,000 kilometres. From Hanoi, railway lines branch out to the northeast, north andwest; the eastbound line runs from Hanoi to H Long Bay, the northbound line from Hanoi to Thi Nguyn, and thenortheast line from Hanoi to Lo Cai.

In 2009, Vietnam and Japan signed a deal to build a high-speed railway using Japanese technology; numerousVietnamese engineers were later sent to Japan to receive training in the operation and maintenance of high-speed

trains. The railway will be a 1,630-km-long[123] express route, serving a total of 26 stations, including Hanoi and the

Thu Thiem terminus in Ho Chi Minh City.[124] Using Japan's Shinkansen technology,[125] the line will support trainstravelling at a maximum speed of 360 kilometres (220 mi) per hour. The high-speed lines linking Hanoi to Vinh, NhaTrang and Ho Chi Minh City will be laid by 2015. From 2015 to 2020, construction will begin on the routes betweenVinh and Nha Trang and between Hanoi and the northern provinces of Lo Cai and Lng Sn.

Water

As a coastal country, Vietnam has many major sea ports, including Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Ho Chi MinhCity, Hong Gai, Qui Nhn, Vng Tu and Nha Trang. Further inland, the country's extensive network of rivers play akey role in rural transportation, with over 17,700 kilometres (11,000 mi) of navigable waterways carrying ferries,

barges and water taxis.[126][127]

In addition, the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta are vital to Vietnam's social and economic welfare most of thecountry's population lives along or near these river deltas, and the major cities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi aresituated near the Mekong and Red River deltas, respectively. Further out in the South China Sea, Vietnam currentlycontrols the majority of the disputed Spratly Islands, which are the source of longstanding disagreements with China

and other nearby nations.[128]

Demographics

The census of 1 April 2009 recorded the population of Vietnam as standing at approximately 85.8 million. Thepopulation had grown significantly from the 1979 census, which showed the total population of reunified Vietnam to

be 52.7 million.[129] In 2012, the country's population was estimated at approximately 90.3 million.[3] Currently, the


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Hmong women in traditional

dress in Sa Pa, northern

Vietnam.

total fertility rate of Vietnam is 1.8 (births per woman),[130] which is largely due to thegovernment's family planning policy, the two-child policy.

Ethnicity

According to the 2009 census, the dominant Viet or Kinh ethnic group constitutednearly 73.6 million people, or 85.8% of the population. The Kinh population isconcentrated mainly in the alluvial deltas and coastal plains of the country. A largelyhomogeneous social and ethnic group, the Kinh possess significant political andeconomic influence over the country. However, Vietnam is also home to 54 ethnicminority groups, including the Hmong, Dao, Tay, Thai, and Nng. Many ethnicminorities such as the Muong, who are closely related to the Kinh dwell in thehighlands, which cover two-thirds of Vietnam's territory. Before the Vietnam War, thepopulation of the Central Highlands was almost exclusively Degar (including over 40tribal groups); however, Ng nh Dim's South Vietnamese government enacted a

program of resettling Kinh in indigenous areas.[131] The Hoa (ethnic Chinese)[132] andKhmer Krom people are mainly lowlanders. As Sino-Vietnamese relations soured in

1978 and 1979, some 450,000 Hoa left Vietnam.[133]

Languages

The official national language of Vietnam is Vietnamese (Ting Vit), a tonal MonKhmer language which is spokenby the majority of the population. In its early history, Vietnamese writing used Chinese characters. In the 13th century,the Vietnamese developed their own set of characters, referred to as Ch nm. The folk epic Truyn Kiu ("The Tale ofKieu", originally known as on trng tn thanh ) by Nguyn Du was written in Ch nm. Quc ng, the romanizedVietnamese alphabet used for spoken Vietnamese, was developed in the 17th century by the Jesuit Alexandre de

Rhodes and several other Catholic missionaries.[134] Quc ng became widely popular and brought literacy to the

Vietnamese masses during the French colonial period.[134]

Vietnam's minority groups speak a variety of languages, including Ty, Mng, Cham, Khmer, Chinese, Nng, and

H'Mng. The Montagnard peoples of the Central Highlands also speak a number of distinct languages.[135] A numberof sign languages have developed in the cities.

The French language, a legacy of colonial rule, is spoken by many educated Vietnamese as a second language,especially among the older generation and those educated in the former South Vietnam, where it was a principallanguage in administration, education and commerce; Vietnam remains a full member of the Francophonie, and

education has revived some interest in the language.[136][137] Russian and to a much lesser extent German, Czechand Polish are known among some Vietnamese whose families had ties with the Soviet bloc during the Cold

War.[138] In recent years, as Vietnam's contacts with Western nations have increased, English has become morepopular as a second language. The study of English is now obligatory in most schools, either alongside or in many

cases, replacing French.[138][139] Japanese, Chinese and Korean have also grown in popularity as Vietnam's links withother East Asian nations have strengthened.

Religion

According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, in 2010 about 45.3% of the Vietnamese adhere to indigenousreligions, 16.4% to Buddhism, 8.2% to Christianity, 0.4% to other faiths, and 29.6% of the population isn't

religious.[140]

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam's report for 1 April 2009, 6.8 million (or 7.9% of the totalpopulation) are practicing Buddhists, 5.7 million (6.6%) are Catholics, 1.4 million (1.7%) are adherents of Ha Ho,


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Bell Tower of Bi nh Temple in

Ninh Bnh Province

The main Cao i temple in the city

of Ty Ninh

0.8 million (0.9%) practise Caodaism, and 0.7 million (0.9%) are Protestants.In total, 15,651,467 Vietnamese (18.2%) are formally registered in a

religion.[141] According to the 2009 census, while over 10 million people have

taken refuge in the Three Jewels of Buddhism,[142][143] the vast majority ofVietnamese people practice ancestor worship in some form. According to a

2007 report, 81% of the Vietnamese people do not believe in God.[144]

About 8% of the population are Christians, totalling around six million RomanCatholics and fewer than one million Protestants. Christianity was firstintroduced to Vietnam by Portuguese and Dutch traders in the 16th and 17thcenturies, and was further propagated by French missionaries in the 19th and20th centuries, and to a lesser extent, by American Protestant missionariesduring the Vietnam War, 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 reportedly members of ethnic minorities.[145] Although a small religiousminority, Protestantism is claimed to be the country's fastest-growing religion, expanding at a rate of 600% in the

previous decade.[146]

The Vietnamese government is widely seen as suspicious of RomanCatholicism. This mistrust originated during the 19th century, when someCatholics collaborated with the French colonists in conquering and ruling thecountry and in helping French attempts to install Catholic emperors, such as inthe L Vn Khi revolt of 1833. Furthermore, the Catholic Church's stronglyanti-communist stance has made it an enemy of the Vietnamese state. TheVatican Church is officially banned, and only government-controlled Catholicorganisations are permitted. However, the Vatican has attempted to negotiate

the opening of diplomatic relations with Vietnam in recent years.[147]

Several other minority faiths exist in Vietnam. A significant number of peopleare adherents of Caodaism, an indigenous folk religion which has structureditself on the model of the Catholic Church. Sunni and Cham Bani Islam is primarily practiced by the ethnic Chamminority, though there are also a few ethnic Vietnamese adherents in the southwest. In total, there are approximately

70,000 Muslims in Vietnam,[148] while around 50,000 Hindus and a small number of Baha'is are also in evidence.

The Vietnamese government rejects allegations that it does not allow religious freedom. The state's official position on

religion is that all citizens are free to their belief, and that all religions are equal before the law.[149] Nevertheless, onlygovernment-approved religious organisations are allowed; for example, the South Vietnam-founded Unified Buddhist

Church of Vietnam is banned in favour of a communist-approved body.[150]

Education

Vietnam has an extensive state-controlled network of schools, colleges and universities, and a growing number ofprivately run and partially privatised institutions. General education in Vietnam is divided into five categories:kindergarten, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities. A large number of public schools

have been constructed across the country to raise the national literacy rate, which stood at 90.3% in 2008.[151]

A large number of Vietnam's most acclaimed universities are based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Facing seriouscrises, Vietnam's education system is under a holistic program of reform launched by the government. Education is notfree; therefore, some poor families may have trouble paying tuition for their children without some form of public or

private assistance. Regardless, school enrollment is among the highest in the world,[152][153] and the number ofcolleges and universities increased dramatically in the 2000s, from 178 in 2000 to 299 in 2005.


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The University of Medicine in Hanoi.

The Municipal Theatre in Ho Chi

Minh City

Health

In 2009, Vietnam's national life expectancy stood at 76 years for women and 72

for men,[154] and the infant mortality rate was 12 per 1,000 live births.[155] By

2009, 85% of the population had access to improved water sources.[154]

However, malnutrition is still common in the rural provinces.[156] In 2001,government spending on health care corresponded to just 0.9% of Vietnam'sgross domestic product (GDP), with state subsidies covering only about 20% of

health care expenses.[157]

In 1954, North Vietnam established a public health system that reached down

to the hamlet level.[158] After the national reunification in 1975, a nationwide health service was established. In thelate 1980s, the quality of healthcare declined to some degree as a result of budgetary constraints, a shift ofresponsibility to the provinces, and the introduction of charges. Inadequate funding has also contributed to a shortageof nurses, midwives, and hospital beds; in 2000, Vietnam had only 250,000 hospital beds, or 14.8 beds per 10,000

people, according to the World Bank.[157]

Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has made significant progress in combating malaria, with the malaria mortality ratefalling to about 5% of its 1990s equivalent by 2005, after the country introduced improved antimalarial drugs andtreatment. However, tuberculosis cases are on the rise, with 57 deaths per day reported in May 2004. With anintensified vaccination program, better hygiene, and foreign assistance, Vietnam hopes to reduce sharply the number

of TB cases and annual new TB infections.[157]

As of September 2005, Vietnam had diagnosed 101,291 HIV cases, of which 16,528 progressed to AIDS, and 9,554died. However, the actual number of HIV-positive individuals is estimated to be much higher. On average, 4050 newinfections are reported every day in Vietnam. As of 2007, 0.5% of the population is estimated to be infected with HIV,

and this figure has remained stable since 2005.[159] In June 2004, the United States announced that Vietnam would be

one of 15 nations to receive funding as part of a US$15 billion global AIDS relief plan.[157]

Culture

Vietnam's culture has developed over the centuries from indigenous ancientng Sn culture with wet rice agriculture as its economic base. Someelements of the national culture have Chinese origins, drawing on elements ofConfucianism and Taoism in its traditional political system and philosophy.Vietnamese society is structured around lng (ancestral villages); allVietnamese mark a common ancestral anniversary on the tenth day of the third

lunar month.[160] The influences of immigrant peoples such as the Cantonese,Hakka, Hokkien and Hainan cultures can also be seen, while the nationalreligion of Buddhism is strongly entwined with popular culture. In recentcenturies, the influences of Western cultures, most notably France and theUnited States, have become evident in Vietnam.

The traditional focuses of Vietnamese culture are humanity (nhn ngha) and harmony (ha); family and communityvalues are highly regarded. Vietnam reveres a number of key cultural symbols, such as the Vietnamese dragon, whichis derived from crocodile and snake imagery; Vietnam's National Father, Lc Long Qun, is depicted as a holy dragon.The lc a holy bird representing Vietnam's National Mother, u C is another prominent symbol, while turtle and

horse images are also revered.[161]

In the modern era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media andcultural programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences especially those of Western origin were shunned.


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The Vietnamese dan bau a

monochord zither instrument

The Temple of Literature in Hanoi.

However, since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen a greater exposure to Southeast Asian, European and American culture

and media.[162]

Media

Vietnam's media sector is regulated by the government in accordance with the 2004 Law on Publication.[163] It isgenerally perceived that Vietnam's media sector is controlled by the government to follow the official Communist

Party line, though some newspapers are relatively outspoken.[164] The Voice of Vietnam is the official state-runnational radio broadcasting service, broadcasting internationally via shortwave using rented transmitters in othercountries, and providing broadcasts from its website. Vietnam Television is the national television broadcastingcompany.

Since 1997, Vietnam has extensively regulated public Internet access, using both legal and technical means. The

resulting lockdown is widely referred to as the "Bamboo Firewall".[165] The collaborative project OpenNet Initiative

classifies Vietnam's level of online political censorship to be "pervasive",[166] while Reporters Without Borders

considers Vietnam to be one of 15 global "internet enemies".[167] Though the government of Vietnam claims tosafeguard the country against obscene or sexually explicit content through its blocking efforts, many politically and

religiously sensitive websites are also banned.[168]

Music

Traditional Vietnamese music varies between the country's northern and southernregions. Northern classical music is Vietnam's oldest musical form, and istraditionally more formal. The origins of Vietnamese classical music can be tracedto the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, when the Vietnamese captured a

Chinese opera troupe.[169] Throughout its history, Vietnamese has been mostheavily impacted by the Chinese musical tradition, as an integral part, along with

Korea, Mongolia and Japan.[170] Nh nhc is the most popular form of imperialcourt music. Cho is a form of generally satirical musical theatre. Xm or Ht xm(Xm singing) is a type of Vietnamese folk music. Quan h (alternate singing) ispopular in H Bc (divided into Bc Ninh and Bc Giang Provinces) and acrossVietnam. Ht chu vn or ht vn is a spiritual form of music used to invokespirits during ceremonies. Nhc dn tc ci bin is a modern form of Vietnamese folk music which arose in the 1950s.Ca tr (also ht o) is a popular folk music. "H" can not be thought of as the southern style of Quan h. There area range of traditional instruments, including the n bu (a monochord zither), the n go (a two-stringed fiddle withcoconut body), and the n nguyt (a two-stringed fretted moon lute).

Literature

Vietnamese literature has a centuries-deep history. The country has a richtradition of folk literature, based around the typical 6to-8-verse poetic form

named ca dao, which usually focuses on village ancestors and heroes.[171]

Written literature has been found dating back to the 10th-century Ng dynasty,with notable ancient authors including Nguyn Tri, Trn Hng o, NguynDu and Nguyn nh Chiu. Some literary genres play an important role in

theatrical performance, such as ht ni in ca tr.[172] Some poetic unions havealso been formed in Vietnam, such as the Tao n. Vietnamese literature has inrecent times been influenced by Western styles, with the first literary

transformation movement Th Mi emerging in 1932.[173]


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A traditional Tt (Lunar New Year)

tree.

Hi An's Ancient Town, a UNESCO

World Heritage Site.

Festivals

Vietnam has a plethora of festivals based on the lunar calendar, the mostimportant being the Tt New Year celebration. Traditional Vietnameseweddings remain widely popular, and are often celebrated by expatriateVietnamese in Western countries.

Tourism

Vietnam has become a major touristdestination since the 1990s, assisted bysignificant state and private investment,

particularly in coastal regions.[174]

About 3.77 million international tourists

visited Vietnam in 2009 alone.[175]

Popular tourist destinations include theformer imperial capital of Hu, theWorld Heritage Sites of Phong Nha-KBng National Park, Hi An and MSn, coastal regions such as Nha Trang,

the caves of H Long Bay and the Marble Mountains. Numerous touristprojects are under construction, such as the Bnh Dng tourist complex, which

possesses the largest artificial sea in Southeast Asia.[176]

On 14 February 2011, Joe Jackson, the father of American pop star MichaelJackson, attended a ground breaking ceremony for what will be SoutheastAsia's largest entertainment complex, a five-star hotel and amusement parkcalled Happyland. The US$2 billion project, which has been designed toaccommodate 14 million tourists annually, is located in southern Long An Province, near Ho Chi Minh City. It is

expected that the complex will be completed in 2014.[177]

Clothing

The o di, a formal girl's dress, is worn for special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. White o di isthe required uniform for girls in many high schools across Vietnam. o di was once worn by both genders, but today

it is mostly the preserve of women, although men do wear it to some occasions, such as traditional weddings.[178]

Other examples of traditional Vietnamese clothing include the o t thn, a four-piece woman's dress; the o ng, aform of the thn in 5-piece form, mostly worn in the north of the country; the ym, a woman's undergarment; the o b

ba, rural working "pyjamas" for men and women;[179] the o gm, a formal brocade tunic for government receptions;and the o the, a variant of the o gm worn by grooms at weddings. Traditional headwear includes the standardconical nn l and the "lampshade-like" nn quai thao.

Sport

The Vovinam and Bnh nh martial arts are widespread in Vietnam,[180] while soccer is the country's most popular

team sport.[181] Its national team won the ASEAN Football Championship in 2008. Other Western sports, such asbadminton, tennis, volleyball, ping-pong and chess, are also widely popular.

Vietnam has participated in the Summer Olympic Games since 1952, when it competed as the State of Vietnam. Afterthe partition of the country in 1954, only South Vietnam competed in the Games, sending athletes to the 1956 and


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Pho, one of the most popular

Vietnamese dishes.

1972 Olympics. Since the reunification of Vietnam in 1976, it has competed as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,attending every Summer Olympics from 1988 onwards. The present Vietnam Olympic Committee was formed in 1976

and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979.[182] As of 2014, Vietnam has neverparticipated in the Winter Olympics.

Cuisine

Vietnamese cuisine traditionally features a combination of five fundamentaltaste "elements" (Vietnamese: ng v): spicy (metal), sour (wood), bitter (fire),

salty (water) and sweet (earth).[183] Common ingredients include fish sauce,shrimp paste, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables. Vietnameserecipes use lemongrass, ginger, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander, Saigon

cinnamon, bird's eye chili, lime and basil leaves.[184] Traditional Vietnamesecooking is known for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil, and reliance onherbs and vegetables, and is considered one of the healthiest cuisines

worldwide.[185]

In northern Vietnam, local foods are often less spicy than southern dishes, as the colder northern climate limits theproduction and availability of spices. Black pepper is used in place of chilis to produce spicy flavors. The use of suchmeats as pork, beef, and chicken was relatively limited in the past, and as a result freshwater fish, crustaceans particularly crabs and mollusks became widely used. Fish sauce, soy sauce, prawn sauce, and limes are among themain flavoring ingredients. Many signature Vietnamese dishes, such as bn riu and bnh cun, originated in the north

and were carried to central and southern Vietnam by migrants.[186]

See also

Vietnam Coast Guard

Vietnam People's Public Security

Outline of VietnamIndex of Vietnam-related articles

CIVETS, a grouping of emerging economies including Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South

Africa

ASEAN

Notes

Only the first verse of the "Army March" is recognized as the official national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.1. Neither the United States government nor Ng nh Dim's State of Vietnam signed anything at the 1954 GenevaConference. The non-communist Vietnamese delegation objected strenuously to any division of Vietnam; however, the

French accepted the Viet Minh proposal[40] that Vietnam be united by elections under the supervision of "local

commissions".[41] The United States, with the support of South Vietnam and the United Kingdom, countered with the

"American Plan,"[42] which provided for United Nations-supervised unification elections. The plan, however, was rejected

by Soviet and other communist delegations.[42]

2.

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1.

Vietnam Geography (http://www.indexmundi.com/vietnam/geography_profile.html). Index Mundi. 12 July 2011. Retrieved19 December 2011.

2.


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"World Economic Outlook: Vietnam" (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=73&pr.y=7&sy=2014&ey=2018&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=582&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=). International Monetary Fund. October 2013.Retrieved 16 February 2014.

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"Gini Index" (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI). World Bank. Retrieved 29 March 2013.4. "2014 Human Development Report Summary" (http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-en.pdf) (PDF). UnitedNations Development Programme. 2014. pp. 2125. Retrieved 27 July 2014.

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6.

Vietnam (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Vietnam). Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.7. The South China Sea is referred to in Vietnam as the East Sea (Bin ng). "China continues its plot in the East Sea"(http://m.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/government/54432/china-continues-its-plot-in-the-east-sea.html). VietNamNet News. 10December 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.

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10.

Woods, L. Shelton (2002). Vietnam: a global studies handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 38. ISBN 1-57607-416-1.11. Yue-Hashimoto, Oi-kan (1972). Phonology of Cantonese (https://books.google.com/books?id=WY48AAAAIAAJ).Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-521-08442-0. "As a term referring to peoples, Yue is an abbreviation of

Bai-Yue ( or , literally hundred Yue's)."

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Nguyn Bnh Khim. "Sm Trng Trnh (http://vi.wikisource.org/wiki/S%E1%BA%A5m_Tr%E1%BA%A1ng_Tr%C3%ACnh)". Wikisource.org. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

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Thnh Ln. "Ai t quc hiu Vit Nam u tin? (http://viet.vietnamembassy.us/tintuc/story.php?d=20030314121732)". Boi on kt. 14 March 2003. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

14.

At first, Gia Long requested the name Nam Vit, but Qing Emperor Jiaqing refused. Woods, L. Shelton (2002). Vietnam: aglobal studies handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 38. ISBN 1-57607-416-1.

15.

Tonnesson, Stein and Antlov, Hans (1996) Asian Forms of the Nation (https://books.google.com/books?id=3vC14MWi3g4C), Routledge, p. 117, ISBN 0700704426.

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Tonnesson, Stein; Antlov, Hans (1996). Asian Forms of the Nation (https://books.google.com/books?id=3vC14MWi3g4C).Richmond, Surrey, UK: Curzon Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780700704422.

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