Vietnam

The **Socialist Republic of Vietnam** (or just **Vietnam**) () is a country in Southeast Asia. The neighboring countries are Cambodia, China, and Laos. The capital is Hanoi. The most populous city is Ho Chi Minh City. There are about 99,497,680 people living in Vietnam. Vietnam was united under a communist government. In 1986, the government made economic and political changes that began Vietnam's path to be a part of the world economy. Since 2000, Vietnam's economic growth has been among "the highest in the world", and in 2011 it had the highest global growth generator index among 11 "major" economies.

## Geography

The length of the country, from North to South, is 1,650 kilometers (1,025 miles). "At its narrowest point, Vietnam is only 30 miles (48 kilometers) wide". Northern Vietnam offers a "humid" subtropical climate with 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall) while Southern Vietnam is "hot year-round".

## History

In A.D. 40, the Trưng Sisters Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị led a rebellion to get rid of Tô Định, the Chinese governor occupying Vietnam. They were daughters of a Lạc lord in Giao Chỉ (now Northern Vietnam) and widows of aristocrats. They successfully formed their own kingdom in Mê Linh, where Trưng Trắc was proclaimed queen, and a capital was built for her". While ruling in Mê Linh, the sisters abolished taxes. They were defeated in A.D. 43 by Ma Yuan, a Chinese general, and are regarded as female military heroes and national heroines.

After Ma Yuan’s defeat of the Trưng sisters, the Chinese maintained domination over Vietnam for more than a thousand years. They established a bureaucracy that emphasized Confucianism, and they focused on educating Vietnam’s ruling class with Chinese literature and ideas.

The kings of Champa (Chiêm Thành in Vietnamese) started construction of Hindu temples at Mỹ Sơn in the 4th century AD.

France desired trading freedom in Vietnam. They wanted to bring more missionaries into the country. The Nguyen dynasty disliked French involvement in Vietnam, and executed missionaries and Vietnamese coverts. This spurred the French Emperor, Napoleon III, to attack Vietnam and attempt to force the court to accept the title of "French protectorate." By the 1880s Vietnam was officially a French protectorate.

The nation was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. After independence was achieved, the French gave the land of the Mekong delta that was part of Cambodia to South Vietnam. The United States had influence in the South, and the Việt Minh controlled the North. Hồ Chí Minh became President of the Democratic Republic of (North) Việt Nam. It was agreed that the nation would be reunited by elections in 1956. The Americans and the Southern government stopped the elections from happening because they expected Hồ Chí Minh to win because North Vietnam refused to hold free elections. The president of the United States Dwight Eisenhower said he thought Hồ would win with around 80% of the vote if elections were held because of the majority of the population being in the north added with Hồ's supporters in the South.

## Population

In Vietnam, the approximate population is around 99,298,522 to 101,531,681 people. The Vietnamese male population is 50,205,096 and the female population is 51,326,584. 25.2% of these people are aged between 0-14, with 13,365,800 being male and 12,161,135 being female. 69.3% of the population are between the ages of 15-64. The male-to-female ratio is 35,024,433 being male and 35,156,146 being female. 5.5% are 65 and over, with 2,149,957 being male and 3,459,991 being female. So within the older 2 categories, there are more women than men.

## Science and technology

Media said in 2011 that investment in science and technology was 2% of GDP.

"Vietnam provides no incentives for students to return to Vietnam from their foreign graduate programmes" was the opinion (in 2011) of French physicist Pierre Darriulat.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- **common name**: Vietnam
- **image flag**: Flag of Vietnam.svg
- **image coat**: Emblem of Vietnam.svg
- **symbol type**: Emblem
- **englishmotto**: "Independence – Freedom – Happiness"
- **national anthem**:
"The Song of the Marching Troops"
- **capital**: Hanoi
- **largest settlement**: Ho Chi Minh City

- **largest settlement type**: city
- **admin center type**: Largest city
- **admin center**: Da Nang

- **languages type**: Official language
- **languages**: Vietnamese language, Vietnamese
- **ethnic groups year**: 2019
- **religion year**: 2019
- **demonym**: Vietnamese people, Vietnamese
Viet (colloquial)
- **government type**: Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party Socialist state (communism), socialist republic
- **leader title1**: General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary
- **leader name1**: Tô Lâm
- **leader title2**: President of Vietnam, President
- **leader name2**: Lương Cường
- **leader title3**: Prime Minister of Vietnam, Prime Minister
- **leader name3**: Phạm Minh Chính
- **leader title4**: Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, National Assembly Chairman
- **leader name4**: Trần Thanh Mẫn
- **legislature**: National Assembly of Vietnam, National Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: History of Vietnam, Formation
- **established event1**: Văn Lang
- **established date1**: 7th century BC
- **established event2**: Âu Lạc
- **established date2**: 3rd century BC
- **established event3**: Han conquest of Nanyue, Han's annexation
- **established date3**: 111 BC
- **established event4**: Ngô dynasty, Independence from China
- **established date4**: 939
- **established event5**: Lê dynasty, Regaining independence
- **established date5**: 1428
- **established event6**: Nguyễn dynasty, Nguyễn's unification
- **established date6**: 1802
- **established event7**: Treaty of Huế (1883), Protectorate Treaty
- **established date7**: 25 August 1883
- **established event8**: Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Declaration of Independence
- **established date8**: 2 September 1945
- **established event9**: 1954 Geneva Conference, North–South partition
- **established date9**: 21 July 1954
- **established event10**: Fall of Saigon, End of Vietnam War
- **established date10**: 30 April 1975
- **established event11**: National Assembly of Vietnam#Since 1976, Reunification
- **established date11**: 2 July 1976
- **established date12**: 18 December 1986
- **established event13**: Constitution of Vietnam#Current constitution, Current constitution
- **established date13**: 28 November 2013
- **area km2**: 331,344.82
- **area rank**: 66th
- **percent water**: 6.38
- **population estimate**: 100,300,000
- **population estimate year**: 2023
- **population estimate rank**: 15th
- **population census**: 96,208,984
- **population census year**: 2019
- **population density km2**: 298
- **population density sq mi**: 770
- **population density rank**: 49th
- **gdp ppp**: $1.559 trillion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2024
- **gdp ppp rank**: 26th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $15,470
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 106th
- **gdp nominal**: $465.814 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2024
- **gdp nominal rank**: 33rd
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $4,623
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 119th
- **gini**: 36.1
- **gini year**: 2022
- **gini change**: decrease
- **hdi**: 0.766
- **hdi year**: 2023
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 93rd
- **currency**: Vietnamese đồng (₫)
- **currency code**: VND
- **time zone**: UTC+07:00, Vietnam Standard Time
- **utc offset**: +07:00
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Vietnam, +84
- **cctld**: .vn