Vietnam

Coordinates: Template:Coor dm The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, simply Vietnam or Viet Nam,<ref name="CountryName">Vietnam can also be written Viet Nam and Việt Nam.</ref> is a socialist country in Southeast Asia. Situated in eastern Indochina — bordering China, Laos, Cambodia, as well as the South China Sea — it is the most populous country among the mainland Southeast Asian countries.

Etymology

The name of the country comes from the Vietnamese Việt Nam, which is in turn a reordering of Nam Việt, the name of an ancient kingdom from the ancestral Vietnamese that covered much of today's northern Vietnam. Viet Nam means "southern extension" or "over the south" since they were outside of Han territory. Its Chinese cognate, Yue/Yuet, was also a name for ethnic groups living in the proximity of southern China during ancient times. See Yue (people).

History

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The famous Vietnamese legend tells that the Vietnamese people of various tribes were born in the same egg by the marriage of Lac Long Quan (Dragon Chief) and Au Co. However, most Vietnamese historians consider the Dong Son civilization that covered much of Southeast Asia to be the beginning of Vietnam's history. In 208 BC, a Qin general named Triệu Đà (Zhao Tuo) established a country called Nam Việt which encompassed Southern China and the Red River Delta. The historical significance of the original Nam Việt remains controversial because some historians consider it a Chinese occupation while some believe it was an independent era.

What is known for sure is that for most of the period from 207 BC to the early 10th century, it was under the rule of successive Chinese dynasties. Sporadic independence movements were attempted, but were quickly extinguished by Chinese forces. In 939, the Vietnamese defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River and gained independence. They gained complete autonomy a century later. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, it defeated three Mongol attempts of invasion by the Yuan Dynasty. Feudalism in Vietnam reached its zenith in the Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially with Emperor Le Thanh Tong. Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese expanded southward in a process known as nam tiến (southward expansion). They eventually conquered the kingdom of Champa and much of the Khmer empire. The independent period ended in the mid-19th century, when the country was colonized by France.

The French maintained dominant control of their colony until World War II, when Japanese forces invaded and occupied Vietnam, using the country as a base to launch attacks against South East Asia and India. After the war France attempted to reestablish its colony, however a Communist insurgency that had arisen during Japanese occupation forced the French into a bloody eight-year war that culminated in French defeat and shortly afterwards their retreat. The world community divided the country at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam and South Vietnam during the Geneva Accords.

Both South and North Vietnam formed strategic partners in the years that followed, the South aligning itself with the United States and the North with China and the Soviet Union. Both Vietnams desired the territory of the other, and over the ten years between the Geneva Conference and formal American military involvement, the governments of both States brutally punished opponents of their regimes.

In 1965 the United States withdrew support for the government of South Vietnam and subsequently committed large numbers of troops in an attempt to defeat the ongoing Communist insurgency in the South, known as the Vietcong. However with military support from the Communist North, as well as logistical support China and the USSR, the US became entrenched in a costly war and ultimately withdrew in defeat following immense domestic political pressure. All American troops were withdrawn by March 29, 1973. The Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973 formally recognized the sovereignty of both sides, however the fighting continued until the North overpowered the South on April 30, 1975 and unified the country under the North Vietnamese rule as The Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

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After reunification, political and economic conditions deteriorated. Millions of South Vietnamese became boat people over the next two decades. In late 1978, the Cambodian people, with the support of the Vietnamese army, removed the Khmer Rouge from power. Only one month later, however, partially in retaliation, China launched a short-lived incursion into Vietnam: the Sino-Vietnamese War.

In 1986, the Communist Party of Vietnam implemented economic reforms known as đổi mới (renovation). During much of the 1990s, economic growth was rapid, and Vietnam reintegrated into the international community. It re-established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995, one year after the United States' trade embargo on Vietnam was repealed.

Politics

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The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is governed through a highly centralized system dominated by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) (Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam), which was formerly the Vietnamese Labor Party (1951-1976). The Socialist Republic of Vietnam exists today as a communist state. From 2001 until now, Nong Duc Manh has been General Secretary of CPV. Senior Politburo members (Trần Đức Lương, Phan Văn Khải, Nguyễn Văn An, Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Lê Hồng Anh, Phạm Văn Trà and Trương Quang Được) concurrently hold high positions in the Government and the National Assembly.

The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam occurs between April 18 and April 25, 2006, is expected to determine the leadership of the Communist Party and of the Vietnamese government.

There are no legal opposition parties in Vietnam, although a number of opposition groups do exist scattered overseas among exile communities within countries such as France and the United States. These communities have supported demonstrations and civil disobedience against the government. The most prominent are the Vietnamese Constitutional Monarchist League, and the Government of Free Vietnam. The Government of Free Vietnam has claimed responsibility for a number of guerrilla raids into Vietnam, which the Vietnamese government has denounced as terrorism.

Former political parties include the nationalist Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng of Nguyễn Thái Học, the Can Lao party of the Ngô Đình Diệm government and the Viet Nam Duy Tan Hoi of Phan Bội Châu during the colonial period.

Vietnam is a member of the United Nations, La Francophonie, ASEAN, and APEC, and applied for membership to the World Trade Organization in 2001. In 2005 it attended the inaugural East Asia Summit.

Provinces

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Vietnam's capital is Ha Noi. There are also four municipalities existing at provincial level: Can Tho, Da Nang, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City (Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh). Ho Chi Minh City was formerly known as Sai Gon. The remainder of Vietnam consists of 59 provinces (see main article for more information).

Geography

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The country is approximately 331,688 square kilometres (128,066 sq mi) in area, which is slightly smaller than Germany. The topography consists of hills and densely forested mountains, with level land covering no more than 20 percent. Mountains account for 40 percent, hills 40 percent and forests 75 percent. The northern part of the country consists of highlands and the Red River Delta. Phan Xi Păng, located in Lào Cai province, is the highest mountain in Vietnam at 3,143 metres (10,312 ft). The south is divided into coastal lowlands, Dai Truong Son (central mountains) with high plateaus, and the Mekong River Delta.

The climate is tropical and monsoonal; humidity averages 84 percent throughout the year. Annual rainfall ranges from 120 to 300 centimetres (47 to 118 in), and annual temperatures vary between 5°C (41°F) and 37°C (99°F).

Land boundaries: Total: 4,639 km (2,883 mi)
Border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km (763 mi), China 1,281 km (796 mi), Laos 2,130 km (1,324 mi)

Economy

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In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam formally abandoned Marxist economic planning and began introducing market elements as part of a broad economic reform package called "đổi mới" ("Renovation").

In many ways, this followed the Chinese model and achieved similar results. On one hand, Vietnam achieved around 8% annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997 and continued at around 7% from 2000 to 2002, making it the world's second-fastest growing economy. Simultaneously, investment grew three-fold and domestic savings quintupled.

On the other hand, urban unemployment has been rising steadily in recent years due to high numbers of migration from the countryside to the cities, and rural unemployment, estimated to be up to 35% during non-harvest periods, is already at critical levels. Layoffs in the state sector and foreign-invested enterprises combined with the lasting effects of a previous military demobilization further exacerbated the unemployment situation. The country is attempting to become a member of the WTO. Vietnam, however, is still a relatively poor country with GDP of US$43 billion (est., 2004). This translates to US$2700 per capita. Inflation rate is estimated at 14% per year in 2004. This figure has been scaled down by the Government to 9.5% per annum to avoid the ‘double digit’ classification.

The spending power of the public has noticeably increased. The reason lies in the high property prices. In Hanoi, the capital, property prices can be as high as those in Tokyo or New York City. This has amazed many people because GDP per capita of this city is around US$1,000 per annum. The booming prices have given poor land owners the opportunity to sell their homes for inflated prices. Corruption, bribery and embezzlement committed by many government officials have pushed property prices even higher, as real estate investment is a popular form of money laundering.Template:Cite needed

Tourism has become an increasingly important industry in Vietnam. Many of the over 3 million annual visitors are Vietnam War veterans.

Demographics

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According to official figures from the 1999 census, of Vietnam's then population of 76.3m, the largest of 54 government recognized ethnic groups of Vietnam were:

1. Viet/Kinh: 65.8 million (86.21%)
2. Tày: 1.48 million (1.94%)
3. Thái: 1.33 million (1.74%)
4. Mường: 1.14 million (1.49%)
5. Khmer: 1.06 million (1.38%)
6. Hoa: 0.862 million (1.13%)
7. Nung people: 0.856 million (1.12%)
8. Hmong: 0.787 million (1.03%)

The majority ethnic Vietnamese, also called Viet or Kinh, make up about 86 percent of the nation's population. They are concentrated largely in the alluvial deltas and in the coastal plains. A homogenous social group, the Viet exert influence on national life through their control of political and economic affairs and their role as purveyors of the dominant culture. By contrast, the ethnic minorities, except for the Khơ-me Crôm (Khmer Krom) and the Hoa (ethnic Han Chinese), are found mostly in the highlands that cover two-thirds of the national territory.

The Mường live in the mountains of north central Vietnam and speak a Mon-Khmer language closely related to the Vietnamese language.

The Tày people live primarily in the mountains and foothills of northern Vietnam. Their language is a member of the Tai languages, belonging to the Central Tai subgroup and closely related to the Zhuang language of southern China.

The Khơ-me Crôm live in the fertile delta of the Mekong River in southern Vietnam and are ethnically the same as the Khmer people who make up the majority of the population of Cambodia.

The Hoa (ethnic Han Chinese) are mainly lowlanders and, more specifically, urban dwellers. They speak predominantly Cantonese (known to the Vietnamese as Quảng Đông), but there are also speakers of Hakka (Khách Gia), Min Nan/Hokkien/Fujian (Mân Nam/Phúc Kiến), Chaozhou (Triều Châu), etc. Until the 1979 Vietnamese census, the Hoa were the largest minority of Vietnam. However, since the North Vietnamese took over South Vietnam in 1975 many Hoa left Vietnam, especially in the 1980s, so that at the 1999 census the Hoa were only the fifth largest minority (or the fourth largest if the Thái are not considered as a homogeneous ethnic group).

Beyond these five largest ethnic minorities, there are 48 other minorities officially recognized by the Vietnamese government, giving a total of 53 minorities altogether. Many of these 53 minority groups only have a few thousand members or so. Vietnam also has a small number of Eurasian from the French colonisation and Amerasian of American soldiers and personnels. Furthermore, There are also a few of those descended from Indian or Pakistani settlers also during the colonial era. The biracial people, the products of Vietnam War, faced discrimination very much in Vietnam [often referred to as "Children of the Dust"; many have been migrated to the United States where, due to a lack of education in Vietnam due to discrimination because of their racial mix, assume low paying occupations and live at the subsistence level in the United States; most were migrated as adults and not as children].Template:Fact

Officially, the ethnic minorities are referred to as "national minorities". The French used the name Montagnard (plural Montagnards, meaning "mountain people") to refer to all the minorities (except the Khơ-me Crôm and the Hoa), no matter what their actual language. The name Montagnard is still sometimes used today. Sometimes, the name Montagnard is used specifically for the Mường ethnic group.

Religion

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According to the 1999 Socialist Republic of Vietnam's census numbers, 80% of Vietnamese subscribe to no religion. But according to the majority of other sourcesTemplate:Cite needed, Vietnamese people are predominantly Confucian and Mahayana Buddhist (esp. Mainstream Pure Land schools and Zen-inspired syncretists); with a sizeable Roman Catholic following, Protestant, Cao Đài, and Hoa Hao minorities. The largest Protestant churches are the Evangelical Church of Vietnam and the Montagnard Evangelical Church. Membership to Sunni and Bashi Islam are usually accredited to the ethnic Cham minority, but there are also a few ethnic Vietnamese adherents to Islam in the southwest.

According to the 1999 census, 80.8% had no religion, 9.3% were Buddhist, 6.7% were Catholic, 1.5% were Hoa Hao, and 1.1% were Cao Dai.

Languages

According to official figures, 86.2% of the population speak Vietnamese as a native language.

Various other languages are spoken by the several minority groups in Vietnam. The most spoken languages are: Tày (1.5 million), Mường (1.2 million), Khmer (1.05 million), Cantonese (870,000, this figure also includes speakers of other Chinese dialects), Nùng (860,000), H'Mông (790,000), and Tai Dam (700,000).

French, a legacy of colonial rule, is still spoken by some older Vietnamese as a second language but is losing its popularity. Russian — and to a much lesser extent Czech or Polish — is often known among those whose families had ties with the Soviet bloc. In recent years, English became the most popular foreign language, and is an obligatory course in most schools.

Culture

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In its early history, Vietnamese writing used Chinese characters. In the 16th century, the Vietnamese developed their own set of characters called Chữ nôm. The celebrated epic Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều or The Tale of Kieu) by Nguyễn Du was written in Chữ nôm. During the French colonial period, Quốc ngữ, the romanised Vietnamese alphabet representation of spoken Vietnamese which was a collective fruit of several Portuguese missionaries, became popular and brought literacy to the masses.

Due to Vietnam's long association with China, Vietnamese culture remains strongly Confucian with its emphasis on familial duty. Education is highly valued. Historically, passing the imperial Mandarin exams was the only means for Vietnamese people to socially advance themselves.

Vietnam's traditional uniform called "Áo Dài" is worn in special occasions such as weddings or Lunar New Year celebration or festivals. Áo Dài was once worn by both genders but is worn mainly by female today.

Vietnamese names often follow the form: Last Name – Middle Name – First Name (ex: Nguyễn Văn Anh). As with the world, children take the last name of their father.

Vietnam's cuisine and music have three distinct flavours, related to Vietnam's three regions: Bắc or North, Trung or Central, and Nam or South. Northern classical music is Vietnam's oldest and is traditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese opera troupe. Central classical music shows the influences of Champa culture with its melancholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively laissez faire attitude. Vietnamese cuisine is based on rice, soy sauce, tendon, and fish sauce. Its characteristic flavour is sweet (sugar), spicy (serrano peppers), and flavoured by a variety of mints and coffee beans.

See also:

• Cuisine of Vietnam
• Music of Vietnam
• List of ethnic groups in Vietnam
• Vietnamese name

See also

• Communications in Vietnam
• Foreign relations of Vietnam
• Holidays in Vietnam
• List of Vietnam-related topics
• List of Vietnamese companies
• Military of Vietnam
• Transportation in Vietnam

References

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Further reading

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Government

• Government of Vietnam (in Vietnamese)
• Communist Party of Vietnam
• National Assembly: The Vietnamese legislative body
• General Statistics Office
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Information about Vietnam
• Ministry of Planning and Investment

Media

• Voice of Vietnam: State radio broadcaster
• VTV: State television broadcaster
• Vietnam News Agency: Official state news agency
• Tuoi Tre (Youth): daily newspaper with highest circulation (in Vietnamese)
• Vietnam Net: Largest Vietnamese portal
• VnExpress: Popular online newspaper
• Nhan Dan (The People): Official Communist Party mouthpiece

Others

• Vietnam Photography: More than 15.000 photos of Vietnam
• Living in Vietnam: Expat and Travel guide
• Photos of Vietnam
• Articles/Photos of Vietnam

Footnotes

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