Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, at the eastern edge of
mainland Southeast Asia
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it the world's
sixteenth-most populous country. Vietnam borders
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
to the north, and
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
to the west. It shares
maritime borders with
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
through the
Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
, and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
through the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
. Its capital is
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and its largest city is
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
(commonly known as Saigon).
Vietnam was inhabited by the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
in modern-day
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
. The
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
annexed Northern and Central Vietnam under
Chinese rule from 111 BC, until the
first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive
monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, and
expanded southward to the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
,
conquering Champa
Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
. The
Nguyễn
Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese name, Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. wiktionary:nguyên, Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname.
By some estimates 39 perc ...
—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1883. Following the
August Revolution
The August Revolution ( vi, Cách-mạng tháng Tám), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution launched by the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) against the Empire of Vietnam and the Empire of Japan in ...
, the nationalist
Viet Minh
The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
under the leadership of communist revolutionary
Ho Chi Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...
proclaimed
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
from France in 1945.
Vietnam went through prolonged warfare in the 20th century. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, France returned to reclaim colonial power in the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
, from which Vietnam emerged victorious in 1954. As a result of treaties signed two years later, Vietnam was also separated into two parts. The
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
began shortly after, between the communist
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
, supported by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and the anti-communist
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, supported by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Upon the
North Vietnamese victory in 1975, Vietnam reunified as a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
socialist state
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a Sovereign state, sovereign State (polity), state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The ...
under the
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...
(CPV) in 1976. An ineffective
planned economy
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
, a trade embargo by the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, and wars with
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
crippled the country further. In 1986, the CPV initiated
economic and political reforms similar to the
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...
, transforming the country to a
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
-oriented economy. The reforms facilitated Vietnamese reintegration into the
global economy
The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans of the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities which are conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
.
A
developing country
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
with a lower-middle-income economy, Vietnam is nonetheless one of the
fastest-growing economies of the 21st century, with a GDP predicted to rival
developed nation
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
s by 2050. Vietnam has
high levels of corruption and
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and a poor
human rights record; the country
ranks among the lowest in international measurements of
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
,
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
, and
freedom of religion and ethnic minorities. It is part of international and intergovernmental institutions including the
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
, the
APEC
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. , the
CPTPP, the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
, the
OIF, and the
WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
. It has assumed a seat on the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
twice.
Etymology
The name (,
chữ Hán
Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
: ), literally “Viet south”, means “Viet of the South” per Vietnamese word order or “South of the Viet” per
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning
"literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning
"literar ...
word order.
A variation of the name,
Nanyue
Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establish ...
(or Nam Việt, ), was first documented in the 2nd century BC. The term "" (Yue) () in
Early Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Sw ...
was first written using the
logograph
In a written language, a logogram, logograph, or lexigraph is a written character that represents a word or morpheme. Chinese characters (pronounced '' hanzi'' in Mandarin, ''kanji'' in Japanese, ''hanja'' in Korean) are generally logograms, ...
"戉" for an axe (a homophone), in
oracle bone
Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...
and bronze inscriptions of the late
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
( BC), and later as "越". At that time it referred to a people or chieftain to the northwest of the Shang. In the early 8th century BC, a tribe on the middle
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
were called the
Yangyue The Yangyue () were a tribe of the Yue people, one of the ancient peoples of South China. In Chinese historical books, the earliest description about the Yangyue appeared during the Warring States period. The commonly accepted hypothesis is that th ...
, a term later used for peoples further south. Between the 7th and 4th centuries BC Yue/Việt referred to the
State of Yue
Yue (, Old Chinese: ''*''), also known as Yuyue (), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Sha ...
in the lower Yangtze basin and its people. From the 3rd century BC the term was used for the non-Chinese populations of south and southwest China and northern Vietnam, with particular ethnic groups called
Minyue
Minyue () was an ancient kingdom in what is now the Fujian province in southern China. It was a contemporary of the Han dynasty, and was later annexed by the Han empire as the dynasty expanded southward. The kingdom existed approximately from ...
,
Ouyue, Luoyue (Vietnamese:
Lạc Việt
The Lạc Việt or Luoyue ( or ; pinyin: ''Luòyuè'' ← Middle Chinese: *''lɑk̚-ɦʉɐt̚'' ← Old Chinese *''râk-wat'') was a group of multilinguistic, specifically Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic, tribal peoples that inhabited ancient northe ...
), etc., collectively called the
Baiyue
The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, ...
(Bách Việt, ; ). The term Baiyue/Bách Việt first appeared in the book ''
Lüshi Chunqiu
The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Michae ...
'' compiled around 239 BC. By the 17th and 18th centuries AD, educated Vietnamese apparently referred to themselves as ''nguoi Viet'' (Viet people) or ''nguoi nam'' (southern people).
The form () is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem ''
Sấm Trạng Trình''. The name has also been found on 12
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
s carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in
Hải Phòng
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong wa ...
that dates to 1558. In 1802,
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh
Gia Long ( (''North''), (''South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unifie ...
(who later became Emperor Gia Long) established the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
. In the second year of his rule, he asked the
Jiaqing Emperor
The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, born Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, fro ...
of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
to confer on him the title 'King of Nam Việt / Nanyue' ( in Chinese character) after seizing power in Annam. The Emperor refused because the name was related to
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo () or Triệu Đà (Chữ Hán: 趙佗); was a Qin dynasty Chinese general and first emperor of Nanyue. He participated in the conquest of the Baiyue peoples of Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam. After the fall of the Qin, he es ...
's Nanyue, which included the regions of
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
and
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
in southern China. The Qing Emperor, therefore, decided to call the area "Việt Nam" instead, meaning “South of the Viet” per
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning
"literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning
"literar ...
word order but the Vietnamese understood it as “Viet of the South” per Vietnamese word order.
Between 1804 and 1813, the name Vietnam was used officially by Emperor Gia Long.
It was revived in the early 20th century in
Phan Bội Châu
Phan Bội Châu (; 26 December 1867 – 29 October 1940), born Phan Văn San, courtesy name Hải Thụ (later changed to Sào Nam), was a pioneer of Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called ' ...
's ''
History of the Loss of Vietnam
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
'', and later by the
Vietnamese Nationalist Party
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Over ...
(VNQDĐ). The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when the
imperial government
The name imperial government (german: Reichsregiment) denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the em ...
in
Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
adopted .
History
Prehistory
![DrumFromSongDaVietnamDongSonIICultureMid1stMilleniumBCEBronze](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/DrumFromSongDaVietnamDongSonIICultureMid1stMilleniumBCEBronze.jpg)
Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
age. Stone artefacts excavated in
Gia Lai province have been claimed to date to 0.78 Ma, based on associated find of
tektite
Tektites (from grc, τηκτός , meaning 'molten') are gravel-sized bodies composed of black, green, brown or grey natural glass formed from terrestrial debris ejected during meteorite impacts. The term was coined by Austrian geologist Franz ...
s, however this claim has been challenged because tektites are often found in archaeological sites of various ages in Vietnam. ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in
Lạng Sơn
Lạng Sơn () is a city in far northern Vietnam, which is the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1.
History
Due to its ge ...
and
Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest ''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of
Middle Pleistocene
The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The ...
provenance, and include isolated tooth fragments from Tham Om and Hang Hum. Teeth attributed to ''Homo sapiens'' from the
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
have been found at Dong Can, and from the Early
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. By about 1,000 BC, the development of wet-
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
cultivation in the
Ma River and
Red River floodplains led to the flourishing of
Đông Sơn culture
The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...
, notable for its
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
casting used to make elaborate bronze
Đông Sơn drums
A Đông Sơn drum (; also called Heger Type I drum) is a type of ancient bronze drum created by the Đông Sơn culture that existed in the Red River Delta. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century CE; they a ...
. At this point, the early Vietnamese kingdoms of
Văn Lang and
Âu Lạc
Âu Lạc ( Hán tự: 甌貉 (Peripheral Records/Volume 1:6a): "王既併文郎國,改國號曰甌貉國。""The King then annexed the Văn Lang nation, changed the nation's name to Âu Lạc nation."/甌駱; (Volume 113): "且南方卑濕, ...
appeared, and the culture's influence spread to other parts of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, including
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
, throughout the first millennium BC.
Dynastic Vietnam
![Nguyen Dynasty, administrative divisions map (1838)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Nguyen_Dynasty%2C_administrative_divisions_map_%281838%29.svg)
According to legends,
Hồng Bàng dynasty
The Hồng Bàng period (Vietnamese: ''thời kỳ Hồng Bàng''), also called the Hồng Bàng dynasty,Pelley, p. 151 was a legendary, semi-mythical period in Vietnamese historiography, spanning from the beginning of the rule of Kinh Dương ...
of the
Hùng kings first established in 2879 BC is considered the first state in the
History of Vietnam
The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around 20,000 years ago, as the first modern humans arrived and settled on this land, known as the Hoabinhians, which can be traced to modern-day Negritos. Archaeological findings from 1965, which are ...
(then known as Xích Quỷ and later
Văn Lang). In 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán. He consolidated the
Lạc Việt
The Lạc Việt or Luoyue ( or ; pinyin: ''Luòyuè'' ← Middle Chinese: *''lɑk̚-ɦʉɐt̚'' ← Old Chinese *''râk-wat'') was a group of multilinguistic, specifically Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic, tribal peoples that inhabited ancient northe ...
and
Âu Việt The Âu Việt or Ouyue () were an ancient conglomeration of Baiyue tribes living in what is today the mountainous regions of northernmost Vietnam, western Guangdong, and northern Guangxi, China, since at least the third century BCE. They were belie ...
tribes to form the
Âu Lạc
Âu Lạc ( Hán tự: 甌貉 (Peripheral Records/Volume 1:6a): "王既併文郎國,改國號曰甌貉國。""The King then annexed the Văn Lang nation, changed the nation's name to Âu Lạc nation."/甌駱; (Volume 113): "且南方卑濕, ...
, proclaiming himself
An Dương Vương
An Dương Vương () was the king and the only ruler of the kingdom of Âu Lạc, a classical antiquity state centered in the Red River Delta. As the leader of the Âu Việt tribes, he defeated the last Hùng king of the state of Văn Lang an ...
. In 179 BC, a Chinese general named
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo () or Triệu Đà (Chữ Hán: 趙佗); was a Qin dynasty Chinese general and first emperor of Nanyue. He participated in the conquest of the Baiyue peoples of Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam. After the fall of the Qin, he es ...
defeated An Dương Vương and consolidated Âu Lạc into
Nanyue
Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establish ...
. However, Nanyue was itself
incorporated into the empire of the Chinese
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
in 111 BC after the
Han–Nanyue War
The Han conquest of Nanyue was a military conflict between the Han Empire and the Nanyue kingdom in modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and Northern Vietnam. During the reign of Emperor Wu, the Han forces launched a punitive campaign against Nanyue and ...
. For the next thousand years, what is now northern Vietnam remained mostly under
Chinese rule. Early independence movements, such as those of the
Trưng Sisters and
Lady Triệu
Lady Triệu ( vi, Bà Triệu, , Chữ Nôm: 226 - 248) or Triệu Ẩu (, Chữ Hán: ); was a warrior in 3rd century Vietnam who managed, for a time, to resist the rule of the Chinese Eastern Wu dynasty. She is also called , although her ac ...
, were temporarily successful, though the region gained a longer period of independence as Vạn Xuân under the
Anterior Lý dynasty
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
between AD 544 and 602. By the early 10th century, Northern Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not sovereignty, under the
Khúc family Khúc is a Vietnamese surname.
Notable people with the surname Khúc
* Khúc family, a session of leaders who challenged Tang rule over Vietnam.
:*Khúc Thừa Dụ, the head of the Khúc family
:*Khúc Hạo
:*Khúc Thừa Mỹ
Khúc Thừa Mỹ ...
.
In AD 938, the Vietnamese lord
Ngô Quyền
Ngô Quyền ( vi-hantu, 吳權) (April 17, 898 – February 14, 944), often referred to as Tiền Ngô Vương (前吳王; "First King of Ngô"), was a warlord who later became the founding king of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned from ...
defeated the forces of the Chinese
Southern Han
Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...
state at
Bạch Đằng River The Bạch Đằng River ( vi, Sông Bạch Đằng, ), also called Bạch Đằng Giang (from ), ''white wisteria river'', is a river in northern Vietnam, located near Hạ Long Bay. It flows through the Yên Hưng District of Quảng Ninh Provin ...
and achieved full independence for Vietnam in 939 after a millennium of Chinese domination. By the 960s, the dynastic
Đại Việt
Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), often known as Annam ( vi, An Nam, Chữ Hán: 安南), was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day ...
(''Great Viet'') kingdom was established, Vietnamese society enjoyed a golden era under the Lý and
Trần
Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen.
History
The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...
dynasties. During the rule of the Trần Dynasty, Đại Việt repelled three
Mongol invasions
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
. Meanwhile, the
Mahāyāna
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BC ...
branch of
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
flourished and became the state religion. Following the 1406–7
Ming–Hồ War, which overthrew the
Hồ dynasty
The Hồ dynasty (Vietnamese: , chữ Nôm: 茹胡; Sino-Vietnamese: ''Hồ triều, chữ Hán:'' 胡 朝) was a short-lived Vietnamese dynasty consisting of the reigns of two monarchs, Hồ Quý Ly (胡季犛) in 1400–01 and his second so ...
, Vietnamese independence was
interrupted briefly by the Chinese
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, but was restored by
Lê Lợi
Lê Lợi (, Chữ Hán: 黎利; c. 10 September 1384/1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietname ...
, the founder of the
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...
. The Vietnamese polity reached their zenith in the Lê dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of king
Lê Thánh Tông
Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning empe ...
(1460–1497). Between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese polity expanded southward in a gradual process known as ("Southward expansion"), eventually conquering the kingdom of
Champa
Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
and part of the
Khmer Kingdom.
From the 16th century onward, civil strife and frequent political infighting engulfed much of Dai Viet. First, the Chinese-supported
Mạc dynasty
The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫 朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...
challenged the Lê dynasty's power. After the Mạc dynasty was defeated, the Lê dynasty was nominally reinstalled. Actual power, however, was divided between the northern
Trịnh lords
The Trịnh lords ( vi, Chúa Trịnh; Chữ Nôm: 主鄭; 1545–1787), formal title Trịnh Viceroy (; ), also known as Trịnh clan (鄭氏, ''Trịnh thị'') or the House of Trịnh, were a noble feudal clan who de facto ruled Northern Viet ...
and the southern
Nguyễn lords
Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname.
By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...
, who engaged in a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
for more than four decades before a truce was called in the 1670s. During this period, the Nguyễn expanded southern Vietnam into the
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
, annexing the
Central Highlands and the Khmer lands in the Mekong Delta. The division of the country ended a century later when the
Tây Sơn brothers established a new dynasty. However, their rule did not last long, and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguyễn lords, led by
Nguyễn Ánh
Gia Long ( (''North''), (''South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unifie ...
, aided by the French. Nguyễn Ánh unified Vietnam, and established the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
, ruling under the name
Gia Long
Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
.
French Indochina
![ExpositionHanoi1902 GrandPalais (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/ExpositionHanoi1902_GrandPalais_%281%29.jpg)
In the 1500s, the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
explored the Vietnamese coast and reportedly erected a
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
on the
Chàm Islands
The Cham Islands ( vi, Cù lao Chàm) constitute a group of 8 small islands of Quảng Nam, which form a part of the Cu Lao Cham Marine Park, a world Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO, in the South China Sea (East Sea) in Vietnam. The islan ...
to mark their presence. By 1533, they began landing in the Vietnamese delta but were forced to leave because of local turmoil and fighting. They also had less interest in the territory than they did in China and Japan. After they had settled in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
to begin the profitable Macau–Japan trade route, the Portuguese began to involve themselves in trade with
Hội An
Hội An (), formerly known as Fai-Fo or Faifoo, is a city with a population of approximately 120,000 in Vietnam's Quảng Nam Province and is noted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Along with the Cu Lao Cham archipelago, it is part o ...
. Portuguese traders and
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries under the ''
Padroado
The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and gra ...
'' system were active in both Vietnamese realms of ''
Đàng Trong
Đàng Trong ( vi-hantu, , lit. "Inner Circuit"), also known as Nam Hà (, "South of the River"), was the South region of Vietnam, under the rule of the Nguyễn lords, later enlarged by the Vietnamese southward expansion. The word ''Đàng Tron ...
'' (
Cochinchina
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
or Quinan) and ''
Đàng Ngoài
Đàng Ngoài ( vi-hantu, 唐外, lit. "Outer Land"), also known as Tonkin, Bắc Hà (北河, "North of the River") or '' Kingdom of Annam'' (安南國) by foreigners, was an area in northern Đại Việt (now Vietnam) during the 17th and 18th ...
'' (
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
) in the 17th century. The
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
also tried to establish contact with Quinan in 1601 but failed to sustain a presence there after several violent encounters with the locals. The
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(VOC) only managed to establish official relations with Tonkin in the spring of 1637 after leaving
Dejima
, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it ...
in Japan to establish trade for
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
. Meanwhile, in 1613, the first
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
attempt to establish contact with Hội An failed following a violent incident involving the
Honourable East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. By 1672 the English did establish relations with Tonkin and were allowed to reside in
Phố Hiến.
Between 1615 and 1753,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
traders also engaged in trade in Vietnam. The first French missionaries arrived in 1658, under the Portuguese ''Padroado''. From its foundation, the
Paris Foreign Missions Society
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
under
''Propaganda Fide'' actively sent missionaries to Vietnam, entering Cochinchina first in 1664 and Tonkin first in 1666. Spanish
Dominicans joined the Tonkin mission in 1676, and
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
were in Cochinchina from 1719 to 1834. The Vietnamese authorities began to feel threatened by continuous
Christianisation
Christianization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise.2C -ize .28-isation.2C -ization.29, or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of ...
activities. After several Catholic missionaries were detained, the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
intervened in 1843 to free them, as the kingdom was perceived as
xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
. In a series of conquests from 1859 to 1885,
France eroded Vietnam's sovereignty. At the
Siege of Tourane
The siege of Tourane (September 1858–March 1860) was a Vietnamese victory during the Cochinchina Campaign, a punitive campaign against the Vietnamese launched by France and Spain in 1858. A joint Franco-Spanish expedition under the command of ...
in 1858, France was aided by
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
(with Filipino,
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
, and Spanish troops from the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
) and perhaps some Tonkinese Catholics. After the
1862 Treaty, and especially after France completely conquered
Lower Cochinchina in 1867, the
Văn Thân movement
The Văn Thân Movement ( Nôm: 風潮文紳; quốc ngữ: ''Phong trào Văn Thân'') was a popular movement led by non-governmental scholars in 19th century central Vietnam. Their motto was "Demolish the Westerners; kill the heretics" (i.e. Chri ...
of scholar-gentry class arose and committed violence against
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
s across central and northern Vietnam.
Between 1862 and 1867, the southern third of the country became the
French colony of Cochinchina. By 1884, the entire country was under French rule, with the central and northern parts of Vietnam separated into the two protectorates of
Annam and
Tonkin
Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...
. The three entities were formally integrated into the union of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
in 1887. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education introduced new
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
values. Most French settlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina, particularly in
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, and in
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, the colony's capital.
During the colonial period, guerrillas of the royalist
Cần Vương movement
The Cần Vương (, Hán tự: , ) movement was a large-scale Vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and 1889 against French colonial rule. Its objective was to expel the French and install the Hàm Nghi Emperor as the leader of an independent Vi ...
rebelled against French rule and massacred around a third of
Vietnam's Christian population. After a decade of resistance, they were defeated in the 1890s by the Catholics in reprisal for their earlier massacres. Another large-scale rebellion, the
Thái Nguyên uprising
The Thái Nguyên uprising ( vi, Khởi nghĩa Thái Nguyên) in 1917 has been described as the "largest and most destructive" anti-French rebellion in Vietnam (then part of French Indochina) between the Pacification of Tonkin in the 1880s and t ...
, was also suppressed heavily. The French developed a
plantation economy
A plantation economy is an economy based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few commodity crops, grown on large farms worked by laborers or slaves. The properties are called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cas ...
to promote export of
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
indigo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
,
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
and
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
. However, they largely ignored the increasing demands for civil rights and
self-government
__NOTOC__
Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
.
A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders like
Phan Bội Châu
Phan Bội Châu (; 26 December 1867 – 29 October 1940), born Phan Văn San, courtesy name Hải Thụ (later changed to Sào Nam), was a pioneer of Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called ' ...
,
Phan Châu Trinh
Phan Châu Trinh ( Chữ Hán: 潘周楨, 9 September 1872 – 24 March 1926), courtesy name Tử Cán (梓幹), pen name Tây Hồ (西湖) or Hi Mã (希馬), was an early 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist. He sought to end France's colonial ...
,
Phan Đình Phùng
Phan Đình Phùng (; 1847January 21, 1896) was a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in Vietnam. He was the most prominent of the Confucian court scholars involved in anti-French military campaigns ...
, Emperor
Hàm Nghi
Emperor Hàm Nghi (, vi-hantu, lit. "entirely right", ar, هام نغي; 3 August 1872 – 4 January 1943), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch, also Nguyễn Phúc Minh, was the eighth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. He reign ...
, and
Hồ Chí Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), ('Father of the Nation, Old father of the people') and by other Pseudonym, aliases, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnam ...
fighting or calling for independence. This resulted in the 1930
Yên Bái mutiny
The Yên Bái mutiny ( vi, Tổng khởi-nghĩa Yên-báy, "Yên Bái general uprising") was an uprising of Vietnamese soldiers in the French colonial army on 10 February 1930 in collaboration with civilian supporters who were members of the Vi ...
by the
Vietnamese Nationalist Party
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Over ...
(VNQDĐ), which the French quashed. The mutiny split the independence movement, as many leading members converted to
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
The French maintained full control of their colonies until World War II, when the
war in the Pacific
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the Theater (warfare), theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, ...
led to the
Japanese invasion of French Indochina
The was a short undeclared military confrontation between Japan and France in northern French Indochina. Fighting lasted from 22 to 26 September 1940; the same time as the Battle of South Guangxi in the Sino-Japanese War, which was the main ...
in 1940. Afterwards, the
Japanese Empire
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
was allowed to station its troops in Vietnam while the pro-
Vichy French
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
colonial administration continued. Japan exploited Vietnam's natural resources to support its military campaigns, culminating in a
full-scale takeover of the country in March 1945. This led to the
Vietnamese Famine of 1945
The Vietnamese famine of 1945 ( vi, Nạn đói Ất Dậu – famine of the Yiyou Year or ''Nạn đói năm '45'' – the 1945 famine) was a famine that occurred in northern Vietnam in French Indochina during World War II from October 1944 to ...
which killed up to two million people.
First Indochina War
In 1941, the
Việt Minh
The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Front ...
, a nationalist liberation movement based on a
Communist Ideology
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, emerged under the Vietnamese revolutionary leader
Hồ Chí Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), ('Father of the Nation, Old father of the people') and by other Pseudonym, aliases, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnam ...
. The Việt Minh sought independence for Vietnam from France and the end of the
Japanese occupation. After the military defeat of Japan and the fall of its puppet
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Contemporary Japanese: ; Modern Japanese: ja, ベトナム帝国, Betonamu Teikoku, label=none) was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam ...
in August 1945, Saigon's administrative services collapsed and chaos, riots, and murder were widespread. The Việt Minh occupied
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and proclaimed a provisional government, which asserted national independence on 2 September.
In July 1945, the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
had decided to divide Indochina at the
16th parallel to allow
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
to receive the Japanese surrender in the north while Britain's
Lord Louis Mountbatten
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...
received their surrender in the south. The Allies agreed that Indochina still belonged to France.
![French Indochina post partition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/French_Indochina_post_partition.png)
But as the French were weakened by the
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
,
British-Indian
British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...
forces and the remaining Japanese
Southern Expeditionary Army Group
''Nanpō gun''
, image = 1938 terauchi hisaichi.jpg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = Japanese General Count Terauchi Hisaichi, right, commanding officer of the Southern Expeditiona ...
were used to maintain order and help France reestablish control through the
1945–1946 War in Vietnam. Hồ initially chose to take a moderate stance to avoid military conflict with France, asking the French to withdraw their colonial administrators and for French professors and engineers to help build a modern independent Vietnam. But the
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; french: Gouvernement provisoire de la République française (''GPRF'')) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation ...
did not act on these requests, including the idea of independence, and dispatched the
French Far East Expeditionary Corps
The French Far East Expeditionary Corps (french: Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO) was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army that was initially formed in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific Wa ...
to restore colonial rule. This resulted in the Việt Minh launching a guerrilla campaign against the French in late 1946. The resulting
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
lasted until July 1954. The defeat of French colonialists and
Vietnamese loyalists in the 1954
battle of Điện Biên Phủ
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...
allowed Hồ to negotiate a ceasefire from a favourable position at the subsequent
Geneva Conference.
The colonial administration was thereby ended and French Indochina was dissolved under the Geneva Accords of 1954 into three countries—Vietnam, and the kingdoms of
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
and
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. Vietnam was further divided into North and South administrative regions at the
Demilitarised Zone
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
, roughly along the
17th parallel north
The 17th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 17 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The parallel is par ...
, pending elections scheduled for July 1956. A 300-day period of free movement was permitted, during which almost a million northerners, mainly Catholics, moved south, fearing persecution by the communists. This migration was in large part aided by the United States military through
Operation Passage to Freedom
Operation Passage to Freedom was a term used by the United States Navy to describe the propaganda effort and the assistance in transporting in 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist N ...
. The
partition of Vietnam
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
by the Geneva Accords was not intended to be permanent, and stipulated that Vietnam would be reunited after the elections. But in 1955, the southern State of Vietnam's prime minister,
Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...
, toppled
Bảo Đại
Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was em ...
in a fraudulent
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
organised by his brother
Ngô Đình Nhu
Ngô Đình Nhu (; 7 October 19102 November 1963; baptismal name Jacob) was a Vietnamese archivist and politician. He was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm. Although he held ...
, and proclaimed himself president of the
Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
. This effectively replaced the internationally recognised
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...
by the
Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
in the south—supported by the United States, France,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
and Thailand—and Hồ's
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
in the north, supported by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Sweden,
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
, and the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Vietnam War
From 1953 to 1956, the
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
ese government instituted
agrarian reforms including "
rent reduction" and "
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
", which resulted in significant
political repression
Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereb ...
. During the land reform, testimony from North Vietnamese witnesses initially suggested a ratio of one execution for every 160 village residents, which extrapolated across all of Vietnam would indicate nearly 100,000 executions. Because the campaign was concentrated mainly in the
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
area, a lower estimate of 50,000 executions became widely accepted by scholars at the time, but declassified documents from the Vietnamese and Hungarian archives indicate that the number was much lower, although likely more than 13,500. In the South, Diệm countered North Vietnamese subversion (including the assassination of over 450 South Vietnamese officials in 1956) by detaining tens of thousands of suspected communists in "political reeducation centres". This program incarcerated many non-communists, but was successful at curtailing
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
activity in the country, if only for a time. The North Vietnamese government claimed that 2,148 people were killed in the process by November 1957. The pro-Hanoi
Việt Cộng
The Viet Cong, ; contraction of (Vietnamese communist) was an armed Communism, communist organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It fought under the direction of North Vietnam against the South Vietnamese and United States governments ...
began a guerrilla campaign in
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
in the late 1950s to overthrow Diệm's government. From 1960, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and North Vietnam signed treaties providing for further Soviet military support.
![Agent Orange Cropdusting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Agent_Orange_Cropdusting.jpg)
In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diệm's Catholic regime erupted into
mass demonstrations, leading to a violent government crackdown. This led to the
collapse of Diệm's relationship with the United States, and ultimately to a
1963 coup in which
he and Nhu were assassinated. The Diệm era was followed by more than a dozen successive military governments, before the pairing of Air Marshal
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...
and General
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, Republic o ...
took control in mid-1965. Thiệu gradually outmaneuvered Kỳ and cemented his grip on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971. During this political instability, the communists began to gain ground. To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the United States began increasing its contribution of military advisers, using the 1964
Gulf of Tonkin incident
The Gulf of Tonkin incident ( vi, Sự kiện Vịnh Bắc Bộ) was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. It involved both a proven confrontation on August 2, 1964, carried out b ...
as a pretext for such intervention. US forces became involved in ground combat operations by 1965, and at their peak several years later, numbered more than 500,000. The US also engaged in
sustained aerial bombing. Meanwhile,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and the Soviet Union provided North Vietnam with significant material aid and 15,000 combat advisers. Communist forces supplying the Việt Cộng carried supplies along the
Hồ Chí Minh trail, which passed through
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
.
The communists attacked South Vietnamese targets during the 1968
Tết Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces ...
. The campaign failed militarily, but shocked the American establishment and turned US public opinion against the war. During the offensive, communist troops
massacred over 3,000 civilians at
Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
. Facing an increasing casualty count,
rising domestic opposition to the war, and growing international condemnation, the US began
withdrawing from ground combat roles in the early 1970s. This also entailed an unsuccessful effort to
strengthen and stabilise South Vietnam. Following the
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...
of 27 January 1973, all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March 1973. In December 1974, North Vietnam
captured the province of
Phước Long and started a
full-scale offensive, culminating in the
fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...
on 30 April 1975. South Vietnam was ruled by a
provisional government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
for almost eight years while under North Vietnamese military occupation.
Reunification and reforms
On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The war devastated Vietnam and killed 966,000 to 3.8 million people. A 1974 US Senate subcommittee estimated nearly 1.4 million
Vietnamese civilians were killed or wounded between 1965 and 1974—including 415,000 killed. In its aftermath, under
Lê Duẩn
Lê Duẩn (; 7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was a Vietnamese communist politician. He rose in the party hierarchy in the late 1950s and became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP) at the 3rd Nat ...
's administration, there were no mass executions of South Vietnamese who had collaborated with the US or the defunct South Vietnamese government, confounding Western fears, but up to 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to
reeducation camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labour. The government embarked on a mass campaign of
collectivisation
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
of farms and factories. Many fled the country following the conclusion of the war. In 1978, in response to the
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
government of Cambodia ordering massacres of Vietnamese residents in the border villages in the districts of
An Giang
An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country.
Geography
An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hậu Giang and Tiền Giang branches of t ...
and
Kiên Giang, the Vietnamese military
invaded Cambodia and removed them from power after occupying
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
. The intervention was a success, resulting in the establishment of a new, pro-Vietnam socialist government, the
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; vi, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Campuchia was a partially recognised state in Southeast Asia supported by Vietnam which existed from 1979 to 1989. It was founded in Cambodia by the Kamp ...
, which ruled until 1989. However, this worsened relations with China, which had supported the Khmer Rouge. China later launched a
brief incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979, causing Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid, while mistrust of the
Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...
escalated.
At the
Sixth National Congress of the
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...
(CPV) in December 1986, reformist politicians replaced the "old guard" government with new leadership. The reformers were led by 71-year-old
Nguyễn Văn Linh
Nguyễn Văn Linh (; 1 July 1915 – 27 April 1998) was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician. Nguyễn Văn Linh was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1986 to 1991 and a political leader of the Vietcong during t ...
, who became the party's new general secretary. He and the reformers implemented a series of
free-market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
reforms known as ("Renovation") that carefully managed the transition from a
planned economy
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
to a "
socialist-oriented market economy
The socialist-oriented market economy (Vietnamese: ''Kinh tế thị trường theo định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa'') is the official title given to the current economic system in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It is described as a ...
". Although the authority of the state remained unchallenged under ''Đổi Mới'', the government encouraged
private ownership
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Legal personality, legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and Personal property, personal property, which is owned by a s ...
of farms and factories, economic deregulation, and foreign investment, while maintaining control over strategic industries. Subsequently, Vietnam's economy achieved strong growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction, exports, and foreign investment, although these reforms also resulted in a rise in income inequality and gender disparities.
According to British journalist
Nick Davies
Nicholas Davies (born 28 March 1953) is an award-winning British investigative journalist, writer, and documentary maker.
Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', and been named Re ...
, writing for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the long wars against the French and Americans have failed to achieve their stated goals:
The reality now is that it has ended up with the worst of two systems: the authoritarian socialist state and the unfettered ideology of neoliberalism; the two combining to strip Vietnam’s people of their money and their rights while a tiny elite fills its pockets and hides behind the rhetoric of the revolution. That, finally, is the biggest lie of all. Victorious in war but defeated in peace, the claim by Vietnam’s leaders to be socialist looks like empty propaganda.
Geography
![Geography of Vietnam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Geography_of_Vietnam.jpg)
Vietnam is located on the eastern
Indochinese Peninsula
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
between the latitudes
8° and
24°N, and the longitudes
102° and
110°E. It covers a total area of approximately . The combined length of the country's land boundaries is , and its coastline is long. At its narrowest point in the central
Quảng Bình Province, the country is as little as across, though it widens to around in the north. Vietnam's land is mostly hilly and densely forested, with level land covering no more than 20%. Mountains account for 40% of the country's land area, and tropical forests cover around 42%. The Red River Delta in the north, a flat, roughly triangular region covering , is smaller but more intensely developed and more densely populated than the
Mekong River Delta
The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
in the south. Once an inlet of the
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
, it has been filled in over the millennia by riverine
alluvial deposits
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
. The delta, covering about , is a low-level plain no more than
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
at any point. It is criss-crossed by a maze of rivers and canals, which carry so much sediment that the delta advances into the sea every year. The
exclusive economic zone of Vietnam
Vietnam claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of with from its shores.
Excluding all disputed waters, Vietnam has an undisputed exclusive economic zone of . This figure does not include the EEZ areas of the Paracel Islands and the Spratly ...
covers in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
.
![I'm coming, PXP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/I%27m_coming%2C_PXP.jpg)
Southern Vietnam is divided into coastal lowlands, the mountains of the
Annamite Range
The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Vietnam, ...
, and extensive forests. Comprising five relatively flat plateaus of
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
soil, the highlands account for 16% of the country's
arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
and 22% of its total forested land. The soil in much of the southern part of Vietnam is relatively low in nutrients as a result of intense cultivation. Several minor
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s have been recorded in the past. Most have occurred near the northern Vietnamese border in the provinces of
Điện Biên, Lào Cai and
Sơn La
Sơn La (; Tai Dam: ) is a city in the north-west region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Sơn La Province. It is bordered by Thuận Châu District, Mường La District, and Mai Sơn District.
History
In the era of the Sip Song Chau Tai, Sơ ...
, while some have been recorded offshore of the central part of the country. The northern part of the country consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta.
Fansipan
Fansipan (Vietnamese: ''Phan Xi Păng'', ) is a mountain in Vietnam. The height of the mountain was in 1909, but now the height of the mountain is . It is the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula (comprising Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) ...
(also known as Phan Xi Păng), which is located in
Lào Cai Province, is the highest mountain in Vietnam, standing high. From north to south Vietnam, the country also has
numerous islands;
Phú Quốc
Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City, the island has a total area of and a permanent population of appro ...
is the largest. The
Hang Sơn Đoòng
Sơn Đoòng cave ( vi, hang Sơn Đoòng, IPA: ), in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Bố Trạch District, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam, is one of the world's largest natural caves.
Located near the Laos–Vietnam border, Hang Sơn Đ ...
Cave is considered the largest known cave passage in the world since its discovery in 2009. The
Ba Bể Lake
Ba Bể Lake ( vi, Hồ Ba Bể; Ba means Three, Bể is from the Tay language word ''pé'', meaning "lake") is the largest natural lake in Vietnam. It is located in Nam Mẫu commune, Ba Bể district, Bắc Kạn Province in the Northeast regi ...
and
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
River are the largest lake and longest river in the country.
Climate
![Nha Trang skyline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Nha_Trang_skyline.jpg)
Due to differences in latitude and the marked variety in
topographical relief
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...
, Vietnam's climate tends to vary considerably for each region. Vietnam is a country located in the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
, however
Northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
, including
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, is considered a
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
region by
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
and has times to be influenced by
cold waves
A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...
from the Northeast. Cold waves also can influence northern part of Central Vietnam. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November to April, the
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
winds usually blow from the northeast along the Chinese coast and across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture. The average annual temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains, especially in southern Vietnam compared to the north. Temperatures vary less in the southern plains around Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, ranging from between over the year. In Hanoi and the surrounding areas of Red River Delta, the temperatures are much lower between . Seasonal variations in the mountains, plateaus, and the northernmost areas are much more dramatic, with temperatures varying from in December and January to in July and August. During winter, snow occasionally falls over the highest peaks of the far northern mountains near the Chinese border. Vietnam receives high rates of
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
in the form of rainfall with an average amount from to during the monsoon seasons; this often causes flooding, especially in the cities with poor drainage systems. The country is also affected by
tropical depression
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s,
tropical storm
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s and
typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
s. Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, with 55% of its population living in low-elevation coastal areas.
Biodiversity
![Wildlife of Vietnam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Wildlife_of_Vietnam.jpg)
As the country is located within the
Indomalayan realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...
, Vietnam is one of twenty-five countries considered to possess a uniquely high level of
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
. This was noted in the country's National Environmental Condition Report in 2005. It is ranked 16th worldwide in biological diversity, being home to approximately 16% of the world's species. 15,986 species of
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
have been identified in the country, of which 10% are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
. Vietnam's
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
includes 307
nematode
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...
species, 200
oligochaeta
Oligochaeta () is a subclass of animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworm ...
, 145
acarina
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...
, 113
springtail
Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...
s, 7,750 insects, 260 reptiles, and 120 amphibians. There are 840 birds and 310 mammals are found in Vietnam, of which 100 birds and 78 mammals are endemic. Vietnam has two
World Natural Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s—the
Hạ Long Bay
Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay ( vi, Vịnh Hạ Long, ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Lo ...
and
Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park Phong may refer to:
Computer graphics
*Phong shading
*Phong reflection model
*Blinn–Phong shading model
*Bui Tuong Phong - creator of the Phong shading interpolation method and reflection model.
Other
*Phong-Kniang language
*Nam Phong ...
—together with nine
biosphere reserves
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work engag ...
, including
Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest
Cần Giờ Biosphere Reserve (Khu dự trữ sinh quyển rừng ngập mặn Cần Giờ) is a wetland located 40 km southeast coastal area of Ho Chi Minh City. This reserve has been listed as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. The site is an i ...
,
Cát Tiên,
Cát Bà,
Kiên Giang, the Red River Delta, Mekong Delta,
Western Nghệ An
Western Nghe An is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It is located in Nghệ An Province in the tropical and temperate zone of Vietnam, and on the border with Laos. It was designated as a biosphere reserve in 2007, and recognised by UNESCO in 2011. It ...
,
Cà Mau
Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau Province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and mos ...
, and
Cu Lao Cham Marine Park
Cu Lao Cham Marine Park also known as Cham Islands Biosphere Reserve is part of the eight islets of the Chàm Islands, located in the South China Sea under the administration of Tân Hiệp Commune and Hội An town, in Quảng Nam Province, Viet ...
.
Vietnam is also home to 1,438 species of freshwater
microalgae
Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist indiv ...
, constituting 9.6% of all microalgae species, as well as 794 aquatic
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s and 2,458 species of sea fish. In recent years, 13
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
, 222 species, and 30
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
of flora have been newly described in Vietnam. Six new mammal species, including the
saola
The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was descr ...
,
giant muntjac
The giant muntjac (''Muntiacus vuquangensis''), sometimes referred to as the large-antlered muntjac, is a species of muntjac deer. It is the largest muntjac species and was discovered in 1994 in Vũ Quang, Hà Tĩnh Province of Vietnam and in cen ...
and
Tonkin snub-nosed monkey
The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey or Dollman's snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus avunculus'') is a slender-bodied arboreal Old World monkey, endemic to northern Vietnam. It has black and white fur, a pink nose and lips, and blue patches around the ey ...
have also been discovered, along with one new bird species, the endangered
Edwards's pheasant
Edwards's pheasant (''Lophura edwardsi'') is a bird of the pheasant family Phasianidae and is endemic to the rainforests of Vietnam. It is named after the French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards and first described to science in 1896. The ...
. In the late 1980s, a small population of
Javan rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...
was found in Cát Tiên National Park. However, the last individual of the species in Vietnam was reportedly shot in 2010. In agricultural
genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...
, Vietnam is one of the world's twelve original
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
centres. The Vietnam National Cultivar Gene Bank preserves 12,300 cultivars of 115 species. The Vietnamese government spent US$49.07 million on the preservation of biodiversity in 2004 alone and has established 126 conservation areas, including 30
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
.
![Sa Pa mountain hills with agricultural activities](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Sa_Pa_mountain_hills_with_agricultural_activities.jpg)
In Vietnam, wildlife
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
has become a major concern. In 2000, a
non-governmental organisation
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
(NGO) called
Education for Nature – Vietnam
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...
was founded to instill in the population the importance of wildlife conservation in the country. In the years that followed, another NGO called GreenViet was formed by Vietnamese youngsters for the enforcement of wildlife protection. Through collaboration between the NGOs and local authorities, many local poaching syndicates were crippled by their leaders' arrests. A study released in 2018 revealed Vietnam is a destination for the illegal export of
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
horns from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
due to the demand for them as a medicine and a status symbol.
The main environmental concern that persists in Vietnam today is the legacy of the use of the chemical
herbicide
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It ...
, which continues to cause
birth defect
A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...
s and many health problems in the Vietnamese population. In the southern and central areas affected most by the chemical's use during the Vietnam War, nearly 4.8 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to it and suffered from its effects. In 2012, approximately 50 years after the war, the US began a
US$43 million joint clean-up project in the former chemical storage areas in Vietnam to take place in stages. Following the completion of the first phase in
Đà Nẵng
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
in late 2017, the US announced its commitment to clean other sites, especially in the heavily impacted site of
Biên Hòa
Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hig ...
, which is four times larger than the previously treated site, at an estimated cost of $390 million.
The Vietnamese government spends over
VNĐ10 trillion each year ($431.1 million) for monthly allowances and the physical rehabilitation of victims of the chemicals. In 2018, the Japanese engineering group
Shimizu Corporation
is an architectural, civil engineering and general contracting firm. It has annual sales of approximately US$15 billion and has been widely recognized as one of the top 5 contractors in Japan and among the top 20 in the world.
It is a family bu ...
, working with Vietnamese military, built a plant for the treatment of soil polluted by Agent Orange. Plant construction costs were funded by the company itself. One of the long-term plans to restore southern Vietnam's damaged
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s is through the use of
reforestation
Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting.
Management
A debate ...
efforts. The Vietnamese government began doing this at the end of the war. It started by replanting
mangrove forest
Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...
s in the Mekong Delta regions and in
Cần Giờ outside Hồ Chí Minh City, where mangroves are important to ease (though not eliminate) flood conditions during monsoon seasons. The country had a 2019
Forest Landscape Integrity Index
The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...
mean score of 5.35/10, ranking it 104th globally out of 172 countries.
Apart from herbicide problems,
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
in the
ground water
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
in the Mekong and Red River Deltas has also become a major concern. And most notoriously,
unexploded ordnances (UXO) pose dangers to humans and wildlife—another bitter legacy from the long wars. As part of the continuous campaign to
demine/remove UXOs, several international
bomb removal agencies from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and the US have been providing assistance. The Vietnam government spends over VNĐ1 trillion ($44 million) annually on demining operations and additional hundreds of billions of đồng for treatment, assistance, rehabilitation, vocational training and resettlement of the victims of UXOs. In 2017 the Chinese government also removed 53,000 land mines and explosives left over from the war between the two countries, in an area of in the Chinese province of
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
bordering the
China–Vietnam border
The China–Vietnam border is the international boundary between China and Vietnam, consisting of a 1,297 km (806 mi) terrestrial border stretching from the tripoint with Laos in the west to the Gulf of Tonkin coast in the east, and a m ...
.
Government and politics
Vietnam is a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
Marxist-Leninist one-party
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
, one of the two
communist state
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...
s (the other being
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
) in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Although Vietnam remains officially committed to
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
, with ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' characterising its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists". Under the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
, the
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...
(CPV) asserts their role in all branches of the country's politics and society. The
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
is the elected
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and the
commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the chairman of the Council of Supreme Defence and Security, and holds the second highest office in Vietnam as well as performing executive functions and state appointments and setting policy.
The
general secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the CPV performs numerous key administrative functions, controlling the party's national organisation. The
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
is the
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
, presiding over a council of ministers composed of five deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions. Only political organisations affiliated with or endorsed by the CPV are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. These include the
Vietnamese Fatherland Front
The Vietnamese Fatherland Front ( vi, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam) is an umbrella group of mass movements in Vietnam aligned with the Communist Party of Vietnam forming the Vietnamese government. It was founded in February 1977 by the m ...
and worker and
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
ist parties.
![National Assembly of Vietnam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/National_Assembly_of_Vietnam.JPG)
The
National Assembly of Vietnam
The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc hội nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is the national legislature of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The Constitution of Vietnam recognizes the a ...
is the
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
state
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
composed of 500 members. Headed by a
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly. The
Supreme People's Court of Vietnam
Supreme may refer to:
Entertainment
* Supreme (character)
Supreme is a fictional character, fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld and published by Image Comics (1992–96 and 2012–15), followed by Maximum Press (1996–98), Awesome Ente ...
, headed by a chief justice, is the country's highest
court of appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the
provincial municipal courts and many
local courts.
Military courts
Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...
possess special jurisdiction in matters of
state security. Vietnam maintains the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for numerous offences.
Foreign relations
Throughout its history, Vietnam's main foreign relationship has been with various Chinese dynasties. Following the partition of Vietnam in 1954, North Vietnam maintained relations with the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, South Vietnam maintained relations with the
Western Bloc
The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, the Capitalist Bloc, the American Bloc, and the NATO Bloc, was a coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War of 1947–1991. It was spearheaded by ...
. Despite these differences, Vietnam's sovereign principles and insistence on cultural independence have been laid down in numerous documents over the centuries before its independence. These include the 11th-century patriotic poem "''
Nam quốc sơn hà
''Nam quốc sơn hà'' (, ) is a famous 10th- to 11th-century Vietnamese patriotic poem. Dubbed "Vietnam's first Declaration of Independence", it asserts the sovereignty of Vietnam's rulers over its lands. The poem was first dictated to be read ...
''" and the 1428 proclamation of independence "''
Bình Ngô đại cáo
Bình Ngô đại cáo ( vi-hantu, 平吳大誥, literally: ''Great proclamation upon the pacification of the Wu'') was an announcement written by Nguyễn Trãi in 1428, at Lê Lợi's behest and on Lê Lợi's behalf, to proclaim the Lam S ...
''". Though China and Vietnam are now formally at peace,
significant territorial tensions remain between the two countries over the South China Sea. Vietnam holds membership in 63 international organisations, including the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
(UN),
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
(ASEAN),
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
(NAM),
International Organisation of the Francophonie (La Francophonie), and
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
(WTO). It also maintains relations with over 650 non-governmental organisations. As of 2010 Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with 178 countries.
Vietnam's current foreign policy is to consistently implement a policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, co-operation, and development, as well openness, diversification,
multilateralisation with international relations. The country declares itself a friend and partner of all countries in the international community, regardless of their political affiliation, by actively taking part in international and regional cooperative development projects. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has taken several key steps to restore diplomatic ties with capitalist
Western countries
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. . It already had relations with communist Western countries in the decades prior. Relations with the United States
began improving in August 1995 with both states upgrading their ''
liaison
Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together.
Liaison or liaisons may refer to:
General usage
* Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship
* Collaboration
* Co-operation
Arts and entertainment
* Li ...
'' offices to embassy status. As diplomatic ties between the two governments grew, the United States opened a
consulate general
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in Ho Chi Minh City while Vietnam opened
its consulate in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Full diplomatic relations were also restored with
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, which opened its embassy in Hanoi in 1995; Vietnam established an embassy in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in 2003.
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
also reopened its embassy in Hanoi in October 2000, with Vietnam reopening its embassy in
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
in December 2005 and trade office in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
in November 2005. In May 2016, US President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
further normalised relations with Vietnam after he announced the lifting of an arms
embargo
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...
on sales of lethal arms to Vietnam. Despite their historical past, today Vietnam is considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the
territorial disputes in the South China Sea
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, namely Brunei, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Ph ...
and in containment of
Chinese expansionism
Chinese expansionism over the last four thousand years has been a central feature of the history of East Asia. During times when China wielded much greater power such as during the Han, Tang, Yuan, and Qing dynasties, China would even influence ...
.
Military
![Vietnam People's Armed Forces](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Vietnam_People%27s_Armed_Forces.jpg)
The
Vietnam People's Armed Forces
The Vietnam People's Armed Forces () are the armed forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, directly under the command of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam (for which it serves as the Party's armed wing). I ...
consists of the
Vietnam People's Army
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
(VPA), the
Vietnam People's Public Security
The People's Public Security of Vietnam ( vi, Công an Nhân dân Việt Nam, links=no) is the main police and security force of Vietnam, under control of the Ministry of Public Security. It is a part of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and ...
and the Vietnam Self-Defence Militia. The VPA is the official name for the active military services of Vietnam, and is subdivided into the
Vietnam People's Ground Forces
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
, the
Vietnam People's Navy
The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; vi, Hải quân nhân dân Việt Nam), or the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsi ...
, the
Vietnam People's Air Force
The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF, ), formally refers itself as the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF, ) or the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF, ), is the Air force, aerial warfare service branch of Vietnam. It is the successor of the former North V ...
, the
Vietnam Border Guard
, ) or Vietnam Border Defence Force is a branch of the Vietnam People's Army. It is responsible for management and protection of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, order and national boundaries on the mainland, islands, sea and at the ...
and the
Vietnam Coast Guard
Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG, ; formerly Vietnam Marine Police (VMP) prior to October 2013) is the coast guard of Vietnam. Until 2013, it was a branch of Vietnam's military, the Vietnam People's Army, and falls under the management of the Vietname ...
. 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. In 2015, Vietnam's
military expenditure
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing milit ...
totalled approximately US$4.4 billion, equivalent to around 8% of its total government spending. Joint military exercises and war games have been held with
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Laos,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and the US. In 2017, Vietnam signed the UN treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Human rights and sociopolitical issues
Under the current constitution, the CPV is the only party allowed to rule, the operation of all other political parties being outlawed. Other human rights issues concern
freedom of association
Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...
,
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
,
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
, and
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
. In 2009, Vietnamese lawyer
Lê Công Định
Lê Công Định (born 1 October 1968) is a Vietnamese lawyer who sat on the defence of many high-profile human rights cases in Vietnam. He was critical of bauxite mining in the central highlands of Vietnam, and was arrested by the Vietnamese go ...
was arrested and charged with the capital crime of
subversion
Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...
; several of his associates were also arrested.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
described him and his arrested associates as
prisoners of conscience. Vietnam has also suffered from human trafficking and related issues.
Administrative divisions
Vietnam is divided into 58
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
s ( vi, Tỉnh, link=no,
chữ Hán
Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
: ). There are also five
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
(), which are administratively on the same level as provinces.
![Tay Ho Communist propaganda posters in 2015 11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Tay_Ho_Communist_propaganda_posters_in_2015_11.jpg)
Provinces are subdivided into
provincial municipalities (, 'city under province'),
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s () and
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
(), which are in turn subdivided into
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
s () or
communes
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
().
Centrally controlled municipalities are subdivided into
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
s () and counties, which are further subdivided into
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
().
Economy
![Viet Nam Export Treemap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Viet_Nam_Export_Treemap.png)
Throughout the history of Vietnam, its economy has been based largely on
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
—primarily
wet rice cultivation.
Bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
, an important material in the production of
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
, is mined in central Vietnam. Since reunification, the country's economy is shaped primarily by the CPV through
Five Year Plans decided upon at the plenary sessions of the Central Committee and national congresses. The
collectivisation
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
of farms, factories, and capital goods was carried out as part of the establishment of central planning, with millions of people working for state enterprises. Under strict state control, Vietnam's economy continued to be plagued by inefficiency,
corruption in state-owned enterprises, poor quality and underproduction. With the decline in economic aid from its main trading partner, the Soviet Union, following the erosion of the
Eastern bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
in the late 1980s, and the subsequent
collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
, as well as the negative impacts of the post-war
trade embargo
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...
imposed by the United States, Vietnam began to liberalise its trade by
devaluing its exchange rate to increase exports and embarked on a policy of economic development.
![The Landmark 81 at night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/The_Landmark_81_at_night.jpg)
In 1986, the
Sixth National Congress of the CPV introduced
socialist-oriented market economic reforms as part of the ''
Đổi Mới
(, ; ) is the name given to the economic reforms initiated in Vietnam in 1986 with the goal of creating a "socialist-oriented market economy". The term itself is a general term with wide use in the Vietnamese language meaning "innovate" or " ...
'' reform program.
Private ownership
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Legal personality, legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and Personal property, personal property, which is owned by a s ...
began to be encouraged in industry, commerce and agriculture and state enterprises were
restructured
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...
to operate under market constraints. This led to the five-year economic plans being replaced by the socialist-oriented market mechanism. As a result of these reforms, Vietnam achieved approximately 8% annual
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
(GDP) growth between 1990 and 1997. The United States ended its economic embargo against Vietnam in early 1994. Although the
1997 Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
caused an economic slowdown to 4–5% growth per year, its economy began to recover in 1999, and grew at around 7% per year from 2000 to 2005, one of the fastest in the world.
[; this article refers to the so-called "]Vent for surplus Vent for surplus is a theory that was formulated by Adam Smith and later revised by Hla Myint on his thesis of South East Asia. The theory states that when a country produces more than it can consume, it produces a surplus. This underutilization ca ...
" theory of international trade. According to the
General Statistics Office of Vietnam
The General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) ( vi, Tổng cục Thống kê), sometimes written in English as General Statistics Office of Viet Nam, serves under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (Vietnam) (MPI) realizing the function as ...
(GSO), growth remained strong despite the
late-2000s global recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
, holding at 6.8% in 2010. Vietnam's year-on-year inflation rate reached 11.8% in December 2010 and the currency, the
Vietnamese đồng
The dong (Vietnamese: ''đồng'', Chữ Nôm: 銅) (; ; sign: ₫ or informally đ in Vietnamese; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since 3 May 1978. It is issued by the State Bank of Vietnam. The dong was also the currency of the pre ...
, was devalued three times.
Deep
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
, 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
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. This decline can be attributed to
equitable economic policies aimed at improving
living standards
Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...
and preventing the rise of
inequality
Inequality may refer to:
Economics
* Attention inequality, unequal distribution of attention across users, groups of people, issues in etc. in attention economy
* Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups
* ...
. These policies have included egalitarian land distribution during the initial stages of the ''Đổi Mới'' program, investment in poorer remote areas, and subsidising of education and healthcare. Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has applied sequenced trade liberalisation, a two-track approach opening some sectors of the economy to international markets. Manufacturing,
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
and high-tech industries now form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy. Although Vietnam is a relative newcomer to the
oil industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
, it is the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia with a total 2011 output of . In 2010, Vietnam was ranked as the eighth-largest crude
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
producer in the Asia and Pacific region. The US bought the highest amount of Vietnam's exports, while
goods
In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants
and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...
from China were the most popular Vietnamese import.
Based on findings by the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF) in 2022, the
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rate in Vietnam was 2.4%, the
nominal GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
US$408.947 billion, and a nominal
GDP per capita
Lists of countries by GDP per capita list the countries in the world by their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The lists may be based on nominal or purchasing power parity GDP. Gross national income (GNI) per capita accounts for inflows ...
$4,122. Besides the
primary sector economy,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
has contributed significantly to Vietnam's economic growth with 7.94 million foreign visitors recorded in 2015.
Agriculture
![Terraced fields Sa Pa 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Terraced_fields_Sa_Pa_3.jpg)
As a result of several
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
measures, Vietnam has become a major exporter of agricultural products. It is now the world's largest producer of
cashew
The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...
nuts, with a one-third global share; the largest producer of
black pepper
Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...
, accounting for one-third of the world's market; and the second-largest
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
exporter in the world after
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
since the 1990s. Subsequently, Vietnam is also the world's second largest exporter of
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
. The country has the highest proportion of land use for
permanent crop
A permanent crop is one produced from plants which last for many seasons, rather than being replanted after each harvest.
Traditionally, "arable land" included any land suitable for the growing of crops, even if it was actually being used for the ...
s together with other states in the
Greater Mekong Subregion
The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program i ...
. Other primary exports include
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
,
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
and fishery products. 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.
Seafood
The overall fisheries production of Vietnam from capture fisheries and
aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
was 5.6 million MT in 2011 and 6.7 million MT in 2016. The output of Vietnam's fisheries sector has seen strong growth, which could be attributed to the continued expansion of the aquaculture sub-sector.
Science and technology
![TOPIO 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/TOPIO_3.jpg)
In 2010, Vietnam's total state spending on science and technology amounted to roughly 0.45% of its GDP. Since the dynastic era, Vietnamese scholars have developed many academic fields especially in
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
s and humanities. Vietnam has a millennium-deep legacy of analytical histories, such as the ''
Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư
The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...
'' of
Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連) was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê dynasty. He was the principal compiler of the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of ...
. Vietnamese monks, led by the abdicated Emperor
Trần Nhân Tông
Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the throne to his son Tr ...
, developed the Trúc Lâm Zen branch of philosophy in the 13th century.
Arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
and
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
have been widely taught in Vietnam since the 15th century, using the textbook ''Đại thành toán pháp'' by Lương Thế Vinh. Lương Thế Vinh introduced Vietnam to the notion of
zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation
Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...
, while Mạc Hiển Tích used the term ''số ẩn'' (Eng: "unknown/secret/hidden number") to refer to
negative number
In mathematics, a negative number represents an opposite. In the real number system, a negative number is a number that is less than zero. Negative numbers are often used to represent the magnitude of a loss or deficiency. A debt that is owed m ...
s. Furthermore, Vietnamese scholars produced numerous
encyclopaedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
s, such as
Lê Quý Đôn
Lê Quý Đôn (; 1726–1784) was an 18th-century Vietnamese people, Vietnamese poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế - Đường. He was a native of Duyen Ha village in present-day Thái Bình Province. He is cons ...
's ''Vân đài loại ngữ''.
In modern times, Vietnamese scientists have made many significant contributions in various fields of study, most notably in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
.
Hoàng Tụy
Hoàng Tụy (7 December 1927 – 14 July 2019) was an prominent Vietnamese applied mathematician. He was considered one of two founders of the mathematical institutions of Vietnam; the other was Lê Văn Thiêm.
Career
Hoàng Tụy's early car ...
pioneered the
applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...
field of
global optimisation
Global optimization is a branch of applied mathematics and numerical analysis that attempts to find the global minima or maxima of a function or a set of functions on a given set. It is usually described as a minimization problem because the max ...
in the 20th century, while
Ngô Bảo Châu
Ngô Bảo Châu (, born June 28, 1972) is a Vietnamese-French mathematician at the University of Chicago, best known for proving the fundamental lemma for automorphic forms (proposed by Robert Langlands and Diana Shelstad). He is the first Vie ...
won the 2010
Fields Medal
The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...
for his proof of
fundamental lemma in the theory of automorphic forms. Since the establishment of the
Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology ( vi, Viện Hàn lâm Khoa học và Công nghệ Việt Nam) is the largest and most prominent research institute in Vietnam. It was founded on 20 May 1975 as the Vietnam Academy of Science, and ren ...
(VAST) by the government in 1975, the country is working to develop its first national
space flight
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either human spaceflight, with or uncrewed spaceflight, without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly w ...
program especially after the completion of the infrastructure at the Vietnam Space Centre (VSC) in 2018. Vietnam has also made significant advances in the development of
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...
s, such as the
TOPIO
TOPIO ("TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot") is a bipedal humanoid robot designed to play table tennis against a human being. It has been developed since 2005 by TOSY, a robotics firm in Vietnam. It was publicly demonstrated at the Tokyo International R ...
humanoid model. One of Vietnam's main
messaging apps
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
, Zalo, was developed by
Vương Quang Khải
Vương or Vuong (Chữ Nôm: ) is a Vietnamese surname, meaning King.
In the United States, Vuong was the 7,635th most common surname during the 1990 census and the 4,556th most common during the year 2000 census.US Census Bureau. Op. cit. Publ ...
, a Vietnamese
hacker
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
who later worked with the country's largest
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
service company, the
FPT Group
FPT (or FPT Group, "FPT" stands for ''Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology''), is the largest information technology service company in Vietnam with its core business focusing on consulting, providing and deploying technology and t ...
.
![Svhutech nckh4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Svhutech_nckh4.jpg)
According to the
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.
The UIS was established in 1999. ...
, Vietnam devoted 0.19% of its GDP to science research and development in 2011. Vietnam was ranked 44th in the
Global Innovation Index
The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a British maga ...
in 2021, it has increased its ranking considerably since 2012, where it was ranked 76th. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of Vietnamese scientific publications recorded in Thomson Reuters'
Web of Science increased at a rate well above the average for Southeast Asia, albeit from a modest starting point. Publications focus mainly on
life science
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy t ...
s (22%),
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
(13%) and
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
(13%), which is consistent with recent advances in the production of diagnostic equipment and shipbuilding. Almost 77% of all papers published between 2008 and 2014 had at least one international co-author. The autonomy which Vietnamese research centres have enjoyed since the mid-1990s has enabled many of them to operate as quasi-private organisations, providing services such as consulting and technology development. Some have 'spun off' from the larger institutions to form their own semi-private enterprises, fostering the transfer of public sector science and technology personnel to these semi-private establishments. One comparatively new university, the
Tôn Đức Thắng University
Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) is a public university of Vietnam. The school belongs to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
The school operates under a fully autonomous mechanism. The school currently has a total of five campuses in fou ...
which was built in 1997, has already set up 13 centres for technology transfer and services that together produce 15% of university revenue. Many of these research centres serve as valuable intermediaries bridging public research institutions, universities, and firms.
Tourism
![Pont-pagode](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Pont-pagode_%22japonais%22_de_Hoi-an%2C_vue_de_nuit.jpg)
Tourism is an important element of economic activity in the nation, contributing 7.5% of the total GDP. Vietnam hosted roughly 13 million tourists in 2017, an increase of 29.1% over the previous year, making it one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. The vast majority of the tourists in the country, some 9.7 million, came from Asia; namely China (4 million),
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
(2.6 million), and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(798,119). Vietnam also attracts large numbers of visitors from Europe, with almost 1.9 million visitors in 2017; most European visitors came from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
(574,164), followed by the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
(283,537),
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(255,396), and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(199,872). Other significant international arrivals by nationality include the United States (614,117) and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
(370,438).
The most visited destinations in Vietnam is the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, with over 5.8 million international arrivals, followed by Hanoi with 4.6 million and
Hạ Long
Hạ Long () is the capital city and first-class provincial city of Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long () means "descending dragon". The city was founded in 1993, when the old capital, Hòn Gai, was merged with Bãi Cháy – ...
, including Hạ Long Bay with 4.4 million arrivals. All three are ranked in the top 100 most visited cities in the world. Vietnam is home to eight
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. In 2018, ''
Travel + Leisure
Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation ownershi ...
'' ranked
Hội An
Hội An (), formerly known as Fai-Fo or Faifoo, is a city with a population of approximately 120,000 in Vietnam's Quảng Nam Province and is noted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Along with the Cu Lao Cham archipelago, it is part o ...
as one of the world's top 15 best destinations to visit.
Infrastructure
Transport
Much of Vietnam's modern transportation network can trace its roots to the French colonial era when it was used to facilitate the transportation of
raw material
A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...
s to its main ports. It was extensively expanded and modernised following the partition of Vietnam. Vietnam's road system includes national roads administered at the central level, provincial roads managed at the provincial level, district roads managed at the district level, urban roads managed by cities and towns and commune roads managed at the commune level. In 2010, Vietnam's road system had a total length of about of which are
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
roads comprising national, provincial and district roads. The length of the national road system is about with of its length paved. The provincial road system has around of paved roads while district roads are paved.
Bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
s,
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s and
motor scooter
A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles ...
s remain the most popular forms of road transport in the country, a legacy of the French, though the number of privately owned
car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
s has been increasing in recent years. Public buses operated by private companies are the main mode of long-distance travel for much of the population.
Road accidents remain the major safety issue of Vietnamese transportation with an average of 30 people losing their lives daily.
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...
is a growing problem in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City especially with the growth of individual car ownership. Vietnam's primary cross-country rail service is the
Reunification Express from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, a distance of nearly . From Hanoi, railway lines branch out to the northeast, north, and west; the eastbound line runs from Hanoi to Hạ Long Bay, the northbound line from Hanoi to
Thái Nguyên
Thái Nguyên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital and largest city of Thái Nguyên Province. The city is listed as a first class city and is the ninth largest city in Vietnam. It has long been famous throughout Vietnam for its Tân Cư ...
, and the northeast line from Hanoi to Lào Cai. In 2009, Vietnam and Japan signed a deal to build a
high-speed railway
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, line ...
—
shinkansen
The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
(bullet train)—using Japanese technology. Vietnamese engineers were sent to Japan to receive training in the operation and maintenance of high-speed trains. The planned railway will be a -long express route serving a total of 23 stations, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with 70% of its route running on bridges and through tunnels. The trains will travel at a maximum speed of per hour. Plans for the high-speed rail line, however, have been postponed after the Vietnamese government decided to prioritise the development of both the
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
metros and expand road networks instead.
![Chùa Vẽ Terminal, Port of Hải Phòng](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Ch%C3%B9a_V%E1%BA%BD_Terminal%2C_Port_of_H%E1%BA%A3i_Ph%C3%B2ng.JPG)
Vietnam operates 20 major civil airports, including three international gateways:
Noi Bai
Nội Bài International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Nội Bài) in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is the second largest and busiest airport for passenger traffic, after Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It is currently the main airpo ...
in Hanoi,
Da Nang International Airport
Da Nang International Airport is located in Da Nang, the largest city in central Vietnam. It is the third international airport in the country, besides Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) and Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh ...
in Đà Nẵng and
Tan Son Nhat
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất or Cảng hàng không quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất) is the busiest airport in Vietnam with 32.5 million passengers in 2016 and 38.5 million passengers in 2018 ...
in Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Son Nhat is the country's largest airport handling the majority of international passenger traffic. According to a government-approved plan, Vietnam will have another seven international airports by 2025, including
Vinh International Airport
Vinh International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Vinh) is located in Vinh city of Nghệ An Province in northern Vietnam. It is a mixed military/civil airport. It used to be one of the two major military airbases in Vietnam besides Gia Lam ...
,
Phu Bai International Airport
Phu Bai International Airport ( vi, Cảng Hàng Không Quốc Tế Phú Bài) is located just south of the central city of Huế, former capital of Vietnam.
News
October 30, 2005: Phú Bài Airport officially welcomed its first internation ...
,
Cam Ranh International Airport
Cam Ranh International Airport ( vi, Sân bay Quốc tế Cam Ranh) is located on Cam Ranh Bay in Cam Ranh, a town in Khánh Hòa Province in Vietnam. It serves the city of Nha Trang, which is from the airport.
This airport handled 9,747,172 p ...
,
Phu Quoc International Airport
Phu Quoc International Airport (Vietnamese: ''Sân bay quốc tế Phú Quốc'' or ''Cảng hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc'') is an international airport that serves Phú Quốc Island, in southern Vietnam. The airport covers nearly 900 ...
,
Cat Bi International Airport
Cat Bi International Airport ( vi, Cảng hàng không quốc tế Cát Bi a.k.a. vi, Sân bay Quốc tế Cát Bi) is an international airport located in Hai Phong, Vietnam.
History First Indochina War
During the war Cat Bi Air Base was used ...
,
Can Tho International Airport
Can Tho International Airport ( vi, Sân bay Quốc tế Cần Thơ), formerly Trà Nóc Airport is an airport located in Can Tho in Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.
The airport was inaugurated on January 1, 2011 and received US$150 million to ...
, and
Long Thanh International Airport
Long Thanh International Airport ( vi, Sân bay Quốc tế Long Thành) is an international airport currently under construction in Long Thanh, Dong Nai, Vietnam. Located approximately east of Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese government approv ...
. The planned Long Thanh International Airport will have an annual service capacity of 100 million passengers once it becomes fully operational in 2025.
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
, the state-owned national airline, maintains a fleet of 86 passenger aircraft and aims to operate 170 by 2020. Several private airlines also operate in Vietnam, including
,
Bamboo Airways
Bamboo Airways JSC (), operating as Bamboo Airways, is a Vietnamese airline owned by the FLC Group, registered in Quy Nhơn, Vietnam, with a head office in Cầu Giấy District, Hanoi. Founded in 2017, the airline launched operations on 16 Janu ...
,
Jetstar Pacific Airlines
Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company (, operating as Pacific Airlines) is a low-cost airline headquartered in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. With its operating base at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh Ci ...
,
VASCO Vasco may refer to:
* Basque language, called ''vasco'' in Spanish
* ''Vasco'' (album), a two-part EP by Ricardo Villalobos
* Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer
* Vasco da Gama, Goa, a city in India, often called simply Vasco
* Club de Regatas Va ...
and
VietJet Air
VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company ( vi, Công ty Cổ phần Hàng không VietJet), trading as VietJet Air (or simply Vietjet), is an international low-cost airline from Vietnam. It was the first privately owned new-age airline to be establi ...
. As a coastal country, Vietnam has many major sea ports, including
Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh () is a city in southern Khánh Hòa Province, in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam.
Geography
It is the second-largest city in the province, after Nha Trang. It is located on Cam Ranh Bay. As of 2009 the city had a population o ...
, Đà Nẵng,
Hải Phòng
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong wa ...
, Ho Chi Minh City,
Hạ Long
Hạ Long () is the capital city and first-class provincial city of Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long () means "descending dragon". The city was founded in 1993, when the old capital, Hòn Gai, was merged with Bãi Cháy – ...
,
Qui Nhơn
Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. Hi ...
,
Vũng Tàu
Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. The city area is , consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Sơn Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the pr ...
,
Cửa Lò
Cửa Lò is a district-level town of Nghệ An Province, in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. As of 2018 the district had a population of 75,260. The district covers an area of 28 km² and it is located 290 km south of Hanoi, 1400 km n ...
and
Nha Trang
Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...
. Further inland, the country's extensive network of rivers plays a key role in rural transportation with over of navigable
waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
s carrying ferries, barges and
water taxi
A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...
s.
Energy
![Sơn La Dam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/S%C6%A1n_La_Dam.JPG)
Vietnam's energy sector is dominated largely by the state-controlled
Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN). As of 2017, EVN made up about 61.4% of the country's power generation system with a total power capacity of 25,884
MW. Other energy sources are
PetroVietnam (4,435 MW),
Vinacomin
Vinacomin (Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, vi, Tập đoàn công nghiệp Than và Khoáng sản Việt Nam (TKV), links=no) is a Vietnamese mining company. The industrial conglomerate focuses on coal and mineral mining and h ...
(1,785 MW) and 10,031 MW from
build–operate–transfer
Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the public sector (or the priva ...
(BOT) investors.
Most of Vietnam's power is generated by either
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
or
fossil fuel power such as
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
,
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
, while
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
,
small hydropower and renewable energy supplies the remainder. The Vietnamese government had planned to develop a
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
as the path to establish
another source for electricity from
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
. The plan was abandoned in late 2016 when a majority of the National Assembly voted to oppose the project due to widespread public concern over
radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...
.
The household gas sector in Vietnam is dominated by PetroVietnam, which controls nearly 70% of the country's domestic market for
liquefied petroleum gas
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane.
LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...
(LPG). Since 2011, the company also operates five renewable energy power plants including the Nhơn Trạch 2 Thermal Power Plant (750 MW), Phú Quý Wind Power Plant (6 MW), Hủa Na Hydro-power Plant (180 MW), Dakdrinh Hydro-power Plant (125 MW) and Vũng Áng 1 Thermal Power Plant (1,200 MW).
According to statistics from
British Petroleum (BP), Vietnam is listed among the 52 countries that have
proven crude oil reserves. In 2015 the reserve was approximately 4.4 billion barrels ranking Vietnam first place in Southeast Asia, while the
proven gas reserves were about 0.6 trillion cubic metres (tcm) and ranking it third in Southeast Asia after
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
Telecommunication
Telecommunications services in Vietnam are wholly provided by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications General Corporation (now the
VNPT
Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT, ), is a telecommunications company, owned by the Vietnamese Government, and the national post office of Vietnam. According to a list of UNDP in 2007, it is the second-largest company in Vietnam ...
Group) which is a
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
company. The VNPT retained its monopoly until 1986. The telecom sector was reformed in 1995 when the Vietnamese government began to implement a competitive policy with the creation of two domestic telecommunication companies, the Military Electronic and Telecommunication Company (
Viettel
The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), less formally recognized as Viettel Group () or simply Viettel, is a Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Viettel is the largest telecommuni ...
, which is wholly owned by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence) and the Saigon Post and Telecommunication Company (SPT or SaigonPostel), with 18% of it owned by VNPT. VNPT's monopoly was finally ended by the government in 2003 with the issuance of a decree. By 2012, the top three telecom operators in Vietnam were Viettel,
Vinaphone
Vinaphone is a Vietnamese major mobile network operator headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Founded June 26, 1996, as a GSM launcher, Vinaphone is the second network (after MobiFone) and currently the second largest provider in Vietnam.
Partnersh ...
and
MobiFone
Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services One Member Limited Liability Company (with the brand MobiFone vi, Tổng công ty Viễn Thông MobiFone) is a major Vietnamese mobile network operator headquartered in Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh, Hanoi. Founded on 16 ...
. The remaining companies included:
EVNTelecom
EVNTelecom was a Vietnamese telecommunications company. It was set up as a 100% state-owned and self-financed subsidiary of Vietnam Electricity
Vietnam Electricity (full name: Vietnam Electricity Group, abbreviated name: EVN, vi, Tập ...
, Vietnammobile and
S-Fone
S-Fone was a mobile communication operator in Vietnam that used the CDMA technology. Founded on 1 July 2003 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, S-Fone became the third network of Vietnam, breaking the duopoly of the two VNPT operators. It is the trad ...
. With the shift towards a more
market-orientated economy, Vietnam's telecommunications market is continuously being reformed to attract
foreign investment, which includes the supply of services and the establishment of nationwide telecom infrastructure.
Water supply and sanitation
![Village vietnam sapa bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Village_vietnam_sapa_bridge.jpg)
Vietnam has 2,360 rivers with an average annual discharge of 310 billion
m³. The rainy season accounts for 70% of the year's discharge. Most of the country's urban
water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
systems have been developed without proper management within the last 10 years. Based on a 2008 survey by the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA), existing water production capacity exceeded demand, but service coverage is still sparse. Most of the clean water supply infrastructure is not widely developed. It is only available to a small proportion of the population with about one third of 727 district towns having some form of piped water supply. There is also concern over the safety of existing water resources for urban and rural water supply systems. Most industrial factories release their untreated
wastewater
Wastewater is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industr ...
directly into the water sources. Where the government does not take measures to address the issue, most domestic wastewater is discharged, untreated, back into the environment and pollutes the
surface water
Surface water is water located on top of land forming terrestrial (inland) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean.
The vast majority of surface water is produced by prec ...
.
In recent years, there have been some efforts and collaboration between local and foreign universities to develop access to safe water in the country by introducing
water filtration systems. There is a growing concern among local populations over the serious public health issues associated with water contamination caused by pollution as well as the
high levels of arsenic in
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
sources. The government of
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
has been providing aid focusing its investments mainly on water-related sectors including
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...
projects. Regarding
sanitation
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
, 78% of Vietnam's population has access to
"improved" sanitation—94% of the urban population and 70% of the rural population. However, there are still about 21 million people in the country lacking access to "improved" sanitation according to a survey conducted in 2015. In 2018, the construction ministry said the country's water supply, and drainage industry had been applying hi-tech methods and
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
(IT) to sanitation issues but faced problems like limited funding, climate change, and pollution. The health ministry has also announced that water inspection units will be established nationwide beginning in June 2019. Inspections are to be conducted without notice, since there have been many cases involving health issues caused by poor or polluted water supplies as well unhygienic conditions reported every year.
Health
![Life expectancy in Vietnam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Life_expectancy_in_Vietnam.svg)
By 2015, 97% of the population had access to improved water sources. In 2016, Vietnam's national
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
stood at 80.9 years for women and 71.5 for men, and the
infant mortality
Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
rate was 17 per 1,000 live births. Despite these improvements,
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
is still common in rural provinces. Since the partition, North Vietnam has established a public health system that has reached down to the Hamlet (place), hamlet level. After the national reunification in 1975, a nationwide health service was established. In the late 1980s, the quality of healthcare declined to some degree as a result of budgetary constraints, a shift of responsibility to the provinces and the introduction of charges. Inadequate funding has also contributed to a shortage of nurses, midwives and hospital beds; in 2000, Vietnam had only 24.7 hospital beds per 10,000 people before declining to 23.7 in 2005 as stated in the annual report of Ministry of Health (Vietnam), Vietnamese Health Ministry. The controversial use of herbicides as a chemical weapon by the United States Armed Forces, US military during the war left tangible, long-term Effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people, impacts upon the Vietnamese people that persist in the country today. For instance, it led to three million Vietnamese people suffering health problems, one million birth defects caused directly by exposure to the chemical and 24% of Vietnam's land being defoliated.
Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has made significant progress in combating malaria. The malaria mortality rate fell to about five per cent of its 1990s equivalent by 2005 after the country introduced improved antimalarial drugs and treatment. Tuberculosis (TB) cases, however, are on the rise. TB has become the second most infectious disease in the country after respiratory disease, respiratory-related illness. With an intensified vaccination program, better hygiene and foreign assistance, Vietnam hopes to reduce sharply the number of TB cases and new TB infections. In 2004, government subsidies covering about 15% of health care expenses. That year, the United States announced Vietnam would be one of 15 states to receive funding as part of its global AIDS relief plan. By the following year, Vietnam had diagnosed 101,291 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases, of which 16,528 progressed to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); 9,554 have died. The actual number of HIV-positive individuals is estimated to be much higher. On average between 40 and 50 new infections are reported daily in the country. In 2007, 0.4% of the population was estimated to be infected with HIV and the figure has remained stable since 2005. More global aid is being delivered through The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to fight the spread of the disease in the country. In September 2018, the Hanoi People's Committee urged the citizens of the country to stop eating dog meat, dog and cat meat as it can cause diseases like rabies and leptospirosis. More than 1,000 stores in the capital city of Hanoi were found to be selling both meats. The decision prompted positive comments among Vietnamese on social media, though some noted that the consumption of dog meat will remain an ingrained habit among many people.
Education
Vietnam has an extensive state-controlled network of schools, colleges, and universities and a growing number of privately 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% in 2008. Most universities are located in major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with the country's education system continuously undergoing a series of reforms by the government. Basic education in the country is relatively free for the poor although some families may still have trouble paying tuition fees for their children without some form of public or private assistance. Regardless, Vietnam's school enrolment is among the highest in the world. The number of colleges and universities increased dramatically in the 2000s from 178 in 2000 to 299 in 2005. In higher education, the government provides subsidised loans for students through the national bank, although there are deep concerns about access to the loans as well the burden on students to repay them.Since 1995, enrolment in higher education has grown tenfold to over 2.2 million with 84,000 lecturers and 419 institutions of higher education. A number of foreign universities operate private campuses in Vietnam, including Harvard University (USA) and the RMIT University Vietnam, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia). The government's strong commitment to education has fostered significant growth but still need to be sustained to retain academics. In 2018, a decree on university autonomy allowing them to operate independently without ministerial control is in its final stages of approval. The government will continue investing in education especially for the poor to have access to basic education.
Demographics
![Vietnam population pyramid 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Vietnam_population_pyramid_01.04.2019.png)
, the population of Vietnam stands at approximately million people. The population had grown significantly from the 1979 census, which showed the total population of reunified Vietnam to be 52.7 million. According to the 2019 census, the country's population was 96,208,984. Based on the 2019 census, 65.6% of the Vietnamese population live in rural areas while only 34.4% live in urban areas. The average growth rate of the urban population has recently increased which is attributed mainly to migration and rapid urbanisation. The dominant Viet people, Viet or Kinh ethnic group constitute 82,085,826 people or 85.32% of the population. Most of their population is concentrated in the country's alluvial fans, alluvial deltas and coastal plains. As a majority ethnic group, the Kinh possess significant political and economic influence over the country. Despite this, Vietnam is also home to various ethnic groups, of which Ethnic groups in Vietnam, 54 are officially recognised, including the Hmong people, Hmong, Yao people, Dao, Tay people, Tày, Thai people in Vietnam, Thái and Nùng people, Nùng. Many ethnic minorities such as the Muong people, Muong, who are closely related to the Kinh, dwell in the highlands which cover two-thirds of Vietnam's territory.
Other uplanders in the north migrated from southern China between the 1300s and 1800s. Since the partition of Vietnam, the population of the
Central Highlands was almost exclusively Degar (including more than 40 tribal groups); however, the South Vietnamese government at the time enacted a program of resettling Kinh in indigenous areas. The Hoa people, Hoa (ethnic Overseas Chinese, Chinese) and Khmer Krom people are mainly lowlanders. Throughout Vietnam's history, many Chinese people, largely from South China, migrated to the country as administrators, merchants and even refugees. Since the reunification in 1976, an increase of communist policies nationwide resulted in the nationalisation and confiscation of property especially from the Hoa in the south and the wealthy in cities. This led many of them to leave Vietnam. Furthermore, with the deterioration of Sino-Vietnamese relations after the Sino-Vietnamese War, border invasion by Chinese government in 1979 many Vietnamese were wary of Chinese government's intentions. This indirectly caused more Hoa people in the north to leave the country.
Urbanisation
![Ho Chi Minh City Skyline (night)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Ho_Chi_Minh_City_Skyline_%28night%29.jpg)
The number of people who live in urbanised areas in 2019 is 33,122,548 people (with the urbanisation rate at 34.4%). Since 1986, Vietnam's urbanisation rates have surged rapidly after the Vietnamese government implemented the Đổi Mới economic program, changing the system into a socialist one and liberalising property rights. As a result, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (the two major cities in the Red River Delta and Southeast regions respectively) increased their share of the total urban population from 8.5% and 24.9% to 15.9% and 31% respectively. The Vietnamese government, through its Ministry of Construction (Vietnam), construction ministry, forecasts the country will have a 45% urbanisation rate by 2020 although it was confirmed to only be 34.4% according to the 2019 census. Urbanisation is said to have a positive correlation with economic growth. Any country with higher urbanisation rates has a higher GDP growth rate. Furthermore, the urbanisation movement in Vietnam is mainly between the rural areas and the country's Southeast region. Ho Chi Minh City has received a large number of migrants due mainly to better weather and economic opportunities.
![West Hanoi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/West_Hanoi.jpg)
A study also shows that rural-to-urban area migrants have a higher standard of living than both non-migrants in rural areas and non-migrants in urban areas. This results in changes to economic structures. In 1985, agriculture made up 37.2% of Vietnam's GDP; in 2008, that number had declined to 18.5%. In 1985, industry made up only 26.2% of Vietnam's GDP; by 2008, that number had increased to 43.2%. Urbanisation also helps to improve basic services which increase people's standards of living. Access to electricity grew from 14% of total households with electricity in 1993 to above 96% in 2009. In terms of access to fresh water, data from 65 utility companies shows that only 12% of households in the area covered by them had access to the water network in 2002; by 2007, more than 70% of the population was connected. Though urbanisation has many benefits, it has some drawbacks since it creates more traffic, and air and water pollution.
Many Vietnamese use mopeds for transportation, since they are relatively cheap and easy to operate. Their large numbers have been known to cause traffic congestion and air pollution in Vietnam. In the capital city alone, the number of mopeds increased from 0.5 million in 2001 to 4.7 million in 2013. With rapid development, factories have sprung up which indirectly pollute the air and water. An example is the 2016 Vietnam marine life disaster caused by the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company illegally discharging toxic industrial waste into the ocean. This killed many fish and destroyed marine habitats in Vietnamese waters, resulting in major losses to the country's economy. The government is intervening and attempting solutions to decrease air pollution by decreasing the number of motorcycles while increasing public transportation. It has introduced more regulations for waste handling by factories. Although the authorities also have schedules for collecting different types of waste, waste disposal is another problem caused by urbanisation. The amount of solid waste generated in urban areas of Vietnam has increased by more than 200% from 2003 to 2008. Industrial solid waste accounted for 181% of that increase. One of the government's efforts includes attempting to promote campaigns that encourage locals to sort municipal solid waste, household waste, since waste sorting is still not practised by most of Vietnamese society.
Religion
Under Article 70 of the 1992 Constitution of Vietnam, all citizens enjoy freedom of religion, freedom of belief and religion. All religions are equal before the law and each place of worship is protected under Vietnamese state law. Religious beliefs cannot be misused to undermine state law and policies. According to a 2007 survey 81% of Vietnamese people Atheism, did not believe in a god. Based on government findings in 2009, the number of religious people increased by 932,000. The official statistics, presented by the Vietnamese government to the United Nations special rapporteur in 2014, indicate the overall number of followers of recognised religions is about 24 million of a total population of almost 90 million. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam in 2019, Buddhism in Vietnam, Buddhists account for 4.79% of the total population, Catholic Church in Vietnam, Catholics 6.1%, Protestantism in Vietnam, Protestants 1.0%, Hòa Hảo, Hoahao Buddhists 1.02%, and Caodaism followers 0.58%. Other religions includes Islam, Baháʼí Faith, Bahaʼís and Hinduism, representing less than 0.2% of the population.
The majority of Vietnamese do not follow any organised religion, though many of them observe some form of Vietnamese folk religion.
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
as a system of social and ethical philosophy still has certain influences in modern Vietnam. Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna is the dominant branch of Buddhism, while Theravāda Buddhism, Theravāda is practised mostly by the Khmer minority. About 8 to 9% of the population is Christian—made up of Roman Catholics and Protestants. Catholicism was introduced to Vietnam in the 16th century and was firmly established by Society of Jesus, Jesuits missionaries (mainly Portuguese people, Portuguese and Italians, Italian) in the 17th centuries from nearby Portuguese Macau. French people, French missionaries (from the
Paris Foreign Missions Society
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...
) together with Spaniards, Spanish missionaries (from the Dominican Order of the neighbouring Spanish East Indies) actively sought converts in the 18th, 19th, and first half of the 20th century. A significant number of Vietnamese people, especially in the South, are also adherents of two indigenous religions of syncretic Caodaism and quasi-Buddhist Hòa Hảo, Hoahaoism. Protestantism was only recently spread by American and Canadian missionaries in the 20th century; the largest Protestant denomination is the Evangelical Church of Vietnam – South, Evangelical Church of Vietnam. Around 770,000 of the country's Protestants are members of ethnic minorities, particularly the highland Montagnard (Vietnam), Montagnards and Hmong people. Although it is one of the country's minority religions, Protestantism is the fastest-growing religion in Vietnam, expanding at a rate of 600% in recent decades. Several other minority faiths exist in Vietnam, these include: Bani, Sunni Islam, Sunni and Non-denominational Muslim, non-denominational sections of Islam which is practised primarily among the ethnic Cham people, Cham minority. There are also a few Kinh adherents of Islam, other minority adherents of Baha'i, as well as Hinduism in Southeast Asia#Vietnam, Hindus among the Cham's.
Languages
The national language of the country is Vietnamese language, Vietnamese, a tonal Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language (Mon–Khmer), which is spoken by the majority of the population. In its early history, Vietnamese writing used Chinese characters () before a different meaning set of Chinese characters known as developed between the 7th–13th century. The folk epic (''The Tale of Kieu'', originally known as ) by was written in . , the Romanised Vietnamese alphabet, was developed in the 17th century by
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries such as Francisco de Pina and Alexandre de Rhodes by using the alphabets of the Romance languages, particularly the Portuguese alphabet, which later became widely used through Vietnamese institutions during the French colonial period.
Vietnam's minority groups speak a variety of languages, including: Tày language, Tày, Muong language, Mường, Cham language, Cham, Khmer language, Khmer, Chinese language, Chinese, Nung language (Tai), Nùng and Hmong language, Hmong. The Montagnard (Vietnam), Montagnard peoples of the
Central Highlands also speak a number of distinct languages, some belonging to the Austroasiatic and others to the Malayo-Polynesian languages, Malayo-Polynesian language families. In recent years, a number of Vietnamese sign languages, sign languages have developed in the major cities.
![Vietnamese calligraphy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Vietnamese_calligraphy.jpg)
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
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, where it was a principal language in administration, education and commerce. Vietnam remains a full member of the
International Organisation of the Francophonie () and education has revived some interest in the language. Russian language, Russian, and to a lesser extent German language, German, Czech language, Czech and Polish language, Polish are known among some northern Vietnamese whose families had ties with the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. With improved relations with Western countries and recent reforms in Vietnamese administration, English language, English has been increasingly used as a second language and the study of English is now obligatory in most schools either alongside or in place of French. The popularity of Japanese language, Japanese, Korean language, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese have also grown as the country's ties with other East Asian nations have strengthened. Third-graders can choose one of seven languages (English, Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German) as their first foreign language. In Vietnam's Education in Vietnam, high school graduation examinations, students can take their foreign language exam in one of the above-mentioned languages.
Culture
Vietnamese culture is considered part of Sinosphere. Vietnam's culture has developed over the centuries from indigenous ancient
Đông Sơn culture
The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...
with wet rice cultivation as its economic base. Some elements of the nation's culture have Chinese origins, drawing on elements of
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
, Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, and Taoism in its traditional political system and philosophy. Vietnamese society is structured around (ancestral villages); all Vietnamese mark a Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương, common ancestral anniversary on the tenth day of the third lunar calendar, lunar month. The influence of Chinese culture such as the Cantonese culture, Cantonese, Hakka culture, Hakka, Hokkien culture, Hokkien, and Hainanese cultures is more evident in the north where Buddhism is strongly entwined with popular culture. Despite this, there are Chinatowns in the south, such as in , where many Chinese have interracial marriage, intermarried with Kinh and are indistinguishable among them. In the central and southern parts of Vietnam, traces of Champa and Khmer culture are evidenced through the remains of ruins, artefacts as well within their population as the successor of the ancient Sa Huỳnh culture. In recent centuries, Western cultures have become popular among recent generations of Vietnamese.
![Ao-dai-xu-Hue-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Ao-dai-xu-Hue-2.jpg)
The traditional focuses of Vietnamese culture are based on humanity () and harmony () in which family and community values are highly regarded. Vietnam reveres a number of key cultural symbols, such as the Vietnamese dragon which is derived from crocodile and snake imagery; Vietnam's national father, is depicted as a holy dragon. The is a holy bird representing Vietnam's national mother . Other prominent images that are also revered are the turtle, Water buffalo, buffalo and horse. Many Vietnamese also believe in the supernatural and spiritualism where illness can be brought on by a curse or Witchcraft, sorcery or caused by non-observance of a religious ethic. Traditional medical practitioners, amulets and other forms of spiritual protection and religious practices may be employed to treat the ill person. In the modern era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media and cultural programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences, especially those of Western origin, were shunned. But since the recent reformation, Vietnam has seen a greater exposure to neighbouring Southeast Asian, East Asian as well to Western culture and media.
The main Vietnamese formal dress, the is worn for special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. White is the required uniform for girls in many high schools across the country. Other examples of traditional Vietnamese clothing include: the , a four-piece woman's dress; the , a form of the in five-piece form, mostly worn in the north of the country; the , a woman's undergarment; the , rural working "pyjamas" for men and women; the , a formal brocade tunic for government receptions; and the , a variant of the worn by grooms at weddings. Traditional headwear includes the standard conical and the "lampshade-like" . In tourism, a number of popular cultural tourist destinations include the former Imperial City of Huế, the World Heritage Sites of
Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park Phong may refer to:
Computer graphics
*Phong shading
*Phong reflection model
*Blinn–Phong shading model
*Bui Tuong Phong - creator of the Phong shading interpolation method and reflection model.
Other
*Phong-Kniang language
*Nam Phong ...
, and , coastal regions such as Nha Trang, the caves of Hạ Long Bay and the Marble Mountains (Vietnam), Marble Mountains.
Literature
![Dragon on Emperor Khải Định’s scroll, 1917 (British Library)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Dragon_on_Emperor_Kh%E1%BA%A3i_%C4%90%E1%BB%8Bnh%E2%80%99s_scroll%2C_1917_%28British_Library%29.png)
Vietnamese literature has centuries-deep history and the country has a rich tradition of folk literature based on the typical six–to-eight-verse poetic form called which usually focuses on village ancestors and heroes. Written literature has been found dating back to the 10th century Ngô dynasty, with notable ancient authors including: , , and . Some literary genres play an important role in theatrical performance, such as in . Some poetic unions have also been formed in Vietnam, such as the . Vietnamese literature has been influenced by Western styles in recent times, with the first literary transformation movement of emerging in 1932. Vietnamese folk literature is an intermingling of many forms. It is not only an oral tradition, but a mixing of three media: hidden (only retained in the memory of folk authors), fixed (written), and shown (performed). Folk literature usually exists in many versions, passed down orally, and has unknown authors. Myths consist of stories about supernatural beings, heroes, creator gods and reflect the viewpoint of ancient people about human life. They consist of creation stories, stories about their origins ( and ), culture heroes (Sơn Tinh – Thủy Tinh, and ) which are referred to as a mountain and water spirit respectively and many other folklore tales.
Music
![Ca trù performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Ca_tr%C3%B9_performance.jpg)
Traditional Vietnamese music varies between the country's northern and southern regions. Northern classical music is Vietnam's oldest musical form and is traditionally more formal. The origins of Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese opera troupe. Throughout its history, Vietnam has been the most heavily impacted by the Music of China, Chinese musical tradition along with those of Japan, Korea and Mongolia. is the most popular form of imperial court music, is a form of generally satirical musical theatre, while or ( singing) is a type of Vietnamese folk music. (alternate singing) is popular in the former Hà Bắc Province (which is now divided into and Provinces) and across Vietnam. Another form of music called or is used to invoke spirits during ceremonies. is a modern form of Vietnamese folk music which arose in the 1950s, while (also known as ) is a popular folk music. can be thought of as the southern style of . There is a range of traditional instruments, including the (a monochord zither), the (a two-stringed fiddle with coconut body), and the (a two-stringed fretted moon lute). In recent times, there have been some efforts at mixing Vietnamese traditional music—especially folk music—with modern music to revive and promote national music in the modern context and educate the younger generations about Vietnam's traditional musical instruments and singing styles. Bolero#Vietnam, Bolero music has gained popularity in the country since the 1930s, albeit with a different style—a combination of traditional Vietnamese music with Western elements. In the 21st century, the modern Vietnamese pop music industry known as V-pop incorporates elements of many popular genres worldwide, such as electronic music, electronic, dance music, dance and contemporary R&B, R&B.
Cuisine
![Cuisine of Vietnam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Cuisine_of_Vietnam.jpg)
Traditionally, Vietnamese cuisine is based around five fundamental taste "elements" ( vi, ngũ vị): spicy (metal), sour (wood), bitter (fire), salty (water) and sweet (earth). Common ingredients include fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables. Vietnamese recipes use: cymbopogon, lemongrass, ginger, mentha, mint, Vietnamese mint, eryngium foetidum, long coriander, Saigon cinnamon, bird's eye chilli, lime (fruit), lime and basil leaves. Traditional Vietnamese cooking is known for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil and reliance on herbs and vegetables; it is considered one of the healthiest cuisines worldwide. The use of meats such as pork, beef and chicken was relatively limited in the past. Instead freshwater fish, crustaceans (particularly crabs), and molluscs became widely used. Fish sauce, soy sauce, prawn sauce and limes are among the main flavouring ingredients. Vietnam has a strong street food culture, with 40 popular dishes commonly found throughout the country. Many notable Vietnamese dishes such as (salad roll), (rice noodle roll), (rice vermicelli soup) and noodles originated in the north and were introduced to central and southern Vietnam by northern migrants. Local foods in the north are often less spicy than southern dishes, as the colder northern climate limits the production and availability of spices. Black pepper is frequently used in place of chilli pepper, chillis to produce spicy flavours. Vietnamese drinks in the south also are usually served cold with ice cubes, especially during the annual hot seasons; in contrast, in the north hot drinks are more preferable in a colder climate. Some examples of basic Vietnamese drinks include (Vietnamese iced coffee), (egg coffee), (salted pickled lime juice), (glutinous rice wine), (sugarcane juice) and (Vietnamese lotus tea).
Media
![Vietnam Television logo from 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Vietnam_Television_logo_from_2013.svg)
Vietnam's media sector is regulated by the government under the 2004 Law on Publication. It is generally perceived that the country's media sector is controlled by the government and follows the official communist party line, though some newspapers are relatively outspoken. The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) is the official state-run national radio broadcasting service, broadcasting internationally via shortwave using rented transmitters in other countries and providing broadcasts from its website, while Vietnam Television (VTV) is the national television broadcasting company. Since 1997, Vietnam has regulated public internet access extensively using both legal and technical means. The resulting lockdown is widely referred to as the "Internet censorship in Vietnam, Bamboo Firewall". The collaborative project OpenNet Initiative classifies Vietnam's level of online political censorship to be "pervasive", while Reporters Without Borders (RWB) considers Vietnam to be one of 15 global "internet enemies". Though the government of Vietnam maintains that such censorship is necessary to safeguard the country against obscene or sexually explicit content, many political and religious websites that are deemed to be undermining state authority are also blocked.
Holidays and festivals
![Đèn kéo quân](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/%C4%90%C3%A8n_k%C3%A9o_qu%C3%A2n.jpg)
The country has eleven national recognised holidays. These include: New Year's Day on 1 January; Vietnamese New Year () from the last day of the last lunar month to fifth day of the first lunar calendar, lunar month; Hùng Kings' Festival on the 10th day of the third lunar month; Reunification Day on 30 April; International Workers' Day on 1 May; and National Day (Vietnam), National Day on 2 September. During , many Vietnamese from the major cities will return to their villages for family reunions and to pray for dead ancestors. Older people will usually give the young a (red envelope) while special holiday food, such as (rice cake) in a square shape together with variety of dried fruits, are presented in the house for visitors. Many other festivals are celebrated throughout the seasons, including the Lantern Festival (), Mid-Autumn Festival () and various temple and nature festivals. In the highlands, Elephant racing, Elephant Race Festivals are held annually during the spring (season), spring; riders will ride their elephants for about and the winning elephant will be given sugarcane. Traditional Vietnamese weddings remain widely popular and are often celebrated by overseas Vietnamese, expatriate Vietnamese in Western countries. In Vietnam, wedding dress has been influenced by Western styles, with the wearing of white wedding dresses and black black tie, jackets; however, there are also many who still prefer to choose Vietnamese traditional wedding costumes for traditional ceremonies.
Sports
The Vovinam, and martial arts are widespread in Vietnam, while association football, football is the country's most popular sport. Its Vietnam national football team, national team won the ASEAN Football Championship twice in 2008 AFF Championship, 2008 and 2018 AFF Championship, 2018 and reached the 2019 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage#Vietnam vs Japan, quarter-finals of 2019 AFC Asian Cup, its junior team of Vietnam national under-23 football team, under-23 became the runners-up of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship and reached fourth place in Football at the 2018 Asian Games, 2018 Asian Games, while the Vietnam national under-20 football team, under-20 managed to qualify the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time in their football history. The national football Vietnam women's national football team, women's team also traditionally dominates the Football at the Southeast Asian Games#Women's tournament, Southeast Asian Games, along with its chief rival, Thailand women's national football team, Thailand. Other Western sports such as badminton, tennis, volleyball, ping-pong and chess are also widely popular. Vietnam has participated in the Summer Olympic Games since Vietnam at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1952, when it competed as the State of Vietnam. After the partition of the country in 1954, only South Vietnam competed in the games, sending athletes to the Vietnam at the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1956 and Vietnam at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 Olympics. Since the reunification of Vietnam in 1976, it has competed as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, attending every Summer Olympics from 1988 Summer Olympics, 1988 onwards. The present Vietnam Olympic Committee was formed in 1976 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979. Vietnam has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games. In 2016, Vietnam won their first gold medal at the Olympics. Basketball has become an increasingly popular sport in Vietnam, especially in
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
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, blank_info = 2019
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,
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and .
Vietnam basketball
Vietnam Online. Accessed 19 February 2020.
See also
* Index of Vietnam-related articles
* Outline of Vietnam
Notes
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Free content
External links
Vietnam profile
from BBC News
Vietnam
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. (CIA)
Vietnam
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
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Vietnam
at ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
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Key Development Forecasts for Vietnam
from International Futures
Government
Portal of the Government of Vietnam
Communist Party of Vietnam
– official website (in Vietnamese)
National Assembly
– the Vietnamese legislative body
General Statistics Office
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Media and censorship
* Robert N. Wilkey
''The John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law''. Vol. XX, No. 4. Summer 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
Tourism
Official tourism website
{{Authority control
1976 establishments in Vietnam
Communist states
Countries in Asia
Divided regions
Member states of ASEAN
Member states of the United Nations
One-party states
Republics
Southeast Asian countries
States and territories established in 1976
Vietnam,