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Vietnam
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General
Information
National Capital:
Hanoi
Mainland Territory:
331,211.6 sq. km
Population: approx.
85.7 Million
Lying on the eastern part of the Indochinese peninsula, Vietnam is a
strip of land shaped like the letter “S”. China borders it to the
north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, the East Sea to the east and
the Pacific Ocean to the east and south.
The country’s total length from north to south is 1,650km. Its
width, stretching from east to west, is 600km at the widest point in
the north, 400km in the south, and 50km at the narrowest part, in
the centre, in Quang Binh Province. The coastline is 3,260km long
and the inland border is 4,510km.
Latitude: 102º 08' - 109º
28' east
Longitude: 8º 02' - 23º 23' north
Climate
Vietnam is located in both a tropical and a temperate zone. It is
characterized by strong monsoon influences, but has a considerable
amount of sun, a high rate of rainfall, and high humidity. Regions
located near the tropics and in the mountainous regions are endowed
with a temperate climate.
Resources
Vietnam has a variety of mineral resources. Located beneath the
subsoil are precious stones, coal and valuable minerals such as tin,
zinc, silver, gold and antimony. Vietnam also has large deposits of
oil and gas on its offshore islands and on the mainland.
Nationalities
At present there are 54 different ethnic groups inhabiting Vietnam,
in which Kinh (Viet) people make up nearly 90% of the whole
population, and 53 other ethnic groups represent over 10%.
Language and Scripts
Among the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups some have had their own
scripts for a long time and some have not preserved their ancient
scripts. As a matter of fact, some ethnic groups consisting of some
hundreds of individuals living in remote areas have their own
languages
Religion and Belief
The major religious traditions in Vietnam are Buddhism (which fuses
forms of Taoism and Confusianism),
Christianity (Catholicism and
Protestantism), Islam, Caodaism and the Hoa Hao sect. |
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