Fast Facts
Land mass: 329,247 sq km (127,123 sq miles or slightly larger than the U.S. State of New Mexico)
Terrain: low and flat in north and south; central highlands; mountainous in far north
Climate: south tropical; north monsoonal
Language: Vietnamese (official); various ethnic minority languages
Capital city: Hanoi (Ha Noi)
Largest city: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Government: Communist
President: Truong Tan Sang
Secretary-general of the Communist Party: Nguyen Phu Trong
Prime minister: Nguyen Tan Dung
Population: 91.5 million (July 2012 est.)
Ethnic groups (2009 census):
- 85.7% Kinh (Viet)
- 1.9% Tay
- 1.7% Tai
- 1.5% Mường
- 1.4% Khơ me
- 1.1% Hoa
- 1.1% Nùng
- 1% Hmong
- 4.1% Others (The government of Viet Nam recognizes a total of 54 minority groups within the country though other sources may list 70-80.)
Population growth rate: 1.054% (2012 est.)
Urban population: 30% (2010)
Life expectancy: 73 years (men), 77 years (women)
HIV/AIDS: 0.4% (2009 est.)
Abortions per year: 1.3 million (1/3 of pregnancies; 1995 est.)
Structured Religion: Buddhism: 50% Catholicism: 9% Hoa Hao: 2.75% Cao Dai: 2.25% Protestantism: 1.25% Islam: 0.1% Other: 34.65% (Syncretism abounds in Viet Nam so giving a single identification for religion is problematic. Estimates are as high as 98% of Vietnamese actively practice ancestor worship regardless of structured religion professed.)
Exchange rate: 20,586 VND = 1 USD (2011 est.)
Inflation rate: 18.6% (2011 est.)
GDP growth rate: 5.8% (2011 est.)
Unemployed: 2.3% (2011 est.)
People in poverty: 14.5% (2010 est.)
Main exports: Petroleum, rice, coffee, clothing, fish
Internet domain: .vn
International dialing code: +84
Sources: UN Data – A world of Information , The CIA World Factbook , Wikipedia – Vietnam , BBC – Country Profile , pray4vn.org
