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Vietnamese National Anthem - "Tiến Quân Ca" (VI/EN)

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Capital:

Hanoi

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Relief

Vietnam's principal physiographic features are the Annamese Cordillera (French: Chaîne Annamitique; Vietnamese: Nui Truong Son), extending generally from northwest to southeast in central Vietnam and dominating the interior, and two extensive alluvial deltas formed by the Red (Hong) River in the north and the Mekong (Cuu Long) River in the south. Between these two deltas is a long, relatively narrow coastal plain.

From north to south the uplands of northern Vietnam can be divided into two distinct regions-the area north of the Red River and the massif that extends south of the Red River into neighbouring Laos. The Red River forms a deep, relatively wide valley that runs in a straight northwest-southeast direction for much of its course from the Chinese border to the edge of its delta. North of the Red River the relief is moderate, with the highest elevations occurring between the Red and Lo (Clear) rivers; there is a marked depression from Cao Bang to the sea. In the Red River delta and in the valleys of the region's other major rivers are found wide limestone terraces, extensive alluvial plains, and low hills. The northeast coast is dotted with hundreds of islands composed mostly of limestone.

Compared with the area north of the Red River, the vast massif extending southwest across Laos to the Mekong River is of considerably higher elevation. Among its outstanding topographic features is Fan Si Peak, which at 10,312 feet (3,143 metres) is the highest point in Vietnam. South of the Black (Da) River are the Ta P'ing, Son La, and Moc Chau plateaus, which are separated by deep valleys.

In central Vietnam the Annamese Cordillera runs parallel to the coast, with several peaks rising to elevations above 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Several spurs jut into the South China Sea, forming sections of the coast isolated from one another. Communication across the central ranges is difficult. The southern portion of the Annamese Cordillera has two identifiable regions. One consists of plateaus of approximately 1,700 feet (520 metres) in elevation that have experienced little erosion, as in the Dac Lac Plateau near Buon Me Thuot. The second region is characterized by heavily eroded plateaus: in the vicinity of Pleiku, the Kontum Plateau is about 2,500 feet (760 metres) above sea level; and in the Da Lat area, the Di Linh Plateau is about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres).

Drainage

Roughly triangular in shape, with its northeast and southwest sides bounded by the northern uplands, the Red River delta extends inland some 150 miles (240 km) and runs some 75 miles (120 km) along the Gulf of Tonkin. The delta can be divided into four subregions. The northwestern section has the highest and most broken terrain, and its extensive natural levees invite settlement despite frequent flooding. The low-lying eastern portion is less than seven feet (two metres) above sea level in the vicinity of Bac Ninh. Rivers there form small valleys only slightly lower than the general surface level, and they are subject to flooding by the area's unusually high tides. The third and fourth subregions consist, respectively, of the poorly drained lowlands in the west and the coastal area, which is marked by the remains of former beach ridges left as the delta expanded.

The Annamese Cordillera forms a drainage divide, with rivers to the east flowing to the South China Sea and those to the west to the Mekong River. South of the mountain range there is an identifiable terrace region that gives way to the Mekong delta. The terrace region includes the alluvial plains along the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers. The lowlands of southern Vietnam are dominated by alluvial plains, the most extensive of which is the Mekong delta, covering an area of 15,400 square miles (39,900 square km) in Vietnam. Smaller deltaic plains also occur along the south-central coast facing the South China Sea.

Soils

In northern Vietnam the heavy monsoonal rains wash away rich humus from the highlands, leaving slow-dissolving alumina and iron oxides that give the soil its characteristic reddish colour. The soils of the Red River delta vary: some are fertile and suitable for intense cultivation, while others lack soluble bases. Nonetheless, the delta soils are easily worked. The diking of the Red River to prevent flooding has deprived the delta's rice fields of enriching silts they once received, and it has been necessary to apply chemical fertilizers.

There are some two dozen soil associations, but certain soil types predominate. Among these are red and yellow podzolic soils (i.e., soils that are heavily leached in their upper layers, with a resulting accumulation of materials in the lower layers), which occupy nearly half of the land area, and lateritic soils (reddish brown, leached tropical soils), which constitute another one-tenth more. These soil types dominate the central highlands.

Alluvial soils account for about one-fourth of the land in the south and are concentrated in the Mekong delta, as are peat and muck soils. Gray podzolic soils are found in parts of the central highlands and in old terraces along the Mekong, while regurs (rich black loams) and lateritic soils occur in both the central highlands and the terrace zone. Along the coast of central Vietnam are regosols (soft, undeveloped soils) and noncalcic brown soils.

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Vietnam | History, Population, Map, Flag, Government, & Facts

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Vietnam, country occupying the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia. It has a long coastline, much of which fronts on the South China Sea to the east and south. The country is bordered by the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, Cambodia and Laos to the west, and China to the north.

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https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/vietnam

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Most Vietnamese people live in the countryside, mainly in the river delta regions of the north and south. Recently though, people have begun to move to the main cities of Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) and Hanoi.

The most popular sports in Vietnam include soccer, table tennis, volleyball, and martial arts.

Vietnamese food is a blend of Chinese and Thai styles and features seafood and homegrown fruits and vegetables.

As a communist country, Vietnam has no official religion. But people are free to worship if they want to, and many follow what's called the "Three Teachings" of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/vietnam

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Vietnam's mountainous terrain, forests, wetlands, and long coastline contain many different habitats that support a great variety of wildlife. Some 270 types of mammals, 180 reptiles, 80 amphibians, and 800 bird species reside in Vietnam.

Many rare and unusual animals live in Vietnam, including giant catfish, Indochinese tigers, Saola antelopes, and Sumatran rhinos. The government has set up 30 parks and reserves to protect its animals, but their survival is in doubt because much of their habitat has been cleared for lumber or to grow crops.

Tropical forests once covered most of Vietnam, but over the past few hundred years, logging has reduced the forest cover to only about 19 percent. The government has launched a replanting program in an attempt to restore these woodlands.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/vietnam

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When talking about Vietnamese traditional costumes, many of you will just be familiar with the ao dai. However, in addition to the ao dai, our country has many other incredible traditional costumes such as ao tu than, ao Nhat Binh, ao tac, and ao ba ba. There is no doubt that the ao dai is very well-known in Vietnam and the world, but today I am going to introduce to you more about our traditional clothes. But let's start with the ao dai.

Ao Dai

This is the most popular traditional costume of Vietnam. Nowadays, the ao dai is preferred by women more than men and you can encounter Vietnamese women in the ao dai in every corner of our country. Ao dai, literally means long dress, it has long trousers and a two-flap dress with different colors and patterns. A truly elegant piece of clothing, it gives me pride to see someone dressed this way on the street.

The history of the ao dai dates back to the second half of the 18 th century, to 1774. At this time, there was a civil war within Vietnam: The North was ruled by the Trinh family and the South was ruled by the Nguyen family. In the south, the first Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat recognized that our costumes were very similar to those worn by the Chinese and with an ambition to be a king of an independent land, he ordered his people to change the way they dressed.

According to the decree, for casual clothes, men and women had to wear gowns with straight collars and short sleeves, small or wide sleeves were optional. The gown has two seams on either side. It allowed men to wear gowns with a round collar and small sleeves when working for more comfort. This marks the first generation of the ao dai with five flaps called than. The two flaps in the front and two flaps in the back were the four main thans and represented tu than phu mau, which represents the birth parents and parents-in-law. The last than was designed inside the front flaps, representing the wearer. In a word, this five than design means the four parents always protect their child. There were five buttons on this gown, representing ngu thuong, which represent the five cardinal virtues of Confucianism: humanness, righteousness, proper rite, knowledge, and integrity.

The decree of Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat in 1774 marked an important innovation in Vietnamese clothes, which ultimately characterized our traditional costumes. After Nguyen Phuc Anh reunified the territory of Vietnam in 1802, which was the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty, the ao dai became the national clothing of this dynasty.

Since the 19 th century, the two front flaps were sewn into one flap, and the two back flaps were sewn into a singular back flap. The fifth flap still remained (now the third than) behind the front flap. The ao dai became a long dress with two slits on both sides, very similar to the modern ao dai.

Later, the fifth flap was eliminated, the modern ao dai appears with only two flaps, front and back.

The specialty of the ao dai is that it is a tight-fitting dress which magnifies the beautiful curves of a woman's body. The slits on both sides up to the waist create a charming and unique cut that is classically flattering. Today, designers have created many new styles of ao dai, diversifying this costume.

Modern Vietnamese women usually wear the ao dai for special occasions such as Tet (Vietnamese New Year), weddings, festivals, and ceremonies. In public high schools, schoolgirls have to wear the white ao dai twice a week, on Monday and on an optional weekday. High school female teachers also have to wear the ao dai when they are in class, but they can choose the color and style.

Thanks to the innovative ao dai, women can now wear this fit when they want: to work, for a walk, to go on a date, and even traveling.

For men, since the era of Lord Nguyen, these clothing rules are not as strict. Later, the gown for men became more comfortable and convenient. Nowadays, men occasionally wear it for special events but it's less popular than for women. Men's ao dai, of course, is not as tight as the women's.

Where can you buy or rent the ao dai?

May's House Design
Address: 22A Ha Hoi street - 7 Hang Ga street - 31A Ba Trieu street - 167 Kim Ma street - 107B6 Pham Ngoc Thach street - 254 Cau Giay street, Hanoi city

The Kat House
Address: 296 Huynh Van Banh street, Phu Nhuan district - 14 Nguyen Huu Cau street, District 1 - 251 Nguyen Thi Thap street, District 7, HCMC

Ao Tu Than

No one knows exactly when ao tu than appeared, but archeologists found the image of ao tu than sculpted on the surface of trong dong, a kind of copper drum, thousands of years ago.

Ao tu than has four long flaps, two in the front and two in the back, also called than. The meaning of these thans is like the four main flaps of the first generation of ao dai, they represent the birth parents and parents-in-law. In addition, the ao tu than doesn't have the fifth inside flap or buttons. Ao tu than is sewn by connecting four pieces of garment (the same or different colors) but the ends remain split. Wearers first put on a bodice called yem, then a thin shirt. Women tie their waist with a silk sash. The ao tu than is worn as the outermost layer. Because it doesn't have any buttons, wearers tie a knot using the two front flaps around their middler you can let these pieces of fabric dangle for a looser fit.

A long black skirt is worn beneath the ao tu than and it almost touches the floor. Non quai thao, which is a large flat palm hat, is a popular accessory of ao tu than. In the past, ao tu than was dyed with natural colors, like the dye-yam, tropical-almond leaves, or mud. Now, ao tu than is dyed with many bright colors, making it more beautiful.

Ao tu than in the past was worn as casual clothing by the northern women. In the present time, our northern women still wear it but just on occasion like when performing quan ho, a Vietnamese folk music style.

Where can you buy or rent the ao tu than?

Ao Nhat Binh

Ao Nhat Binh literally means square-collared garb. This was one of the casual clothes of the empress dowager, empress consort, and princesses in the imperial city of the Nguyen Dynasty - the last dynasty of Vietnam. When there were informal events, these royal women would wear the ao Nhat Binh instead of the Phuong bao (means the garb of phoenix), which was the noblest clothes of the empresses and princesses. For consorts, female officials and those ladies with high social status, ao Nhat Binh was their noblest clothes.

Ao Nhat Binh is a straight-collared garb, whose collar dangles down, making two parallel lines. The origin of ao Nhat Binh was from Phi Phong garb, which was popular in the Ming Dynasty of China. When wearing ao Nhat Binh, wearers tie a knot with the pieces hanging from the collar in front of the chest and decorate (to hide the knot) with a sculpted gem. On the collar are flowers and phoenix patterns. The garb may be plain with one color or can be embroidered with many circular patterns. On the cuffs, there are five colored lines which are green, yellow, blue, white, and red representing the Five Elements wood, earth, water, metal, and fire.

According to the Nguyen Dynasty decree, the compulsory color of ao Nhat Binh for the empress was pure yellow, sometimes orange. For the princess, it was pure red. Peach, pure violet, and light violet were the colors for the consorts.

For lower status women, there were no required colors. A turban and long white silk trousers were dressed together with ao Nhat Binh.

After the collapse of Nguyen Dynasty in 1945, ao Nhat Binh became a formal garb of upper and middle class to wear in important ceremonies, especially in a wedding.

Currently, young Vietnamese are trying to revive the ao Nhat Binh and bring back the culture of the Nguyen Dynasty. You may want to visit the Facebook page to get more information about new styles of ao Nhat Binh. If I had to choose the most stunning traditional costume of Vietnam, I will vote for ao Nhat Binh instead of the most popular ao dai.

Where can you buy the ao Nhat Binh?

Contact the Facebook page Little For above to order the ao Nhat Binh, or Y Van Hien Company, whose business is to retrieve Vietnamese ancient traditions and cultures.

Ao Tac

To make it simple, ao tac is a variant of the ao dai, but it has loose and large sleeves. This is considered the national costume of the Nguyen Dynasty, because ao tac can be worn by any class in society, from the royal, the officials, to the middle and lower class, and can be worn by both men and women.

Ao tac was worn in important ceremonies and occasions such as a wedding, funeral, Tet, and worship events. You can wear any color you want, but it should be based on the occasion. When wearing an ao tac, your two arms ought to be folded in front of the stomach because the sleeves are long and baggy. This action is to hide both hands and show the humbleness, respect, and elegance in crucial events.

Like the ao dai, the ao tac has a standing and circular collar and is a form of the five-flap gown. It can be plain or decorated by woven patters. An ao dai or five-flap gown with a high collar was worn beneath the ao tac. The reason is in the past, the ao tac was a deluxe costume and only worn for important events, the first layer of clothes was worn to protect the ao tac. Usually, men wore a white gown against their skin while women could wear any color they wanted. This attire can also go with a wrapped turban.

Nowadays, Vietnamese still wear ao tac in such occasions as weddings, funerals, and ancestor worship. The ao tac is also one of the costumes being reimagined in new styles and can be worn whenever we want, not only on special occasions like before.

Some of our pictures about ao Nhat Binh and ao tac are taken in the permission of the Facebook page Nguyen Phong Doan Linh, which provides a lot of information about Vietnamese traditional costumes, especially in the Nguyen Dynasty. You can visit this page to learn more about our costumes, they also have English descriptions.

Where can you buy the ao tac?

Little For, in addition to ao Nhat Binh, also provides new styles of ao tac, so you can buy it by contacting the page.

Ao Ba Ba (ao ba ba)

It is important to realize that this name is actually áo bà ba. There is a small difference in the tone of the words ba. Ao ba ba literally means the shirt of madam Ba. There are many assumptions about the origin of ao ba ba, but now I would like to tell you an interesting story.

Once upon a time, everyone in this country had to wear long gowns. There was a fisherman who was very poor but had to wear the gown like the others. Day by day, the gown accumulated tears but he didn't have enough money to buy a new one. The gown became shorter and shorter, and it had many holes which made it look like a turtle's shell.

One day, when he was walking on the beach to fish, he saw the king with his subordinates coming. He was so afraid the king would punish him because he was wearing the wrong costume that he ran and fell into a swamp nearby. He tried to stand up but couldn't. Now the king came and saw that he looked like a turtle because of his gown and the mud. Then the king asked the fisherman the reason he hid, and the fisherman told the king of his poor condition. The king smiled and replied:

"Don't be afraid, you are not guilty! A few moments ago, I thought you were a ba ba (with no tone, it means turtle in Vietnamese). It turns out you are a man in a ba ba shirt".

Then, the king gifted him gold and cloth. The fisherman happily said thank you to the king. He was no longer poor but still kept the ba ba shirt. Afterwards, many poor people followed the style of the ba ba shirt because it didn't require too much cloth and was easy for them to work in. This shirt was called ao ba ba. The women realized that ao ba ba was also suitable for them, so they started to wear it. The men saw that and said the women were wearing ao bà ba, which meant the shirt of madam Ba. Gradually, the original name ao ba ba was forgotten and áo bà ba subsumed its place.

It is a simple short shirt with long sleeves and buttons from the neck down to the belly. Áo bà ba is always paired with long silk trousers. The colors of this set depend on the combination and the desire of the wearers. Áo bà ba is a popular costume in the Vietnamese countryside, especially southwestern Vietnam. You can see most of the southwestern people wearing this shirt during many activities.

Where can you buy or rent the ao ba ba?
In Ho Chi Minh City:
Duyen Ha Shop
Address: 40 Tran Quang Khai, District 1, HCMC

I hope that my article gives you a broad view of Vietnamese traditional costumes. How about going to Vietnam and dressing in these wonderful clothes?

Follow our Christina's blog for more information about traveling in Vietnam. You can also learn something interesting about our history and culture. You may be interested in these articles:
Regional Differences in Vietnamese Cuisine - North, Central and South Celebrating Vietnamese Lunar New Year in Hanoi - A Comprehensive Tet Guide Historical Vietnam: The Oldest Villages and Towns in the Country

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Vietnamese Traditional Costumes: History, Culture and Where to Find Them

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When talking about Vietnamese traditional costumes, many of you will just be familiar with the ao dai. However, in addition to the ao dai, our country has many other incredible traditional costumes such as ao tu than, ao Nhat Binh, ao tac, and ao ba ba.

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Vietnam has one of the most complex ethnolinguistic patterns in Asia. The Vietnamese majority was significantly Sinicized during a millennium of Chinese rule, which ended in 939 ce. Indian influence is most evident among the Cham and Khmer minorities. The Cham formed the majority population in the Indianized kingdom of Champa in what is now central Vietnam from the 2nd to the late 15th century ce. Small numbers of Cham remain in the south-central coastal plain and in the Mekong delta near the Cambodian border. The Khmer (Cambodians) are scattered throughout the Mekong delta.

Many other ethnic groups inhabit the highlands. While cultures vary considerably in the central region, shared characteristics include a way of life still largely oriented toward kin groups and small communities. Known collectively by the French as Montagnards ("highlanders" or, literally, "mountain people"), these central highlanders have affinities with other Southeast Asians and have exhibited an intense desire to preserve their own cultural identities. In the northern uplands, the various groups have ethnolinguistic affiliations with peoples in Thailand, Laos, and southern China.

Highland groups in general have experienced little Chinese or Indian influence, although they absorbed some Western (French and then American) cultural traits, primarily between the late 19th century and the early 1970s. By the early 21st century, however, the active promotion of tourism, as well as increased availability of products from foreign markets, brought new international influences into the highland communities.

Languages

Vietnamese is the official language of Vietnam. Although one of the Mon-Khmer languages of the Austroasiatic family, Vietnamese exhibits strong influences from Chinese. The language of the Khmer minority also belongs to the Mon-Khmer group, whereas Cham belongs to the Austronesian family.

Many Montagnard peoples-such as the Rade (Rhade), Jarai, Chru, and Roglai-speak Austronesian languages, linking them to the Cham, Malay, and Indonesian peoples; others-including the Bru, Pacoh, Katu, Cua, Hre, Rengao, Sedang, Bahnar, Mnong, Mang (Maa), Muong, and Stieng-speak Mon-Khmer languages, connecting them with the Khmer. French missionaries and administrators provided Roman script for some of the Montagnard languages, and additional orthographies have since been devised.

The largest of the northern highland groups speak languages belonging to the Tai language family and generally live in upland valleys. Thai, the national language of Thailand, also belongs to this language family. Hmong ( Miao) and Mien groups, who speak Sino-Tibetan languages, are scattered at higher elevations.

Religion

Confucianism, Daoism, and Mahayana Buddhism entered Vietnam over many centuries. Gradually they became intertwined, simplified, and Vietnamized to constitute, along with vestiges of earlier local beliefs, an indigenous religion that came to be shared to some considerable extent by all Vietnamese, regardless of region or social class. It is largely this religious amalgam that is practiced by the roughly half of the population that identifies itself as being Buddhist. The religion of Cao Dai, a synthesis of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Roman Catholicism, appeared during the 1920s, and in the 1930s the Hoa Hao neo-Buddhist sect spread through parts of the Mekong delta. Cao Dai has about half as many adherents as Hoa Hao, but both congregations are growing. Together, the two new-religionist movements have embraced a significant minority of the population. Local religions involving numerous spirits predominate in many upland communities, and most Cham are adherents of Islam.

Roman Catholicism was introduced into Vietnam in the 16th century by Portuguese explorers and Dominican missionaries and spread rapidly following the French conquest in the mid-19th century. The heaviest concentrations of Roman Catholics in Vietnam were in the north until 1954, when, after the partition of the country, many of them to fled to the south. Protestantism came to Vietnam in 1911 and spread mainly among small segments of the urban population in the central and southern regions.

In 1954 all foreign Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy were expelled from North Vietnam, leaving only the native clergy. The North Vietnamese government tried to supplant the existing structures of organized religion with its own patriotic Buddhist, Cao Dai, Catholic, and Protestant religious organizations. Catholic clergy and believers were forced to renounce their allegiance to Rome. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam in 1975, northern institutions of control over churches and clergies were extended to the south as well. The country's constitution, promulgated in 1992, guarantees freedom of religion, but in practice government controls have been relaxed only gradually. Performance of religious services by foreign missionaries without government approval continues to be illegal. Similarly, faith-based non-governmental organizations must register with the government, and may not proselytize.

Settlement patterns

There are several distinct rural settlement patterns in Vietnam. Especially in northern and central Vietnam, geomantic principles influence the orientation of houses and community buildings. In central Vietnam, many of these structures face the sea. In the densely populated Red River delta in the north, village buildings are often grouped closely together and are enclosed by a bamboo hedge or an earthen wall. Those along rivers, canals, or roads often abut each other, forming a single elongated settlement. Lowland Vietnamese villages on the central coastal plain are characteristically close-knit, small clusters of farmsteads near watercourses, and fishing villages are often situated in sheltered inlets. In the Mekong delta in the south many settlements are strung out along waterways and roads; most are loose-knit clusters of farmsteads, with some of them scattered among the rice fields. The settlements of the Cham and Khmer minorities closely resemble those of the Vietnamese. Most highland peoples build their houses on pilings.

Historically, Vietnam's major cities have been Hanoi, Hue, and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Throughout Vietnamese history the Hanoi area has been important and was the site of several early capitals. Hanoi also served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 until 1954, and the city has retained the architecture of that era. The city's port of Haiphong was developed by the French in the late 19th century as a trade and banking centre. Hue was the seat of the Nguyen family, which controlled central and southern Vietnam from the late 17th to the late 19th century. Located on the Huong (Perfume) River, it was laid out in the early 19th century as a political and religious centre, and its economic functions were ancillary. Saigon was built largely by the French in the second half of the 19th century as the administrative capital and principal port of Cochinchina. The city's architecture recalls towns and cities in southern France. The adjoining city of Cholon has long been a major centre for ethnic Chinese.

Demographic trends

Vietnam's population experienced rapid growth in the decade following reunification in 1975. Throughout the 1980s, roughly two-fifths of the population was under age 15. Toward the end of the decade, however, birth rates began to decline, dropping from well above to notably below the world average over the next 20 years. Life expectancy simultaneously increased by nearly 15 years over that period. Consequently, the median age of Vietnam's population has been rising steadily.

Migrations have historically been predominantly from north to south; more recently there have also been migrations from the lowlands to higher elevations and from rural to urban areas. Following the partition of Vietnam in 1954, nearly one million people moved from the north to the south. In the late 1950s, the governments in both the north and the south sought to resettle ethnic Vietnamese from the lowlands to the uplands. While these efforts were abandoned in the south in 1963, they continued in the north. In the five years immediately following reunification, the government reinstituted resettlement programs in the south and intensified its activities in implementing them throughout the country, with a significant number of people moving from the southern lowlands to the central highlands. Since then, however, there has been an ongoing flow of migrants into Ho Chi Minh City and its environs and into the central highlands. The greatest migration outflow has been from parts of the northeast and the central coastal plain.

Emigration was substantial following reunification. Between 1975 and 1990 hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese left the country, both legally and illegally; these refugees became known as " boat people," and an unknown number of them died at sea. Many remained in refugee camps in Thailand and other countries, but a large number emigrated, especially to the United States. By the late 1980s, several countries had begun to refuse Vietnamese refugees' automatic resettlement. Throughout the subsequent decade, large-scale repatriation programs were implemented by the broader international community. The last refugee camp for Vietnamese boat people, in Hong Kong, closed in 2000.

Economy

Vietnam's greatest economic resource is its literate and energetic population. Its long coastline provides excellent harbours, access to marine resources, and many attractive beaches and areas of scenic beauty that are well suited to the development of tourism. Since the late 1990s, the country's economy has been on a vigorous upswing. Tourism has expanded, manufacturing and export earnings have increased, and the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) has grown rapidly. Early in the 21st century, state markets were opened to foreign competition, and Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This surge followed two decades of post-reunification economic instability, during which a slowly developing infrastructure, excessive population growth, environmental degradation, and a rising domestic demand (that was increasingly difficult to meet) impeded economic development.

During the period 1954-75, when the country was divided, there were three layers to the economies in both the north and the south: a bottom layer based on the cultivation of rice, a middle layer dominated by mining in the north and rubber plantations in the south, and a third wartime layer that relied on Soviet and Chinese aid in the north and American aid in the south. In the north, land reform in 1955-56 was followed by rapid collectivization of agriculture and handicrafts. Government investment favoured heavy industry at the expense of agriculture, handicrafts, and light industry, the traditional mainstays of the economy. Heavy industry grew, but efficiency was low, quality was poor, and further progress was hampered by deficiencies in agriculture and light industry. Economic aid from socialist countries masked many economic weaknesses. In the south, although a substantial proportion of manufacturing was conducted by state-owned enterprises, other sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, trade, and transport, were characterized by private ownership and private enterprise. Agriculture flourished in the Mekong delta, and the standard of living was significantly higher in the south than it was in the north.

After reunification, the northern model of development was imposed on the entire country. Efforts to socialize the commercial sector and to collectivize agriculture met with resistance, especially in urban centres and in the rich Mekong delta, where the majority of farmers in the 1970s were self-sufficient, middle-income peasants. The south also underwent a severe drain of human resources. Many well-educated people fled Vietnam after 1975. Hundreds of thousands more, mainly those who had been associated with the former government or the Americans and had not been able to leave the country, were placed in jails or reeducation centres, while other skilled but politically suspect people were forced to resettle in remote areas. The government's efforts to abolish private enterprise and private property in the south and its deteriorating political relations with China affected Vietnam's ethnic Chinese more than any other group and precipitated their flight from the country. The Chinese exodus was most intense in 1978-79, but it continued at a slower pace with sponsorship from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees into the early 1990s. Large police and military expenditures further strained the budget and diverted resources from productive enterprises.

These factors, combined with poor management of state-run economic programs, led to a severe economic crisis. Food production and per capita income dropped, and consumer goods were shoddy, expensive, and in short supply. The government responded with minor changes in 1979, and initiated a program of more basic reforms known as doi moi ("renovation") beginning in 1986. While maintaining state ownership in many sectors and overall government control of the economy, Vietnam moved away from a centrally planned, subsidized economy toward one that utilizes market forces and incentives and tolerates private enterprise in some areas. The quality and variety of food, consumer goods, and exports subsequently improved.

The pace of reform slowed during the 1990s, and the economy continued to be more cumbersome and bureaucratic than the dynamic market economies of Vietnam's more successful Southeast Asian neighbours. Although manufacturing and especially services grew in importance after the reforms were introduced, agriculture remained a major component of the economy. After 1998, however, the economy began to rebound. Exports diversified, and per capita income started to climb, nearly doubling in less than a decade.

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Vietnam - Ethnic Groups: Vietnam has one of the most complex ethnolinguistic patterns in Asia. The Vietnamese majority was significantly Sinicized during a millennium of Chinese rule, which ended in 939 ce. Indian influence is most evident among the Cham and Khmer minorities.

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10 Best Places to Visit in Vietnam - Travel Video

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https://bigseventravel.com/the-7-must-try-traditional-vietnamese-dishes/