Country
Vietnam
Leader
President: Truong Tan Sang
Population
92,477,857
Life Expectancy
72.650 years
Capital City
Hanoi
Largest city
Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh (population: 3,467,330) (population: )
Human Development Index
0.718 NA
GDP per capita
$3,500 US
Literacy Rate
90.3%
Corruption Perception Index
2.7 NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
25.8% NA
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
4.500%
Death Penalty
Legal NA
Political System
Communist state
Independence date
2 September 1945 (from France)
Religions
Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, none 80.8% (1999 census)
Languages
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Exports
crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes
External Debt
$41,850,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
dong (VND) per US dollar - 16,548.3 (2008 est.), 16,119 (2007), 15,983 (2006), 15,746 (2005), NA (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1 0
Location
Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia
Area
331,210 km sq
Coastline
3,444 km
Climate
tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)