President: Nguyen Minh Triet Secretary-general of the Communist Party : Nguyen Phu Trong
Head of state: King George Tupou V
Population
91,519,289
106,146
Life Expectancy
72.410 years
75.380 years
Capital City
Hanoi
Nuku'alofa
Largest city
Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh (population: 3,467,330)
Nuku`alofa (population: 22,400)
Human Development Index
0.718
0.774
GDP per capita
$3,400 US
$7,400 US
Literacy Rate
90.3%
98.9%
Corruption Perception Index
2.7
2.4
Percentage of Women in Parliament
25.8%
3.1%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
2.300%
13.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished in practice
Political System
Communist state
constitutional monarchy
Independence date
2 September 1945 (from France)
4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate)
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)
Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents)
Languages
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)