Vietnam

The country is approximately 331,688 square kilometers. The topography consists of hills and densely forested mountains, with level land covering no more than 20 percent. Mountains account for 40 percent, hills 40 percent, and forests 75 percent. The northern part of the country consists of highlands and the Red River Delta; the south is divided into coastal lowlands, Dai Truong Son (central mountains) with high plateaus, and the Mekong River Delta.

The climate is tropical and monsoonal; humidity averages 84 percent throughout the year. Annual rainfall ranges from 120 to 300 centimeters, and annual temperatures vary between 5Ð'oC and 37Ð'oC.

Land boundaries: Total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam formally abandoned Marxist economic planning and began introducing market elements as part of a broad economic reform package called "Doi Moi" ("Renovation"). In many ways, this followed the Chinese model and achieved similar results. On the one hand, Vietnam achieved around 8% annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997 and continued at around 7% from 2000 to 2002, making it the world's second-fastest growing economy. Simultaneously, investment grew three-fold and domestic savings quintupled. On the other hand, urban unemployment has been rising steadily in recent years, and rural unemployment, estimated to be up to 35% during nonharvest periods, is already at critical levels. Layoffs in the state sector and foreign-invested enterprises combined with the lasting effects of an earlier military demobilization further exacerbate the unemployment situation. The country is attempting to become a member organization of the WTO.

Vietnam, however, is still a very poor country with GDP of around US$37 billion in 2004. This translates to merely US$450 per capita. The impressive growth is due to its low base and the government cleverly hide the fact that inflation in the country is high, estimated at 14% p.a. in 2004. This figure has been scaled down by the Government to 9.5% p.a. to avoid the Ð''double digit' classification.

The high inflation rate effectively makes the growth rate negative. However, it is noticed that the spending power of the people has increased. The answer lies in the ridiculous property prices. In Hanoi, the capital, property price can be as high as that in Tokyo and New York. This has amazed many people because GDP per capita of this city is just around US$1,000 p.a. The booming has helped people with little piece of land or a tiny apartment, by selling them, realise their dream despite their pitiful monthly income. Massive wealth from corruption, bribery and embezzlement committed by virtually all Government officers has pushed the property prices at the rocket high. This is because investment in property is popular money laundering. However, the collapse of the property market will reveal real strength of this economy.

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Demographics

Street scene in

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Street scene in Haiphong

Main article: Demographics of Vietnam

The ethnic Vietnamese are concentrated largely in the alluvial deltas and in the coastal plains, having little in common with the minority peoples of the highlands, whom they historically have regarded as hostile and barbaric. A homogenous social group, the Vietnamese exert influence on national life through their control of political and economic affairs and their role as purveyors of the dominant culture. By contrast, the ethnic minorities, except for the Hoa, are found mostly in the highlands that cover two-thirds of the national territory. The Hoa, the largest minority, are mainly lowlanders. Officially, the ethnic minorities are referred to as national minorities. Vietnam also has small number of Eurasians. Most of them are descendants of Vietnamese people and either early French settlers or American soldiers and personnel (or both), during colonial period and Vietnam War.

More than 87% of the population speaks the Vietnamese