Basic facts about Vietnam

Capital City: Hanoi

System of Government: Socialist Republic

Head of State: Prime Minister

Time Zone: GMT +7

Economic Growth Rate: 8.5%

Labour Force: 44 Million

Population: (as of mid 2006): 84,000,000

GDP (2005): $43.5 Billion Dollars

Geographic Features: Mountainous in the north and centre, with flat, fertile deltas in the south and north, the Mekong and Red Rivers

Land Area: 329,560 square kilometres (127,243 square miles)

Length of Country: 1,650 kilometres

Length of Coastline: 3,400 kilometres

Climate: Vietnam lies in the tropics and monsoon

Natural Resources: Hydroelectric power, forestry products, phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, and oil and gas deposits

Lying on the eastern part of the Indochinese peninsula, Vietnam is a strip of land shaped like the letter “S”. China borders it to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, the East Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the east and south.

The country’s total length from north to south is 1,650km. Its width, stretching from east to west, is 600km at the widest point in the north, 400km in the south, and 50km at the narrowest part, in the centre, in Quang Binh Province. The coastline is 3,260km long and the inland border is 4,510km.

Latitude: 102º 08' - 109º 28'  east

Longitude:  8º 02' - 23º 23'  north

Vietnam is also a transport junction from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.