cover image

Vietnam

Country in Southeast Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:

Can you list the top facts and stats about Vietnam?

Summarize this article for a 10 years old

SHOW ALL QUESTIONS

16°N 108°E

Quick facts: Socialist Republic of VietnamCộng hòa Xã hội ...
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
Motto: Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc
"Independence – Freedom – Happiness"
Anthem: Tiến Quân Ca
"Army March"
Vietnam_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg
Location_Vietnam_ASEAN.svg
Location of Vietnam (green)

in ASEAN (dark grey)

CapitalHanoi
21°2′N 105°51′E
Largest cityHo Chi Minh City
10°48′N 106°39′E
Official languageVietnamese[1]
Ethnic groups
(2019)
Religion
(2019)
Demonym(s)Vietnamese
GovernmentUnitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic
Nguyễn Phú Trọng
 President
Võ Văn Thưởng
Phạm Minh Chính
Vương Đình Huệ
LegislatureNational Assembly
Formation
939
968
1428
 Nguyễn's unification
1802
25 August 1883
2 September 1945
21 July 1954
30 April 1975
2 July 1976
18 December 1986
28 November 2013[lower-alpha 1]
Area
 Total
331,212 km2 (127,882 sq mi) (66th)
 Water (%)
6.38
Population
 2022 estimate
99,460,000[5] (15th)
 2019 census
96,208,984[2]
 Density
295.0/km2 (764.0/sq mi) (29th)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
 Total
Increase $1.450 trillion[6] (26th)
 Per capita
Increase $14,458[6] (103th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
 Total
Increase $449.094 billion[6] (34th)
 Per capita
Increase $4,475[6] (116th)
Gini (2018)Positive decrease 35.7[7]
medium
HDI (2021)Decrease 0.703[8]
high · 115th
CurrencyVietnamese đồng (₫) (VND)
Time zoneUTC+07:00 (Vietnam Standard Time)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+84
ISO 3166 codeVN
Internet TLD.vn
Close

Vietnam[lower-alpha 2] (Vietnamese: Việt Nam, [vîət nāːm] (Loudspeaker.svglisten), commonly abbreviated VN), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV),[lower-alpha 3] is a country in Southeast Asia. It is located at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of 331,212 square kilometres (127,882 sq mi) and population of 99 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous country. Vietnam share land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea. Its capital is Hanoi and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (commonly referred to by its former name, Saigon).

Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam. The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam under Chinese rule from 111 BC, until the first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism, and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta, conquering Champa. The Nguyễn—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. Following the August Revolution, the nationalist coalition Viet Minh under the leadership of communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnam's independence in 1945.

Vietnam went through prolonged warfare in the 20th century. After World War II, France returned to reclaim colonial power in the First Indochina War, from which Vietnam emerged victorious in 1954. As a result of the treaties signed between the Viet Minh and France, Vietnam was also separated into two parts. The Vietnam War began shortly after, between the communist North, supported by the Soviet Union and China, and the anti-communist South, supported by the United States. Upon the North Vietnamese victory in 1975, Vietnam reunified as a unitary socialist state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1976. An ineffective planned economy, a trade embargo by the West, and wars with Cambodia and China crippled the country further. In 1986, the CPV initiated economic and political reforms similar to the Chinese economic reform, transforming the country to a market-oriented economy. The reforms facilitated Vietnamese reintegration into the global economy and politics.

A developing country with a lower-middle-income economy, Vietnam is nonetheless one of the fastest-growing economies of the 21st century, with a GDP predicted to rival developed nations by 2050. Vietnam has high levels of corruption and censorship and a poor human rights record; the country ranks among the lowest in international measurements of civil liberties, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion and ethnic minorities. It is part of international and intergovernmental institutions including the ASEAN, the APEC, the CPTPP, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OIF, and the WTO. It has assumed a seat on the United Nations Security Council twice.