Vietnam
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Name: The Socialist Republic of Vietnam Introduction: In 1883 this region came under the rule of French who ruled it as part of French Indo China territory which included Laos and Kampuchea. Then from 1940 to 1945 Vietnam was under Japanese occupation. After the Second World War a Communist revolutionary group the Vietminh and set up a Democratic Government over there, whereas in the south a Non Communist Government was set up with the help of France. In 1954 the two parts formally split into North and South Vietnam. Then in 1957 Vietcong a Communist Guerrilla force from North attacked South Vietnam and war started. American Troops supported South Vietnam till 1973, when ceasefire was signed, but after 2 years North Vietnam conquered South and both countries were united under Communist Rule. Location: Eastern Coast of Southeast Asia Borders: China in the North, Laos in Northwest, Cambodia in Southwest and South China Sea in East coast. Area: 329,560 sq km, it is slightly larger than New Mexico. Population: 85,262,356 (July 2007 est) Population below Poverty Line: 19.5 % (2004 est) Capital: Hanoi Currency: Dong (VND) Nationality: Vietnamese Life Expectancy: 71.07 years Literacy: Total population – 90.3%, male – 93.9% and female – 86.9% (2002) Terrain: Northern Vietnam is formed by the delta of the Red river and Southern Vietnam by the Delta of Mekong River. Both the deltas are low and flat and in between is a narrow coastal strip backed by highlands. In the North east there are Mountains and hills. Climate: Monsoon climate in the North and Tropical in the South. Vietnam has two seasons a wet hot summer and a dry cooler winter. Average rainfall is 70 inches per year and humidity is 84% through out the year. Ethnic Group: Vietnamese also called Annamese account 84% rest are Thais, Khmer, Hoa, Khome, Nun, Hmong and others. Religion: Buddhism 93%, others are Catholic, Hoa Hoa, CaoDai, Protestant and Muslims. Independence: 2 sep 1945 from France. Government: Communist State Constitution: 15 April 1992 Suffrage: 18 years of age Executive Branch: President is the Chief of the State. Prime minister is the head of the Government. Cabinet is appointed by the President based on proposal of Prime minister and confirmed by National Assembly. Legislative Branch: Unicameral National Assembly or Quoc Hoi. Judicial Branch: Supreme Peoples Court where chief justice is elected for 5 years by the National Assembly on recommendation of the President. Military Branches: Peoples Armed Force; Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) which include Peoples Navy command, Air and Air defense Force. National Holiday: Independence Day 2 sep 1945 National Flag: Red in colour with a large yellow five pointed star in the center, yellow represents he colour of Vietnamese people and the five pointed star signifies workers, the peasants, soldiers, merchants and the intellectuals. National Anthem: Tien, Quan, Ca National Motto: "Independence, Freedom, Happiness" Coat of Arm: It is based on the symbol of communist party including yellow star on the red field. Cog and Crop both signifies the cooperation of agriculture and industrial labour in the communist model. Internet TLD: .vn Calling Code: +84 Economy: Vietnam is a densely populated country where agriculture occupies most of the work force. It has deposits of coal, iron ore, bauxite, chromites, manganese and titanium and some of the world’s biggest reserves of phosphates. Food processing and textiles manufacturing are major industries. Vietnam’s export to US doubled in 2002 and again in 2003. It joined WTO in Jan 2007 and has become world’s second fastest growing economy. The agricultural growth in economic output is shrinking and Vietnam is working to create more jobs to meet the challenge of a labour force that is growing by more than 1 million every year. Export: Marine products, rice, crude oil, rubber, tea, garments, and shoes. Imports: Machinery, petroleum products, fertilizers, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement and motorcycles. |