Reading Culture: Fall 2018 - Vietnam

Source:: CIA World Factbook

Source:: CIA World Factbook

Vietnam

Sources: CIA World Factbook; World Bank

Full name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Short name: Vietnam

Local long name: Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam

Local short name: Viet Nam

Abbreviation: SRV

Etymology: "'Viet nam' translates as 'Viet south,' where 'Viet' is an ethnic self identification dating to a second century B.C. kingdom and 'nam' refers to its location in relation to other Viet kingdoms" (CIA).

Government type: Communist State

Date of independence: 2 September 1945 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day (National Day), 2 September

Population: 96,160,163 (July 2017 est.)

Location: "Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, as well as China, Laos, and Cambodia" (CIA)

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)

Terrain:low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

Capital: Hanoi (Ha Noi)

Area: 331,210 sq km (127,881 sq mi)

Elevation: 398 m (1305 ft): lowest point: South China Sea 0 m (ft), highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m (10,315 ft.)

Major language: Vietnamese (official), English, some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Major religions: None, 81.8%, Buddhist 7.9%, Catholic 6.6%, Hoa Hao 1.7%, Cao Dai 0.9%, Protestant 0.9%, Muslim 0.1%

Major ethnic groups: Kinh (Viet) 85.7%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.8%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.5%, Mong 1.2%, Nung 1.1%, Hoa 1%, other 4.3%

Life expectancy: Total: 73.7 years; Male: 71.2 years; Female: 76.4 years

Median age (2017 est.): Total: 30.5 years; Male: 29.4 years; Female: 31.7 years years

Literacy*: 94.5%

Urban population (2017): 35.9% (2018)

Monetary unit: Dong (VND)

Main exports: clothes, shoes, electronics, seafood, crude oil, rice, coffee, wooden products, machinery

Gross National Income per capita**: 2,060 (US Dollars)

Internet Domain: .vn

International dialing code: - 84

 * Percentage age 15 and over who can read and write

** World Bank, 2016