Vietnam

World Book Index

Introduction

Background
France began its conquest of Vietnam in 1858 and made the country part of French Indochina in 1887. Vietnam defeated French forces in 1954, when the country was divided into North and South halves. Communist North Vietnam conquered the anti-communist South in 1975 but then stagnated economically until 1986, when it introduced a more market-based economy.

Geography

Area
total : 331,210 sq km
land: 310,070 sq km
water: 21,140 sq km

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

Natural resources
antimony, phosphates, coal, manganese, rare earth elements, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, timber, hydropower, arable land

People and Society

Population
total: 105,758,975 (2024 est.)

Ethnic groups
Kinh (Viet) 85.3%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.9%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.4%, Mong 1.4%, Nung 1.1%, other 5.5% (2019 est.)

Languages
Vietnamese (official); English (often as a second language); some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain-area languages (including Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Religions
Catholic 6.1%, Buddhist 5.8%, Protestant 1%, other 0.8%, none 86.3% (2019 est.)

Population growth rate
0.89% (2024 est.)

Government

Government type
communist party-led state

Capital
name: Hanoi (Ha Noi)

Executive branch
chief of state: President Luong CUONG (since 21 Oct 2024)
head of government: Prime Minister Pham Minh CHINH (since 26 July 2021)

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Nguyen Quoc DZUNG (since 19 April 2022)

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Marc KNAPPER (since 11 February 2022)

Economy

Economic overview
lower middle-income socialist East Asian economy; rapid economic growth since Đổi Mới reforms; strong investment and productivity growth; tourism and manufacturing hub; TPP signatory; declining poverty aside from ethnic minorities; systemic corruption

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$1.456 trillion (2024 est.)
$1.359 trillion (2023 est.)
$1.294 trillion (2022 est.)

Real GDP per capita
$14,400 (2024 est.)
$13,500 (2023 est.)
$13,000 (2022 est.)

Exports
$429.383 billion (2024 est.)
$374.986 billion (2023 est.)
$385.241 billion (2022 est.)

Exports - partners
USA 28%, China 20%, Japan 6%, Hong Kong 4%, Germany 3% (2023)

Exports - commodities
broadcasting equipment, garments, integrated circuits, machine parts, footwear (2023)

Imports
$398.672 billion (2024 est.)
$339.785 billion (2023 est.)
$369.746 billion (2022 est.)

Imports - partners
China 49%, Singapore 6%, Japan 6%, Hong Kong 5%, Taiwan 4% (2023)

Imports - commodities
integrated circuits, broadcasting equipment, fabric, plastics, telephones (2023)

Human Development Index

The country's Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.766, ranking it 93rd out of 193 countries tested. (more information)

World Happiness Report

The World Happiness Report ranked the country 67th out of 158 countries tested with a score of 5.934. (more information)