Vietnam

People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (includes Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force)

exchange rate conversion - $544 million, 2.7% of GDP (1995)

males age 15-49: 18,593,129 males fit for military service: 11,769,955 males reach military age (17) annually: 796,312 (1996 est.)

AM NA, FM 228, shortwave 0

7.215 million (1992 est.)

while Vietnam's telecommunication sector lags far behind other countries in Southeast Asia, Hanoi has made considerable progress since 1991 in upgrading the system; Vietnam has digitized fully 100% of provincial switch boards, while fiber-optic and microwave transmission systems have been extended from Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City to all provinces; the density of telephone receivers nationwide doubled from 1993 to 1995, but is still far behind other countries in the region; Vietnam's telecommunications strategy aims to increase telephone density to 30 per 1,000 inhabitants by the year 2000 and authorities estimate that approximately $2.7 billion will be spent on telecommunications upgrades through the end of the decade domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)

800,000 (1995 est.)

36 (repeaters 77)

2.9 million (1992 est.) Defense

paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas; poultry, pigs; fish catch of 943,100 metric tons (1989 est.)

revenues: $4.67 billion expenditures: $5 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.36 billion (1995 est.)

1 new dong (D) = 100 xu

recipient: ODA, $57 million (1993) note: $2.31 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 1996

Vietnam's economic performance has been impressive in 1990-95, with real growth averaging over 8% annually. Much of this growth comes from a surge in foreign investment outlays which are estimated at $750 million in 1995, up 50% from 1993 levels. Utilization rates for official development assistance are also increasing, rising to an estimated $535 million in 1995. Foreign capital is contributing to a boom in commercial construction and strong growth in services and industrial output. Crude oil remains the country's largest single export but now accounts for only one-quarter of total exports, slightly more than manufactures. Imports are dominated by capital and intermediate goods closely related to investment outlays. Vietnamese authorities may not be moving quickly enough to establish the financial and legal infrastructure needed to sustain growth through the remainder of the decade. Reform of the banking sector is proceeding slowly, raising concerns that the country will be unable to tap sufficient domestic savings to maintain rapid growth. Administrative and legal barriers are leading to costly delays for foreign investors, raising doubts about Vietnam's ability to maintain the inflow of foreign capital. While government officials are leading an effort to accelerate reform, their continuing ideological bias in favor of state intervention and control of the economy may slow progress toward a more liberalized investment environment. Even with the strong growth of the economy, unemployment at 25% remains a major problem.

capacity: 4,470,000 kW production: 20 billion kWh consumption per capita: 200 kWh (1995 est.)

new dong (D) per US$1 - 11,193 (1995 average), 11,000 (October 1994), 10,800 (November 1993), 8,100 (July 1991), 7,280 (December 1990), 3,996 (March 1990)

$5.3 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.) commodities: crude oil, rice, marine products, coffee, rubber, tea, and garments partners: Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, South Korea

$7.3 billion Western countries; $4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia; $9 billion to $18 billion nonconvertible debt (former CEMA, Iraq, Iran)

calendar year

purchasing power parity - $97 billion (1995 est.)

agriculture: 28% industry: 28% services: 44% (1995 est.)

$1,300 (1995 est.)

9.5% (1995 est.)

opium producer and increasingly important transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe; growing opium addiction; possible small-scale heroin production

$7.5 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.) commodities: petroleum products, machinery and equipment, steel products, fertilizer, raw cotton, grain partners: Singapore, South Korea, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan

14% (1995 est.)

food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil

14% (1995)

32.7 million by occupation: agricultural 65%, industrial and service 35% (1990 est.)

25% (1995 est.)

total area: 329,560 sq km land area: 325,360 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico

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

3,444 km (excludes islands)

current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices are contributing to deforestation; soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threatening marine life populations; inadequate supplies of potable water because of groundwater contamination natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban

16 00 N, 106 00 E

maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; unresolved maritime boundary with Thailand; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands in the South China Sea occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute

18,300 sq km (1989 est.)

total: 3,818 km border countries: Cambodia 982 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 1,555 km

arable land: 22% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 40% other: 35%

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, between China and Cambodia

Southeast Asia

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil deposits, forests

low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m

50 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural); An Giang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Bac Thai, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lac, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Bac, Ha Giang, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hai Hung, Hai Phong*, Ho Chi Minh*, Hoa Binh, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Minh Hai, Nam Ha, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam-Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Song Be, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phu, Yen Bai

Hanoi

15 April 1992

VM

chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Le Van BANG chancery: 1233 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, Suite 501 telephone: [1] (202) 861-0737

chief of state: President Le Duc ANH (since 23 September 1992) was elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly from among its members head of government: Prime Minister Vo Van KIET (since 9 August 1991) was appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; First Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 10 August 1991) and Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen KHANH (since NA February 1987) and Tran Duc LUONG (since NA February 1987) were appointed by the prime minister cabinet: Cabinet was appointed by the president on proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National Assembly

[1] (202) 861-0917 note: on 11 July 1995, President CLINTON announced the normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam; the liaison offices in both countries were upgraded to full embassies on 5 August 1995

[84] (4) 350484 note: on 11 July 1995, President CLINTON announced the normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam; the liaison offices in both countries were upgraded to full embassies on 5 August 1995

red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center

2 September 1945 (from France)

ACCT, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, Mekong Group, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Supreme People's Court, chief justice is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president

based on communist legal theory and French civil law system

unicameral

conventional long form: Socialist Republic of Vietnam conventional short form: Vietnam local long form: Cong Hoa Chu Nghia Viet Nam local short form: Viet Nam abbreviation: SRV

elections last held 19 July 1992 (next to be held NA July 1997); results - CPV is the only party; seats - (395 total) CPV or CPV-approved 395

Independence Day, 2 September (1945)

only party - Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), DO MUOI, general secretary

18 years of age; universal

Communist state

chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires L. Desaix ANDERSON embassy: 7 Lang Ha Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi mailing address: PSC 461, Box 400, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [84] (4) 431500

0-14 years: 36% (male 13,739,304; female 12,988,929) 15-64 years: 59% (male 20,956,735; female 22,448,944) 65 years and over: 5% (male 1,548,513; female 2,294,548) (July 1996 est.)

23 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

6.95 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese 3%, Muong, Thai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham

38.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Vietnamese (official), French, Chinese, English, Khmer, tribal languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

total population: 67.02 years male: 64.69 years female: 69.48 years (1996 est.)

age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.) total population: 93.7% male: 96.5% female: 91.2%

noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural) adjective: Vietnamese

-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

73,976,973 (July 1996 est.)

1.57% (1996 est.)

Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islam, Protestant

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

2.69 children born/woman (1996 est.)

total: 48 with paved runways over 3 047 m: 8 with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 3 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 5 with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 13 with paved runways under 914 m: 7 with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 2 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 5 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 5 (1994 est.)

total: 105,000 km paved: 10,500 km unpaved: 94,500 km (1993 est.)

total: 112 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 569,269 GRT/947,938 DWT ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 95, oil tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1 note: Vietnam owns an additional 9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 120,320 DWT operating under the registries of Honduras, Panama, The Bahamas, and Malta (1995 est.)

petroleum products 150 km

Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hon Gai, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang

total: 2,835 km (in addition, there are 224 km not restored to service after war damage) standard gauge: 151 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 2,454 km 1.000-m gauge other gauge: 230 km NA-m dual gauge (three rails)

17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 m draft