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South of China. East of Laos and Cambodia. 3,444 kilometers (2.152.5 miles) of coastline facing the South China Sea. Slightly larger than New Mexico. Capital: Hanoi.
Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Vietnam's independence day is recognized as September 2, 1945, before the war with the French, who tried to snatch it away.
Vietnam's constitution dates from 1992. Its legal system is based on French civil law. Vietnam has a president elected to a five-year term by a National Assembly. It has a prime minister and deputy prime ministers. It has a Cabinet proposed by the prime minister and appointed by the president and ratified by the National Assembly. The National Assembly is unicameral, with 498 seats, its members elected by popular vote for five-year terms.
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Estimated per capita GDP:
2007 $2,600 (Ranks 167th)
GDP annual growth rate estimated for 2007: 8.5 percent. (Ranks 22nd)
For two decades after the victory of the nationalist-communist forces in Vietnam, in 1975, the country followed what for a communist country is called conservative leadership, and during this period it experienced little economic growth. Since 2001, according to the CIA Factbook, "Vietnamese authorities have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries."
Deaths: 6.19. Births 16.63, down from 17.01 in 2005
Population estimated for July 2007: 85.262 million, up from 83.5 million in 2005 and 60.5 million in 1985.
Density for 2005: 256 persons per square kilometer. Per square kilometer of arable land: 1,286.5 persons.
More people leaving than arriving, a net loss of 0.4 persons per 1,000 population.
Infant mortality: 24.37, down from 25.95 (deaths before the age of one year, per 1,000 live births).
Average life expectancy estimated for 2007: 71.07, up from 70.61 in 2005.
Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 0.4 percent (2003)
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.