• The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a nation in Southeast Asia with an eastern coast on the South China Sea. Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, and Cambodia to the southwest.

• Fast Facts

  1. President: Nguyen Minh TrietBBC News: Vietnam Leaders
  2. Capital: Hanoi
  3. Government: Socialist RepublicThe Free Dictionary: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
  4. Population: 87,375,000 (2007)
  5. Currency: Vietnamese Dong (VND)
  6. Official Language: Vietnamese
  7. Other cities, attractions: Cu Chi Tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
  8. Current Local Time: Hanoi, Vietnam
  9. Area: 329,247 sq km (127,123 sq miles)BBC News: Vietnam Facts

• Brief History

  Throughout Vietnam's history, the nation has endured successive occupations by China from the north. Beginning in the 10th Century, a series of Vietnamese dynasties ruled the area, until the colonization of Southeast Asia by the French in the 19th Century. After World War II, a Vietnamese independence movement led by Ho Chi Minh sought to cast off French influence, and this effort succeeded in 1953.

• Vietnam War (American War)

  Split as a result of postwar agreements between a Communist-controlled North Vietnam and a United States-supported South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam entered a bloody period beginning in the 1960s with the advent of the Vietnam War. After the collapse of the South Vietnamese government in 1975, Vietnam was reunified and has been a one-party Communist state ever since. However, the nation has become increasingly prosperous through foreign capital investment and industrial growth despite the government's espousal of Communism.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Cambodia | China | Laos | Hanoi | Vietnam War | Thailand | South China Sea | Ho Chi Minh City | North Korea | Vietnamese

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