Vietnam - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

The Vietnam (alternatives Vietnam or Vietnam ), officially socialist Republic of Vietnam (in Vietnamese Cộng hoà Xã hội Chủ nghĩa Việt Nam ), is a Pays of Southeast Asia. It is located at the extreme is Indochinese Péninsule. The country occupies a surface of 331 690 km ² for approximately 85 million inhabitants. It is surrounded of the China in north; Laos and Kampuchea in the west; and of the sea of the East or the southernmost China Sea in the east and the south.

Demography

The demography of the Vietnam is characterized by a regrouping of the population in the littoral plains, mainly the deltas of the Red Fleuve and the Mekong.

Since the end of the Second world war until 1954, the population grew each year of 1,5%, then of 4% of 1954 with 1960. From 1960 with 1975, the rise was stabilized to 3% before falling down to 2,2% until in the Années 1990. Since then, the annual growth of the population is established to 1%. These high rates were equalized, in the Southeast Asia, only by the other countries of the Indochinese peninsula, the Kampuchea and the Laos. They led to a doubling of the population in 32 years.

They are explained by a constant retreat of mortality since 1945, until reaching the 7 ‰ current - with however of important disparities according to the ethnos groups - and in particular a relatively weak infant mortality compared to the other Asian countries. In parallel, fertility rates and of birthrate were maintained with elevated levels until in the Années 1970, respectively with height of 6 births per woman and 40 ‰. Passed this date, the birthrate underwent a constant fold until reaching the 18 current ‰. Vietnam thus completed her demographic Transition.

Etymology

Vietnam means the Vietnamese soldier of the South textually. The country Âu Lac would have occupied the Cantonese area . He would have been amputee of the north of his territory by the Chinese conquests. Remaining only the south, the kingdom takes the name of Nam Viêt (i.e. country of the Vietnamese soldier of the South) to mean the loss of its grounds. Nam Viêt is not whereas the northern part of Vietnam current.

History

The history of Vietnam is the history of the people which occupied the country that one calls Vietnam. For the Vietnamese historians, Vietnam was founded in 2877 av. J. - C. in their capital of the time which was at the site of current Canton (in China).

Chronology of the country, for more details to see:

Geography

Vietnam is a country of Southeast Asia, surrounded in the West by Laos and Kampuchea and in North by China. It is bordered by the China Sea, the gulf of Tonkin and the gulf of Thailand. It occupies a surface of 331.000 km ² (including 3.260 km of maritime border) and has 4.200 km ² territorial water. It with the form of an S stretched, whose ends would be distant of 1650 km.

Topography

The mountainous areas and of high plateaus occupy two thirds of the Vietnamese territory. Area of Thang Hoa, at the Chinese border, the collar of Lao Bao (area of Đà Nẵng), its Western border is consisted the cordillera of Truong-Sound of North, resulting from the plate Tibetan. The cordillera of the South extends from the collar of the Clouds, in the south of the area of Đà Nẵng, until that of Đà Lạt.

Climate

The Vietnamese climate is of type tropical and subtropical, with monsoons; moisture can reach 84%. There exist two seasons: the dry season (from November to April) and the wet season (from May to October).

Because of the differences in latitude and varied relief, the climate differs considerably according to the areas.

During the Winter or the season dries, i.e. between November and April, the winds of monsoon come from the North-East, along the Chinese coast and through the Golfe of Tonkin where they garner much moisture. The season dries is it thus only in comparison with the rain season.

During the rain season, between May and October, the hot air of the Gobi Desert goes up and the moisture of the oceans is aspired in all Asia. Heavy rains flow on Vietnam.

The rains go the important ones in certain areas to torrential in others, and spread out between 120 centimetres with 300 centimetres. Almost 90% of precipitations occur at the time of this season.

The average temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains and on the plates. It varies 5°C in December and January, with more 37°C in April. The seasons are marked in the Northern half of Vietnam than in the South where the temperature varies almost only between 21 and 28°C.

Policy

The Vietnam is officially a socialist République. Only one Party is authorized, the Vietnamese Communist party which controls all the political institutions of the country.

The supreme body of the State is the National Assembly renewed Vietnamese every five years. This one is elected by the indirect suffrage by all the old Vietnameses of more than 18 years. In addition, the Popular Assembly elects the President of the Vietnamese State to the symbolic system role and the Prime Minister and her Government. They are the second and third characters of the State. Indeed, to Vietnam, the first character of the State is the General secretary of the Vietnamese Communist party.

The Vietnamese executive is composed of:

Nguyen Minh Triet, replaces Tran Duc Luong which was president since 1997.
Nguyen Tan Dung, replaces Phan Van Khai which was Prime Minister since 1997.
Nong Duc Manh is as for him general secretary of the Party since 2001.

Culture

Languages

The official language, the Vietnamese , is written today by means of Latin characters. This romanisation names quốc ngữ ; it rises from the need for the catholic missionaries of the 16th century for retranscribing in a sound system a language which does not use whereas the Chinese system ideogrammatic. The Jesuit Alexandre of Rhodos thus establishes the first language dictionary year, by transcribing the Vietnamese phonemes on the basis of Portuguese.

The use of this Latin transcription is in force in the teaching set up by the emperors starting from 1918 and becomes the official method of writing of Vietnam only to the independence of September 2nd, 1945.

In addition, Vietnam knows a great linguistic diversity, since it counts 75 languages, pertaining to various families:

Austroasiatique : Vietnamese soldier, Muong, Khmer
Tai-kadai: languages Tày.
Hmong-mien : Hmong
Austronésienne : cham, Jarai
Sino-Tibetan: Chinese.

Tourism

Tourism is in clear year progression by year. The Vietnam received 3,4 million tourists and 3,583 million in 2006.

Country from which the tourists come coming to Vietnam (2005):

China
the United States
Japan
Kampuchea
Australia
France
the United Kingdom
Canada

Les main cities visitées

Hanoï, the capital.
Ho-Chi-Minh-City (old the Saigon), the big city of the south.
Hooted, the imperial city, during prohibited Quoted in China. World heritage of UNESCO.
the European city of Dalat.
the Cham Temples, vestige of a civilization disappeared in the area from Đà Nẵng.
Nha Trang, celebrates for its beaches and its bay classified with the world heritage of UNESCO.

Sites naturels

Bay of Long ha, classified with the world heritage of UNESCO.
the Mekong, its floating markets of the delta.
splendid landscapes through all the country.

See also: Tourism in Vietnam

Economy

The wars, the important expenditure of armament and the planned economy largely weakened the economy of the Vietnam . This one records however, since the end of the Années 1980, a slow economic revival.

However, if the war prohibits any form of sustainable development, it should be known that the after-effects of the War of Vietnam are so severe that they also slow down economic recovery.

The South, very fertile, cultivates especially the Riz. Essential basic commodity, this food is also a product of export. Vietnam constitutes the third world rice exporter. The mining resources and heavy industry concentrate on the other hand towards North. The principal product of export, oil, accounts for 20% of the incomes of the foreign trade.

Vietnam belongs to the Economic cooperation Pacific Asia (APEC) as well as World Trade organization (OMC) since January 11th, 2007.

Health

The tropical diseases usually listed in this area are it, in Vietnam, too. One suspect also the Dioxane S contained in the defoliants (orange Agent produces by Monsanto) dispersed by the American army during the war (to clear up the jungle and to drive out the men of the maquis which hid there) to by air be responsible for an abnormal rate of congenital malformations. The dioxane still kills each day in Vietnam: in each kilo of defoliant " Agent orange" épandu on the country, there were 30 milligrams of poison. Enough to make die and suffer the future generations. The medical after-effects of the war could also include/understand the toxicological or ecotoxicological impacts components of others “conventional” weapons. In addition, pollution industrial, agricultural (manure, pesticides) and urban (increase in the traffic, leaded gasoline…) strongly increased. In many deaths, Vietnam is the country more touched (of 2003 to 2005) by the Avian flu, in front of Indonesia, which becomes in 2006 the country more touched by the virus H5N1. As from 2005, the measures of struggle against the zoonose and the epidemic thus seemed to bear their fruits.