Vietnam

• low, flat delta in south and north;
• central highlands;
• hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

• logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation;
• water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations;
• groundwater contamination limits potable water supply;
• growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Nuclear Test Ban

0-14 years:

36% (male 13,713,340; female 12,946,322)

15-64 years:

59% (male 21,547,228; female 22,997,231) 65 years and over : 5% (male 1,573,823; female 2,345,936) (July 1997 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.67 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

noun:

Vietnamese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Vietnamese

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

chief of state :

President Le Duc ANH (since 23 September 1992)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Vo Van KIET (since 9 August 1991);
• First Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 10 August 1991);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen KHANH (since NA February 1987) and Tran Duc LUONG (since NA February 1987)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president on the proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National Assembly

elections:

• president elected by the National Assembly from among its members for a five-year term;
• election last held 23 September 1992 (next to be held when National Assembly meets following legislative elections in July 1997);
• prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly;
• deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister

election results:

Le Duc ANH elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA

chief of mission :

Ambassador Le Van BANG

chancery:

1233 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, Suite 501

telephone:

[1] (202) 861-0737

chief of mission:

Ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson

embassy :

7 Lang Ha Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi

mailing address:

PSC 461, Box 400, FPO AP 96521-0002

telephone:

[84] (4) 8431500

• paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas;
• poultry, pigs;
• fish

total value :

$7.1 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)

commodities:

crude oil, rice, marine products, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes

partners:

Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, South Korea

total value:

$11.1 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)

commodities:

petroleum products, machinery and equipment, steel products, fertilizer, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles

partners:

Singapore, South Korea, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan

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

• 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 all 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)

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)

total :

106,048 km

paved:

27,466 km

unpaved:

78,582 km (1995 est.)

total :

121 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 534,937 GRT/863,307 DWT

ships by type:

bulk 5, cargo 100, chemical tanker 1, oil tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

note: Vietnam owns an additional 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 107,592 DWT operating under the registries of The Bahamas, Honduras, Malta, Panama, and Vanuatu (1996 est.)

• 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

• key growing areas in Vietnam cultivated 3,150 hectares of poppy in 1996, producing 25 tons of opium;
• 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 VIRGIN ISLANDS (territory of the US)