Vietnam Geography

Country Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Capital City: Hanoi

Population: 19.5% (2004 est.)

Population Growth: 1.004% (2007 est.)

Currency: dong (VND)

Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language)

Area: 329,560 sq km

Inflation Rate: 7.5% (2006 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 2% (2006)

Domain extension:

GEOGRAPHIC DETAILS OF VIETNAM

Location:

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

Geographic Co-ordinates:

16 00 N, 106 00 E

Area - total:

329,560 sq km

Area - total:

329,560 sq km

Area - land:

325,360 sq km

Area - water:

4,200 sq km

Land Boundaries:

4,639 km

Border Countries:

Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

Terrain:

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

Elevation - highest point:

Fan Si Pan 3,144 m

Elevation - lowest point:

South China Sea 0 m

Natural Resources:

phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower

Arable Land:

20.14%

Permanent Crops:

6.93%

Other Land Use:

72.93% (2005)

Natural Hazards:

occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta