| Learning objectives |
 In
this lesson you will learn about the geography and
people of Vietnam.
Focus: culture and travel
Post a comment about Vietnam |
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Geography |
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Capital |
Hanoi (3.145 million). |
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Area |
331,114 sq. km. (127,243 sq. mi.); equivalent in size to Ohio,
Kentucky, and Tennessee combined. |
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Terrain |
Varies from mountainous to coastal delta. |
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Climate |
Tropical monsoon. |
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People |
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Nationality |
Noun and adjective--Vietnamese (sing. and pl.). |
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Population |
(2007 estimate): 85.2 million. |
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Groups |
Vietnamese (85%-90%), Chinese (3%), Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham,
mountain groups. |
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Religions |
Buddhism, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly
Roman Catholic, some Protestant), animism, Islam. |
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Languages |
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as
a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer,
mountain area languages. |
Originating in what is now southern China and northern Vietnam, the
Vietnamese people pushed southward over 2 millennia to occupy the
entire eastern seacoast of the Indochinese Peninsula. Vietnam has 54
ethnic groups; ethnic Vietnamese or Kinh constitute approximately
85% of Vietnam's population. The next largest groups are ethnic Tay
and Thai, which account for 1.97% and 1.79% of Vietnam's population
and are concentrated in the country's northern uplands.
With a population of more than 900,000, Vietnam's ethnic Chinese
community is one of the most significant and wealthiest in Vietnam.
Long important in the Vietnamese economy, Vietnamese of Chinese
ancestry have been active in rice trading, milling, real estate, and
banking in the south and shop keeping, stevedoring, and mining in
the north. Restrictions on economic activity following reunification
of the north and south in 1975 and the subsequent but unrelated
general deterioration in Vietnamese-Chinese relations caused
increasing anxiety within the Chinese-Vietnamese community. As
tensions between Vietnam and China reached their peak in 1978-79,
some 450,000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees (many
officially encouraged and assisted) or were expelled across the land
border with China.
Other significant ethnic minority groups include central highland
peoples (formerly termed Montagnards) such as the Gia Rai, Bana,
Ede, Xo Dang, Gie Trieng, and the Khmer Krom (Cambodians), who are
concentrated near the Cambodian border and at the mouth of the
Mekong River.
Vietnamese is the official language of the country. It is a tonal
language with influences from Thai, Khmer, and Chinese. Since the
early 20th century, the Vietnamese have used a Romanized script
introduced by the French. Previously, Chinese characters and an
indigenous phonetic script were both used. |
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