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VIETNAM
The Socialist
Republic of Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. It borders China, Laos,
Cambodia, and the Gulf of Tonkin.
History
For much of its history, Vietnam was either a vassal state or under the
direct control of China. France occupied Vietnam in 1884, ruling it as a
colony and as a part of Indochina, until expelled by Japan in World War II.
After the war, France (with the collaboration of the USA) attempted to
regain control of the country, but Nationalist forces that had originally
fought against the Japanese invasion declared independence. The French were
defeated in 1954 by Vietnamese Alliance Parties (Việt Nam Đồng Minh Hội),
notably in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. With the French defeat in the battle,
and their subsequent surrender, the First Indochina War (1946-1954) came to
an end. On July 20, 1954, the Geneva Treaty was signed by French and
Vietnamese representatives. Vietnam was partitioned, ostensibly temporarily,
into Northern and Southern zones, with a general election to be held on June
1956 (Article 3), and a prohibition against introducing foreign troops (Article
4).
As the number of tourists finding their way here soars, the word is out that
this is a land not of bomb craters and army ordnance, but of shimmering
paddy fields and sugar-white beaches, full-tilt cities and venerable
pagodas. The speed with which Vietnam's population of 77 million has been
able to transcend the recent past comes as a surprise to visitors who are
generally met with warmth and curiosity rather than shell-shocked resentment
and war fatigue.
However, backed
by the United States, the southern government headed by Ngo Dinh Diem
refused to open consultation with the North Vietnamese concerning general
elections when the date for these fell due in July 1955. According to the
Pentagon Papers, this was because Ho Chi Minh would have significant support
in the north, mainly because the communists had implemented a massive land
reform that resulted in poor peasants gaining ownership of the land. No such
reforms were implemented in the South, causing it to lose key peasant
support. The South refused to abide by the Geneva Conference that declared a
Republic because, according to them, under Ho Chi Minh and his government,
North Vietnamese people were not free to choose or to vote. This was
hypocritical since South Vietnam was a dictatorship that strictly forbade
opposition. Their move was followed by the declaration of North Vietnam as
an independent country by Ho Chi Minh, backed by the USSR and China.
Economic and military aid from the United States to South Vietnam grew
through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government in the struggle
against domestic Viet Cong guerrilas supported by North Vietnam (see Vietnam
War). Despite an intense military effort by the USA, the Viet Cong continued
to gain ground and, its supporters argued, popular support. US armed forces
were eventually withdrawn following a ceasefire agreement which was signed
in Paris in January 1973. Two years later, ignoring the Paris ceasefire
agreement, the North Vietnamese army invaded. Some people consider this
action to have been one of "occupation", while others see it as a long-awaited
"liberation". Regardless, the fact remains that Vietnam was re-unified and
the war ended. A total of about 3.8 million lives had been lost over the
course of this war.
Economic reconstruction of the reunited country has proven difficult at
first, but Vietnam eventually recovered from the devastation of the war.
Politics
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is governed through a highly centralized
system dominated by the Vietnamese Communist Party (Đảng Cộng Sản Việt Nam),
which was formerly known as the Vietnamese Labor Party. The government is in
theory independent from the party, but in practice it receives most of its
directives from the party. Although there has been some effort to discourage
membership in overlapping party and state positions, this practice continues.
Four Politburo members (Phan Van Khai, Nguyen Tan Dung, Le Minh Huong, and
Pham Van Tra) concurrently hold high positions in the government.
Vietnam is a member of the United Nations, La Francophonie, ASEAN, and APEC.
Provinces
Vietnam is divided into fifty-nine provinces (tỉnh, singular and plural):
An Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre,
Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Cao Bang, Dak Lak,
Dak Nong, Dien Bien, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Ha
Nam, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Hau Giang, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang,
Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An,
Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai,
Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen,
Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long,
Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai.
There are also five municipalities (thủ đô, singular and plural) existing at
provincial level:
Can Tho, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh.
Geography
The country is approximately 331,688 square kilometers. The topography
consists of hills and densely forested mountains, with level land covering
no more than 20 percent. Mountains account for 40 percent, hills 40 percent,
and forests 75 percent. The northern part of the country consists of
highlands and the Red River Delta; the south is divided into coastal
lowlands, Giai Truong Son (central mountains) with high plateaus, and the
Mekong River Delta.
The climate is tropical and monsoonal; humidity averages 84 percent
throughout the year. Annual rainfall ranges from 120 to 300 centimeters, and
annual temperatures vary between 5°C and 37°C.
Land boundaries: Total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China
1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km
Economy
In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam formally
abandoned Marxist economic planning and began introducing market elements as
part of a broad economic reform package called "Doi Moi" ("Renovation"). In
many ways, this followed the Chinese model and achieved similar results. On
the one hand, Vietnam achieved around 8% annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997
and continued at around 7% from 2000 to 2002, making it the world's second-fastest
growing economy. Simultaneously, investment grew three-fold and domestic
savings quintupled. On the other hand, urban unemployment has been rising
steadily in recent years, and rural unemployment, estimated to be up to 35%
during nonharvest periods, is already at critical levels. Layoffs in the
state sector and foreign-invested enterprises combined with the lasting
effects of an earlier military demobilization further exacerbate the
unemployment situation.
Demographics
Street scene in HaiphongThe ethnic Vietnamese are concentrated largely in
the alluvial deltas and in the coastal plains, having little in common with
the minority peoples of the highlands, whom they historically have regarded
as hostile and barbaric. A homogenous social group, the Vietnamese exert
influence on national life through their control of political and economic
affairs and their role as purveyors of the dominant culture. By contrast,
the ethnic minorities, except for the Hoa, are found mostly in the highlands
that cover two-thirds of the national territory. The Hoa, the largest
minority, are mainly lowlanders. Officially, the ethnic minorities are
referred to as national minorities.
More than 87% of the population speaks the Vietnamese language, the nation's
official language. Various other languages are spoken by the several
minority groups in Vietnam. The most common of these are Chinese and Khmer.
French is spoken by some, mostly older Vietnamese, as a second-language. In
recent decades, English has become a more popular language to learn and is
increasingly used in business, among other things.
Culture
Cuisine of Vietnam
Modern Vietnamese cuisine is heavily influenced by the French colonists.
However, traditional Vietnamese cuisine is similar to Chinese cooking, only
instead of using soy sauce, they use fish sauce almost exclusively.
Vietnamese recipes use a lot of lemon grass, lime and kaffir lime. The
Vietnamese also have their own version of Buddhist vegetarian dishes.
There are also French-Vietnamese sandwiches called bánh mì, which consists
of Vietnamese meats and French baguettes.
In Western countries, Vietnamese cuisine is widely available in most
Vietnamese and Chinese immigrant communities, such as Chinatown. The popular
Chinese/Vietnamese hot sauce brand of Sriracha, made by Huy Fong company,
can be found in many Vietnamese cuisine restaurants in Western countries.
Famous Vietnamese dishes:
Spring rolls (Gỏi cuốn) - Shrimp rolls wrapped in rice paper
Phở - beef noodles, a northern Vietnamese breakfast. However, in North
America and France, it is eaten as lunch and dinner too.
Com tam - Grilled pork or shredded pork over rice noodles. May include
crispy egg rolls (Chả giò) or broiled egg.
Cà phê sữa đá - extremely strong coffee (with milk)
Music of Vietnam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Southeast Asian music
Brunei
Cambodia
East Timor
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
Vietnamese culture is highly syncretist, combining native, Western, Indian
and Chinese influences. Approximately fifty ethnic groups are indigenous to
the region; these peoples are closely related to neighboring Laotian, Thai
and other Southeast Asian ethnicities. Ethnic Vietnamese lowlanders dominate
the country's modern culture.
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