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Basic information about the SRV

Official name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Cộng Hoà Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam

Area: 331.699 km2

Population: 95,8 million (14th most populated country in the world)

Population density: 309 / km2 (one of the highest in the world among countries with predominant agriculture)

Demographics

Average annual population growth: 105 %

Percentage of population under 25: 25,2 %

Population composition by sex: 978 men to 1000 women

Average life expectancy: 73,3 years

Ethnic groups

86% of the population is formed by ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh population) concentrated mainly in the deltas of major rivers and the coastal plains. Other ethnic groups include Tay, Thai, Khmer, Muong, Chinese (Hoa), Nung, Hmong, and Dao (the total number of ethnic groups living in Vietnam is around 60).Except for the Chinese, ethnic minorities dwell mostly in the highlands.

Religion

Buddhism 19,2 % (predominantly Mahayana Buddhism); Catholicism 9,9 % (approximately 10% of the population which the highest proportion among Asian countries after the Philippines); Protestantism (about 200,000 followers in Central Highlands); Islam (approximately 0,5% of the population, mostly ethnic Khmer and Chams); Hinduism (the remaining Indian community in Ho Chi Minh City); the Cao Dai (approximately 2 million followers) and the Hoa Hao (Buddhist, about 1.5 million followers), animism.

Official language and other most commonly used languages

The official language is Vietnamese and the most widely used foreign languages ​​are Chinese, English, French (mostly older generations), and Russian.

Administrative subdivisions

The country is divided into 58 provinces and 5 centrally controlled municipalities – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Da Nang. The provinces are subdivided into urban districts and rural districts; urban districts are in turn subdivided into wards and rural districts into communes.

The capital city is Hanoi with 7,6 million inhabitants and the largest city is Ho Chi Minh City with 8,3 million inhabitants; these two cities are home to about 44% of the country’s urban population.

Currency

Vietnamese Dong (VND) (Đồng), no subunits. The official rate has been around 15,000 VND / 1 USD for a long time.

Political system

Unitary republic with a single-party political system. According to the Constitution, the leading power in the state and society is the Communist Party of Vietnam. There are no other political parties in the country.

Head of state: Tran Duc Luong, president. The president appoints members of the government and removes them from office, he is the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, he signs laws, appoints ambassadors, generals, and armed forces admirals. The president is elected from among the members of the National Assembly for a period of 5 years.

Cabinet members:

Prime Minister: Nguyễn Xuân Phúc

Deputy Prime Ministers:

Trương Hòa Bình, Phạm Bình Minh, Vương Đình Huệ, Vũ Đức Đam, Trịnh Đình Dũng

Minister of National Defence: Ngô Xuân Lịch

Minister of Public Security: Tô Lâm

Minister of Home Affairs: Lê Vĩnh Tân

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Phạm Bình Minh

Minister of Justice: Lê Thành Long

Minister of Planning and Investment: Nguyễn Chí Dũng

Minister of Finance: Đinh Tiến Dũng

Minister of Trade: Trần Tuấn Anh

Minister of Science and Technology: Chu Ngọc Anh

Minister of Construction: Phạm Hồng Hà

Minister of Transport: Nguyễn Văn Thể

Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs: Đào Ngọc Dung

Minister of Industry: Trần Tuấn Anh

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: Nguyễn Xuân Cường

Minister of Culture and Information: Nguyễn Ngọc Thiện

Minister of Water Products: Tạ Quang Ngọc

Minister of Education and Training: Phùng Xuân Nhạ

Minister of Health: Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến

Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and Mountain Areas: Đỗ Văn Chiến

Inspector-General of State Inspection: Lê Minh Khái

Minister, Chairman of the Office of the Government: Mai Tiến Dũng

Minister, Chairman of the National Committee for Population, Family, and Children: Lê Thị Thu

Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Physical Training and Sports: Nguyen Danh Thai

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment: Trần Hồng Hà

Governor of the State Bank: Lê Minh Hưng

 

Public holidays (days off)

New Year – January 1

Lunar New Year – a moving holiday in accordance with the lunar calendar

Victory Day – April 30

International Workers’ Day – May 1

National Day – September 2