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