7. Independence
was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule
until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forces under Ho Chi
MINH, who took control of the North. US economic and military aid to
South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the
government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a
cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese
forces overran the South. Despite the return of peace, for over two
decades the country experienced little economic growth because of
conservative leadership policies. Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities
have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural
reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more
competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to
experience protests from the Montagnard ethnic minority population
of the Central Highlands over loss of land to Vietnamese settlers
and religious persecution.

Geography Vietnam

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

Geographic coordinates:
16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references:
Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km
water: 4,200 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries:
total: 4,639 km
border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

Coastline:
3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:
tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season
(mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to
mid-March)

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 19.97%
permanent crops: 5.95%
other: 74.08% (2001)

Irrigated land:
30,000 sq km (1998 est.)

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

Environment - cu