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Vietnam

from the 11th grade Geography class of  

Mr. Ricky Adams

Climate is 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 is low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

Introduction

    Vietnam is a country located on the eastern coast of the Indochina Peninsula. Vietnam is bordered on the north by China, on the west by Laos and Cambodia, and on the south and east by the South China Sea. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. The largest city is Ho Chi Minh City.

    Vietnam ’s terrain is varied.  The areas in North and Central Vietnam are hilly and mountainous.  The highlands slope towards the Eastern coast forming broad plains with many different streams.  The plains have been cultivated over many centuries and the people of Vietnam have built many dikes and canals to irrigate crops and for flood control.  Southern Vietnam is low-lying, containing the large fertile area of the MeKong River .  Like the plains of the North much of the MeKong Delta is cultivated and there are areas of rice paddies.  Many of the people have migrated to the cities swelling the populations of Ho Chi Minh City , Hanoi and others due to the previous war and fighting in the rural areas.

    Vietnam has about 50 ethnic groups and languages.  However, Vietnamese make up the majority of the population.  The Vietnamese people came from China .  The original homeland of the Vietnamese people was in the valley of the Red River .  The Red River originates in Southern China, and flows through the Northern part of Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin .  The river is the largest in the north. 

    The French colonized Vietnam in the early part of the century.  In 1945, after World War II , France sent troops into Vietnam and the Communist Party revolted against French rule.  The French were defeated in 1954 at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.  Vietnam was divided in two zones.  The North was ruled by the Communists and supported by Russia and China .  The South was anti-Communist supported by the United States and its Allies.  The United States sent troops to South Vietnam in the early 1960s and in 1973, withdrew its troops.  South Vietnam fell to the Communists on April 30, 1975 .

Natural Regions

    Vietnam has four major geographic regions.  The country’s northernmost section is made up of rugged and heavily forested mountains that extend into Vietnam from China .  These mountains are over 10,000 feet at its highest point.  To the east and southeast of these mountains is the Red River Delta.  To the south of the Delta is the Annam Highlands that form the backbone of Vietnam .  Also in this region are the Central Highlands, a plateau situated between the Cambodian border and South China Sea .  The fourth and southernmost region is the MeKong Delta.  This is a fertile, marshy flatland that stretches from the southern edge of the Central Highlands in the north to the mangrove swamps of the peninsula in the south.

Plant and Animal Life

    Plant and animal life thrive in Vietnam ’s warm rainy climate.  During the Vietnam War, bombing and the use of Agent Orange practically depleted many plant species.  However, thirty years later, some of these plants have begun to reappear.  Farmers are starting to grow bananas, coconuts, papaya and bamboo.   Other cash crops include rubber, coffee and tea.

Vietnam ’s forests have many large mammals, including elephants, deer, bears, tigers and leopards.  Smaller animals, such as monkeys, rabbits, squirrels are also found in considerable numbers throughout the country

Natural Resources

Vietnam ’s most valuable mineral resource is in the land, particularly the fertile soils of the Red and MeKong Deltas.  Some 26% of its land is currently being farmed. Vietnam has some mineral resources, including gold, iron, tin, zinc, phosphate, chromite, apatite and coal.  Most deposits are located in the Northern part of the country.

 

People

Today there are about 75 million people in Vietnam. Most of the people live in or near the densely populated Red or Mekong deltas. Four of the five largest cities in Vietnam are located on or very near the coast. Vietnam’s largest metropolis is the southern port of Ho Chi Minh City. The administrative capital of Hanoi, Vietnam’s next largest city, lies in the Red River Delta about 85 miles upriver from the Gulf of Tonkin. Haiphong is the major northern seaport; Da Nang is an important port in central Vietnam; and Hue, located near Da Nang, is the former imperial capital and an important trade center. Eighty percent of these are ethnic Vietnamese, while the remaining twenty percent comprises more than fifty separate ethnic groups. About seven million of these ethnic minorities are members of the montagnards or hill tribes, making their homes and livelihoods in the spectacular mountains of the north and central highlands. Among the many languages spoken in Vietnam are Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French, and Russian.

 

 

 

Economy

Vietnam is a poor, densely-populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress was achieved from 1986 to 1996 in moving forward from an extremely low starting point - growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems in the Vietnamese economy but, rather than prompting reform, reaffirmed the government's belief that shifting to a market-oriented economy would lead to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth then rose to 6% to 7% in 2000-02 even against the background of global recession. These numbers mask some major difficulties in economic performance. Many domestic industries, including coal, cement, steel, and paper, have reported large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient foreign producers. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement entered into force near the end of 2001 and is expected to significantly increase Vietnam's exports to the US. The US is assisting Vietnam with implementing the legal and structural reforms called for in the agreement

Test

What is the capital of Vietnam?

What is Vietnam's most valuable mineral?

What is Vietnam's climate like most of the year?

What is the largest city in Vietnam?

What are the three countries that border Vietnam?

Links

http://www.geographia.com/vietnam/

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vm.html

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552648/Vietnam.html

http://www.webshots.com/search?query=MeKong+Delta&start=36