The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia. It has a long history and was occupied by China for periods of time before gaining independence. Vietnam experienced periods of civil war and conflict with France and the United States. It is now a single-party communist state divided into provinces and cities with Hanoi as its capital.

1. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

3. Vietnam occupies the eastern and southern part of the
Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia, with the South
China Sea along its entire coast.
A strip of land shaped like the letter “S”.
China borders it to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the
west, the East Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to
the east and south.
Vietnam is also a transport junction from the Indian
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

5.  National Capital: Hanoi
 Mainland Territory: 331,211.6 sq. km
 Population: 84,115
 Monetary unit: Dong

6.  President: Nguyen Minh Triet (2006)
 Prime Minister: Nguyen Tan Dung (2006)
 Government: Socialist Republic, Single­Party
Communist State
 Administrative Units: Vietnam is divided into
64 provinces and cities
 Motto: "Independence ­ Freedom – Happiness”

8. Topography:
Three quarters of Vietnam's territory
consists of mountains and hills. Vietnam is
divided into four distinct mountainous
zones.
●
The Northeastern Zone (Viet Bac)
●
The Northwestern Zone
●
The North Truong Son Zone
●
The South Truong Son Zone

9. Vietnam has two major deltas, including the Red River
Delta in the north and the Mekong River Delta in the
south.
●
The Red River Delta, or Northern Delta
This region stretches for15,000 sq. km. Over time,
deposits of alluvium carried from the Red River and
Thai Binh River have accumulated to form the delta.
The ancient Viet people settled at the junction of the
two rivers . At that time, the wet rice civilization was
established
●
The Mekong River Delta, or Southern Delta
This region is approximately 40,000 sq. km. The land
is very fertile and has favorable climate conditions for
agriculture. As a result, it is the largest rice growing
region in Vietnam.

10. •Vietnam is crisscrossed by thousands of
streams and rivers.
•There is a river discharging every 20
kilometers along Vietnam's coastline.
•The waterways are a very convenient means
of transport with major rivers like the Red
River in the north and the Mekong River in
the south.

11. CLIMATE:
Vietnam is located in both a tropical
and a temperate zone. It is
characterized by strong monsoon
influences, but has a considerable
amount of sun, a high rate of rainfall,
and high humidity. Regions located
near the tropics and in the
mountainous regions are endowed
with a temperate climate.

12. Languages:
Vietnamese (official); English (increasingly
favored as a second language); some French,
Chinese, Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-
Khmer and Malayo Polynesian)
Religions:
Buddhist 9%, Catholic 7%, Hoa Hao 2%,
Cao Dai 1%, Protestant, Islam, none 81%

13. Natural resources:
Located beneath the subsoil are precious
stones, coal and valuable minerals such as
tin, zinc, silver, gold, antimony, phosphates,
manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil
and gas deposits, forests, hydropower.
 Agriculture:
paddy rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea,
pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane,
peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood.

14. Industries:
food processing, garments, shoes, machine-
building; mining, coal, steel; cement, chemical fertilizer,
glass, tires, oil, paper.
Exports:
$39.92 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): crude oil, marine
products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes.

16. Y
 Pre­Dynastic era
The area now known as Vietnam has been
inhabited since Paleolithic times, and some
archaeological sites in Thanh Hoa Province
purportedly date back several thousand years.
Archaeologists link the beginnings of Vietnamese
civilization to the late Neolithic,
Early Bronze Age, Phung­nguyen culture, which
was centered in Vinh Phuc Province of
contemporary Vietnam from about 2000 to 1400
BCE. By about 1200 BCE, the development of
wet­rice cultivation and bronze casting in the
Ma River and Red River plains led to the

17.  The bronze weapons, tools, and drums of
Dongsonian sites show a Southeast Asian
influence that indicates an indigenous origin
for the bronze­casting technology. Many small,
ancient copper mine sites have been found in
northern Vietnam. Some of the similarities
between the Dong Sonian sites and other
Southeast Asian sites include the presence of
boat­shaped coffins and burial jars, stilt
dwellings, and evidence of the customs of
betel­nut­chewing and teeth­blackening.

18.  Dynastic era
The legendary Hồng Bàng Dynasty of the Hùng kings
is considered by many Vietnamese as the first
Vietnamese state, known as Văn Lang. In 257 BCE,
the last Hùng king lost to Thục Phán, who
consolidated the Lạc Việt tribes with his Âu Việt tribes,
forming Âu Lạc and proclaiming himself
An Dương Vương. In 207 BCE, a Chinese general
named Zhao Tuo defeated An Dương Vương and
consolidated Âu Lạc into Nanyue. In 111 BCE, the
Chinese Han Dynasty consolidated Nanyue into their
empire.

19.  For the next thousand years, Vietnam was
mostly under Chinese rule. Early
independence movements such as those of the
Trưng Sisters and of Lady Triệu were only
briefly successful. It was independent as Vạn
Xuân under the Anterior Ly Dynasty between
544 and 602. By the early 10th century,
Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not
independence, under the Khúc family.

20. In 938 BCE, a Vietnamese lord named Ngô Quyền
defeated Chinese forces at the Bạch Đằng River
and regained independence after 10 centuries
under Chinese Control Renamed as Đại Việt, the
nation went through a golden era during the Lý
and Trần Dynasties. During the rule of the Trần
Dynasty, Đại Việt repelled three Mongol invasions
. Budhism flourished and became the state
religion.

21.  Following the brief Hồ Dynasty, Vietnamese
independence was momentarily interrupted
by the Chinese Ming Dynasty, but was
restored by Lê Lợi, the founder of the
Lê Dynasty. Vietnam reached its zenith in the
Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially
during the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông
(1460–1497). Between the 11th and 18th
centuries, the Vietnamese expanded
southward in a process known as nam tiến
(southward expansion). They eventually
conquered the kingdom of Champa and part
of the Khmer Empire.

22. Towards the end of the Lê Dynasty, civil strife
engulfed much of Vietnam. First, the Chinese­
supported Mạc Dynasty challenged the Lê
Dynasty's power. After the Mạc Dynasty was
defeated, the Lê Dynasty was reinstalled, but with
no actual power. Power was divided between the
Trịnh Lords in the North and the Nguyễn Lords in
the South, who engaged in a civil war for more
than four decades. During this time, the Nguyễn
expanded southern Vietnam into the Mekong Delta
, annexing the Champa in the central highlands
and the Khmer land in the Mekong.

23.  The civil war ended when the Tây Sơn brothers
defeated both and established their new
dynasty. However, their rule did not last long
and they were defeated by the remnants of the
Nguyễn Lords led by Nguyen Anh with the help
of the French. Nguyen Anh unified Vietnam,
and established the Nguyễn Dynasty, ruling
under the name Gia Long.

24. Western colonial era
Vietnam's independence was gradually eroded by France
in a series of military conquests from 1859 until 1885
when the entire country became part of French Indochina
. The French administration imposed significant political
and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western­
style system of modern education was developed, and
Christianity was propagated widely in Vietnamese
society. Developing a plantation economy to promote the
exports of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, the French
largely ignored increasing calls for self­government and
civil rights.

25.  A nationalist political movement soon emerged,
with leaders such as Phan Boi Chau,
Phan Chu Trinh, Phan Dinh Phung, Emperor
Ham Nghi and Ho Chi Minh calling for
independence. However, the French maintained
control of their colonies until World War II, when
the Japanese war in the Pacific triggered the
invasion of French Indochina in 1941. This event
was preceded by the establishment of the
Vichy French administration, a puppet state of
Nazi Germany then ally of the Japanese Empire.
The natural resources of Vietnam were exploited for
the purposes of the Japanese Empire's military
campaigns into the British Indochinese colonies of
Burma, the Malay Peninsula and India.

26.  First Indochina War
In 1941, the Viet Minh — a communist and
nationalist liberation movement — emerged
under Ho Chi Minh, to seek independence for
Vietnam from France as well as to oppose the
Japanese occupation. Following the military
defeat of Japan and the fall of its
Empire of Vietnam in August 1945, Viet Minh
occupied Hanoi and proclaimed a provisional
government, which asserted independence on
September 2.

27.  In the same year the
Provisional French Republic sent the
French Far East Expeditionary Corps, which
was originally created to fight the Japanese
occupation forces, in order to pacify the
liberation movement and to restore French
rule. On November 20, 1946, triggered by the
Haiphong Incident, the First Indochina War
between Viet Minh and the French forces
ensued, lasting until July 20, 1954.

28. Despite fewer losses — Expeditionary Corps
suffered 1/3 the casualties of the Chinese and
Soviet­backed Viet Minh — during the course of the
war, the U.S.­backed French and
Vietnamese loyalists eventually suffered a major
strategic setback at the Siege of Dien Bien Phu,
which allowed Ho Chi Minh to negotiate a ceasefire
with a favorable position at the ongoing
Geneva conference of 1954. Colonial administration
ended as French Indochina was dissolved.
According to the Geneva Accords of 1954 the forces
of former French supporters and communist
nationalists were separated south and north,
respectively, with the
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, at the 17th

29.  A Partition of Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh's
Democratic Republic of Vietnam in North Vietnam,
and Emperor Bao Dai's State of Vietnam in the
South Vietnam, was not intended by the
1954 Agreements, and they expressly forbade the
interference of third powers. Counter to the counsel
of his American advisor, the State of Vietnam Prime
Minister Ngo Dinh Diem toppled Bao Dai in a
fraudulent referendum organized by his brother
Ngo Dinh Nhu, and proclaimed himself president of
the Republic of Vietnam. The Accords mandated
nationwide elections by 1956, which Diem refused
to hold, despite repeated calls from the North for
talks to discuss elections.

30.  Vietnam War
Democratic nationwide elections mandated by
the Geneva Conference of 1954 having been
thwarted by Ngo Dinh Diem, the communist
nationalist National Liberation Front began a
guerrilla campaign in the late 1950s, assisted
by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, to
overthrow Diem's government, which the NLF
's official statement described as a "disguised
colonial regime".

31. In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diem's pro­Catholic
discrimination erupted following the banning of the
Buddhist flag and the Hue Vesak shootings. This
resulted in a series of mass demonstrations known as
the Buddhist crisis. With Diem unwilling to bend, his
brother orchestrated the Xa Loi Pagoda raids. As a
result, the US' relationship with Diem broke down and
resulted in coup that saw Diem killed.
Diem was followed by a series of military regimes that
often lasted only months before being toppled by
another. With this instability, the communists began to
gain ground.

32. To support South Vietnam's struggle against the
communist insurgency, the US began increasing its
contribution of military advisers. US forces became
embroiled in combat operations in 1965 and at their
peak they numbered more than 500,000. North
Vietnamese forces attacked most major targets in
southern Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Communist forces supplying the NLF carried supplies
along the Truong Son Road, which passed through
Laos and Cambodia. The US president authorized
Operation Menu, a SAC bombing campaign in Laos
and Cambodia, which he kept secret from the US
Congress.

33. Its own casualties mounting, and facing opposition
to the war at home and condemnation abroad, the
U.S. began transferring combat roles to the South
Vietnamese military according to the
Nixon Doctrine; the process was subsequently
called Vietnamization. The effort had mixed
results. The Paris Peace Accords of January 27,
1973, formally recognized the sovereignty of
Vietnam "as recognized by the 1954 Geneva
Agreements". Under the terms of the accords all
American combat troops were withdrawn by
March 29, 1973.

34.  Limited fighting continued, but all major
fighting ended until the North once again sent
troops to the South during the Spring of 1975,
culminating in the Fall of Saigon on April 30,
1975. South Vietnam briefly became the
Republic of South Vietnam, under military
occupation by North Vietnam, before being
officially integrated with the North under
communist rule as the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam on July 2, 1976.

35.  Postwar
Upon taking control of the bomb­ravaged country, the
Vietnamese communists banned all other political
parties, arrested public servants and military personnel
of the Republic of Vietnam and sent them to
reeducation camps. The government also embarked on
a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and
factories. Reconstruction of the war­ravaged country
was slow, and serious humanitarian and economic
problems confronted the communist regime.

36.  Millions of people fled the country in crudely­
built boats, creating an international
humanitarian crisis. In 1978, the Vietnamese
army invaded Cambodia (sparking the
Cambodian­Vietnamese War) which removed the
Khmer Rouge from power. This action worsened
relations with China, which launched a brief
incursion into northern Vietnam (the
Sino­Vietnamese War) in 1979. This conflict
caused Vietnam to rely even more heavily on
Soviet economic and military aid.

37.  Đổi Mới
In a historic shift in 1986, the Communist Party of
Vietnam implemented free­market reforms known as
Đổi Mới (renovation). With the authority of the state
remaining unchallenged, private ownership of farms
and companies, deregulation and foreign investment
were encouraged. The economy of Vietnam has
achieved rapid growth in agricultural and industrial
production, construction and housing, exports and
foreign investment. It is now one of the fastest growing
economies in the world.

38.  Vietnamese troops began limited withdrawals from Laos and
Cambodia in 1988, and Vietnam supported the Cambodian
peace agreement signed in Oct. 1991.
 The U.S. lifted a Vietnamese trade embargo in Feb. 1994
that had been in place since U.S. involvement in the war.
Full diplomatic relations were announced between the two
countries in July 1995. In April 1997, a pact was signed with
the U.S. concerning repayment of the $146 million wartime
debt incurred by the South Vietnamese government, and the
following year the nation began a drive to eliminate
inefficient bureaucrats and streamline the approval process
for direct foreign investment. Efforts of reform­minded
officials toward political and economic change have been
thwarted by Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In April
2001, however, the progressive Nong Duc Manh was
appointed general secretary of the ruling Communist Party,
succeeding Le Kha Phieu. Even with a reformer at the helm
of the party, change has been slow and cautious.

39.  In Nov. 2001, Vietnam's national assembly approved a
trade agreement that opened U.S. markets to
Vietnam's goods and services. Tariffs on Vietnam's
products dropped to about 4% from rates as high as
40%. Vietnam in return opened its state markets to
foreign competition.
 The government highlighted its efforts to crack down
on corruption and crime with the June 2003 conviction
of notorious criminal syndicate boss Truong Van Cam,
known as Nam Cam. He was sentenced to death, along
with 155 other defendants, and executed in June 2004.

40.  Prime Minister Phan Van Khai visited the United
States in June 2005, becoming the first Vietnamese
leader to do so since the Vietnam War ended. He met
with President Bush and several business leaders,
including Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The U.S. is
Vietnam's largest trading partner, buying about $7
billion in Vietnamese goods each year.
 A corruption scandal rocked Vietnam in April 2006.
Transport minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned amid
allegations that members of his staff embezzled
millions from the country and used the funds to bet on
soccer games. His deputy Nguyen Viet Tien was
arrested for his role in the scandal.

41.  President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan
Van Khai resigned in June 2006, making way for two
younger leaders, President Nguyen Minh Triet and
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Luong and Khai
had led Vietnam since 1997 and were instrumental in
Vietnam's two­decades­long transition to a market
economy, called doi moi, or renovation.
 Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade
Organization in January 2007, after waiting 12 years
to join the group.

42. End

Prepared by:
Meñez, Ma. Kristina M.
BSN 4C