January 27, 1999
Vietnam, a lush, tropical nation in Southeast Asia, lies on the east coast of the Indochinese peninsula, and occupies 127,243 square miles, an area about the size of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina combined. Vietnam is long and narrow, with a 1,400-mile coast along the South China Sea. The country is bordered on the north by China and on the west by Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate and its terrain ranges from mountainous to coastal delta.
In the north is the densely settled Red River Valley; in the center is a narrow coastal plain; and in the south is the wide, frequently marshy Mekong Delta. The rest of Vietnam consists of semi-arid plateaus, rugged mountains, and some tropical rain forests.
The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. Other cities are Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and Haiphong.
Vietnam's population is 76,236,259. The Vietnamese make up 85 to 90 percent of the country. Other ethnic groups are Chinese (3 percent), Muong, Tai, Meo, Khmer, Man, and Cham. Life expectancy at birth is 65.4 years for males and 70.3 for females.
The official language of the country is Vietnamese, but French and Chinese are also among the principal languages. English is becoming increasingly favored as a second language. The literacy rate as of 1994 was 94 percent.
Among the religions practiced in Vietnam are Buddhism and Taoism--the country's chief religions; Christianity--mostly Catholics, but some Protestants as well; Islam; and animism.
The national monetary unit is the dong.
Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) in 1996 was estimated at $21.9 billion. Exports that year were estimated at $7.1 billion, with imports at $11.1 billion.
The country's industries are food processing, textiles, and chemical fertilizer. The land is 17 percent arable. Chief crops are rice, potatoes, soybeans, coffee, tea, and corn. Minerals include phosphates, coal, gas, and manganese. Crude oil reserves in 1997 stood at 600 million barrels.
Vietnam was settled by Viets from Central China from 111 B.C. to A.D. 939, and was a vassal of China in subsequent periods. In 1288, Vietnam defeated the armies of Kublai Khan.
In 1858, France began a conquest of Vietnam that ended in 1884 with the protectorates of Tonkin and Annam in the north and the colony of Cochin-China in the south.
Japan occupied Vietnam in 1940, stirring already strong nationalist sentiments among the Vietnamese. With Japan's 1945 defeat in World War II, France moved to regain colonial control. Beginning in 1946, French forces battled the Communist Viet Minh, a movement committed to Vietnam's independence and led by Ho Chi Minh, a Communist. The epic battle of Dien Bien Phu reached its climax with the defeat of the French on May 8, 1954.
A cease-fire signed in Geneva on July 21, 1954, divided the country at the 17th parallel. It gave the Communists control of the north under Ho Chi Minh. The south was under Emperor Bao Dai. Although the accord called for free elections to decide the country's future, they were never held. The Communist Viet Cong, successors to the Viet Minh, opened an insurgency against the South. In 1961, South Vietnam requested United States support against the insurgency and American military advisors were sent to the country.
By 1965, the United States had committed troops to combat in Vietnam. U.S. troop strength during the Vietnam War reached a high of 543,400 in April 1969.
Pledging to end U.S. involvement in the war, President Richard Nixon began a series of troop withdrawals in June 1969.
A cease-fire pact was signed in Paris on January 27, 1973, by the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong, but the accord was never implemented.
With U.S. forces gone, North Vietnam resumed the offensive and on April 30, 1975, South Vietnam fell to the Communists. On July 2, 1976, the country was formally reunited as a Communist state.
In the years since, Vietnam has been involved in military conflicts with Cambodia, Thailand, and China. In February 1994, the United States lifted a 19-year-old trade embargo of Vietnam, followed, in July 1995, by full recognition of the country.
Methodists are active in Vietnam in a number of ways. The autonomous Methodist church of Singapore provides equipment for the cancer ward of a children's hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. The autonomous Korean Methodist church provides technical training for youth. Expatriate Vietnamese Methodists in the United States maintain a continuing deep concern for the spiritual needs of the Vietnamese people, a concern shared by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). GBGM also supports a comprehensive effort by International Voluntary Services to counter the rapid spread of AIDS in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
Public Domain Map from the Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection
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