Vietnam

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
Flag Emblem
Motto: Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc "Independence – Freedom – Happiness"
Anthem: Tiến Quân Ca "The Song of the Marching Troops"
Show globe Show map of ASEAN Location of Vietnam (green) in ASEAN (dark grey)
Capital	Hanoi 21°2′N 105°51′E / 21.033°N 105.850°E / 21.033; 105.850
Largest city	Ho Chi Minh City 10°48′N 106°39′E / 10.800°N 106.650°E / 10.800; 106.650
Official language	Vietnamese[1]
Ethnic groups (2019)	85.32% Kinh Vietnamese 14.68% other[2]
Religion (2019)	86.32% no religion / folk 6.1% Catholicism 4.79% Buddhism 1.02% Hoahaoism 1% Protestantism 0.58% Caodaism 0.07% Islam 0.12% other[2] [a]
Demonym(s)	Vietnamese Viet (colloquial)
Government	Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic[5]
• General Secretary[b]	Tô Lâm
• President	Lương Cường
• Prime Minister	Phạm Minh Chính
• National Assembly Chairman	Trần Thanh Mẫn
Legislature	National Assembly
Formation
• Văn Lang	7th century BC
• Âu Lạc	3rd century BC
• Han's annexation	111 BC
• Independence from China	939
• Regaining independence	1428
• Nguyễn's unification	1802
• Protectorate Treaty	25 August 1883
• Declaration of Independence	2 September 1945
• North–South division	21 July 1954
• End of Vietnam War	30 April 1975
• Reunification	2 July 1976
• Đổi Mới	18 December 1986
• Current constitution	28 November 2013[c]
Area
• Total	331,344.82[7][d] km2 (127,932.95 sq mi) (66th)
• Water (%)	6.38
Population
• 2023 estimate	100,300,000[10][11] (15th)
• 2019 census	96,208,984[2]
• Density	298/km2 (771.8/sq mi) (49th)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$1.559 trillion[12] (26th)
• Per capita	$15,470[12] (106th)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$465.814 billion[12] (33th)
• Per capita	$4,623[12] (119th)
Gini (2020)	36.8[13] medium inequality
HDI (2022)	0.726[14] high (107th)
Currency	Vietnamese đồng (₫) (VND)
Time zone	UTC+07:00 (Vietnam Standard Time)
Drives on	right
Calling code	+84
ISO 3166 code	VN
Internet TLD	.vn

This article contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of chữ Nôm, chữ Hán and chữ Quốc ngữ.

Vietnam,^[e][f] officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,^[g] is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about 331,000 square kilometres (128,000 sq mi) and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous country. One of the two Marxist–Leninist states in Southeast Asia,^[h] Vietnam shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea. Its capital is Hanoi and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon).

Vietnam was inhabited by the Paleolithic age, with states established in the first millennium BC on the Red River Delta in modern-day northern Vietnam. The Han dynasty annexed Northern and Central Vietnam, which were subsequently under Chinese rule from 111 BC until the first dynasty emerged in 939. Successive monarchical dynasties absorbed Chinese influences through Confucianism and Buddhism, and expanded southward to the Mekong Delta, conquering Champa. During most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was effectively divided into two domains of Đàng Trong and Đàng Ngoài. The Nguyễn—the last imperial dynasty—surrendered to France in 1883. In 1887, its territory was integrated into French Indochina as three separate regions. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the nationalist coalition Viet Minh, led by the communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, launched the August Revolution and declared Vietnam's independence from the Empire of Japan in 1945.

Vietnam went through prolonged warfare in the 20th century. After World War II, France returned to reclaim colonial power in the First Indochina War, from which Vietnam emerged victorious in 1954. As a result of the treaties signed between the Viet Minh and France, Vietnam was also separated into two parts. The Vietnam War began shortly after, between the communist North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union and China, and the anti-communist South Vietnam, supported by the United States. Upon the North Vietnamese victory in 1975, Vietnam reunified as a unitary socialist state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1976. An ineffective planned economy, a trade embargo by the West, and wars with Cambodia and China crippled the country further. In 1986, the CPV initiated economic and political reforms similar to the Chinese economic reform, transforming the country to a socialist-oriented market economy. The reforms facilitated Vietnamese reintegration into the global economy and politics.

Vietnam is a developing country with a lower-middle-income economy. It has high levels of corruption, censorship, environmental issues and a poor human rights record. It is part of international and intergovernmental institutions including the ASEAN, the APEC, the CPTPP, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OIF, and the WTO. It has assumed a seat on the United Nations Security Council twice.

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