1981 Edition

Airfields

242 total, 128 usable; 55 with permanentsurface runways; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m DEFENSE FORCES

Area

329,707 km2; 14% cultivated, 50% forested, 36% urban inland water, and other

About 207 km2

Civil air

military controlled

Coastline

3,444 km (excluding islands)

about 129 km

Highways

41,190 km total; 5,471 km bituminous, 27,030 km gravel or improved earth, 8,690 km unimproved earth '

Inland waterways

about 17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8-m draft

Land boundaries

4,562 km

Limits of territorial waters

12 nm (fishing 200 nm; exclusive economic zone 200 nm)

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm plus 12 nm contiguous customs and security zone (fishing 200 nm, economic 200 nm)

Military budget

no expenditure estimates are available; military aid from the USSR has been so extensive that actual allocation of Vietnam's domestic resources to defense has not been indicative of total military effort WALLIS AMD FUTUNA NEW ZEALAND

Military manpower

males 15-49, 13,266,000; 8,085,000 fit for military service; 661,000 reach military age (17) annually

Ports

9 major, 23 minor

Supply

dependent on the USSR and Eastern European Communist countries for virtually all new .equipment; produces negligible quantities of infantry weapons, ammunition and explosive devices (Vietnam possesses a huge inventory of US-manufactured weapons and equipment captured from the RVN)

Ethnic divisions

85%-90% predominantly Vietnamese; 3% Chinese; ethnic minorities include Muong, Thai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham, and mountain tribesmen

almost entirely Polynesian

Labor force

approximately 15 million, not including military; about 70% agriculture and 8% industry

Language

Vietnamese, French, Chinese, English, Khmer, tribal languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Nationality

noun — Vietnamese (sing, and pi.); adjective— Vietnamese

noun — Wallisian(s), Futunan(s), or Wallis and Futuna Islanders; adjective — Wallisian, Futunan, or Wallis and Futuna Islander

Population

56,430,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.5%

11,000 (July 1982) average annual growth rate 3.0%

Religion

Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Catholic, Animist, Islamic, and Protestant

largely Roman Catholic

Branches

constitution provides for a National Assembly and highly centralized executive nominally subordinate to it Party and government leaders: LE DUAN, Party Secretary General; NGUYEN HUU THO, Chairman, National Assembly; TRUONG CHINH, Chairman, Council of State; PHAM VAN DONG, Chairman, Council of Ministers; Gen. VAN TIEN DUNG, Minister of National Defense; NGUYEN CO THACH, Minister for Foreign Affairs; PHAM HUNG, Minister of Interior

territorial assembly of 20 members; popular election of one deputy to National Assembly in Paris and one senator

Capital

Hanoi

Matu Utu

Communists

probably more than 1 million

Elections

pro forma elections held for national and local assemblies; latest election for National Assembly held on 25 April 1976

every five years

Government leaders

Superior Administrator Pierre ISSAC; President of Territorial Assembly Robert THIL

Legal system

based on Communist legal theory and French civil law system

Member of

ADB, CEMA, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

2 September

Official name

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands

Political parties

Vietnam Communist Party, formerly known as the Vietnam Workers Party

Political subdivisions

39 provinces

3 districts

Suffrage

over age 18

universal adult

Type

Communist state

overseas territory of France

Agriculture

main crops — rice, rubber, fruits and vegetables; sonfe corn, manioc, and sugarcane; major food imports— wheat, corn, dairy products

Aid

accurate data on aid since April 1975 unification unavailable; estimated annual economic aid on annual basis is — USSR, $500 million or more; East European countries, $150 million; non-Communist countries, $230 million; international institutions, $75 million; value of military aid deliveries since 1975 are not available

Electric power

1,610,300 kW capacity (1980); 3.781 billion kWh produced (1980), 69 kWh per capita

Exports

$300 million (1978); agricultural and handicraft products, coal, minerals, ores

Fiscal year

calendar year

Fishing

catch 515,000 metric tons (1980)

GNP

$4.9 billion (calculated by UNO method), less than $91 per capita (1980); no growth in recent years

Imports

$900 million (1978); petroleum, steel products, railroad equipment, chemicals, medicines, raw cotton, fertilizer, grain

Major industries

food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires

Major trade partners

exports — USSR, East European countries, Japan, other Asian markets; imports — USSR, East Europe, Japan

Monetary conversion rate (official)

9.0 dong=US$l (late 1981)

Shortages

foodgrains, petroleum, capital goods and machinery, fertilizer

Railroads

2,587 km total; 2,227 meter gauge, 130 km standard gauge, 230 km dual gauge