1986 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — cereals, fruits, sugar, coffee, rice; an illegal producer of coca and cannabis for the international drug trade

main crops — rice, rubber, fruits and vegetables; some corn, manioc, 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, $600 trillion or more; East European countries, $150 million; non-Communist countries, $50 million; international institutions, $50 million; value of military aid deliveries since 1975 not available

Airfields

278 total, 254 usable; 107 with permanent-surface runways; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 87 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

217 total, 128 usable; 46 with permanent-surface runways; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 28 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m Defense Forces

Branches

Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces, Armed Forces of Cooperation (National Guard), Marines, Coast Guard

bicameral legislature (Council of State, National Assembly); highly centralized executive nominally subordinate to National Assembly

Army, Navy, Air Force

Budget

revised 1984 — revenues, $17.4 billion; expenditures, $16.9 billion

Capital

Hanoi

Civil air

58 major transport aircraft

controlled by military

Coastline

3,444 km (excluding islands) People

Communists

probably more than 1 million

Crude steel

2.8 million metric tons produced (1985), 154 kg per capita

Elections

pro forma elections held for national and local assemblies; last election for National Assembly held on 25 April 1976 Political parties and leaders: Vietnam Communist Party (VCP), formerly known as the Vietnam Workers Party, headed by Le Duan

Electric power

13,000,000 kW capacity (1985); 37 billion kWh produced (1985), 2, 135 kWh per capita

1,800,000 kW capacity (1985); 5 billion kWh produced (1985), 83 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

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

Exports

$15.8 billion (f.o.b., 1984 prelim.); petroleum (94%)

$763 million (1984); agricultural and handicraft products, coal, minerals, ores

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 226,870 metric tons (1983); exports $12.4 million (1982), imports $30.0 million (1982)

catch 539,000 metric tons(1984)

GDP

$47 billion (1985), $2,680 per capita (1985); 60.4% private consumption, 12.5% public consumption, 14.8% gross investment, 12.3% foreign (1984); real growth rate 0.4% (1985)

GNP

$18. 1 billion, $300 per capita (1984) at official exchange rates of 12.1 dong=US$l

Government leaders

LE DUAN, Secretary General, Communist Party (since December 1976); TRUONG CHINH, Chairman, Council of State (since July 1981)

Highways

77,785 km total; 22,780 km paved, 24,720 km gravel, 14,450 km earth roads, and 15,835 km unimproved earth

41,191 km total; 5,471 km bituminous, 27,030 km gravel or improved earth, 8,690 km unimproved earth

Imports

$7.3 billion (f.o.b., 1984)

$1,823 million (1984); petroleum, steel products, railroad equipment, chemicals, medicines, raw cotton, fertilizer, grain

Infant mortality rate

53/1,000 (1983)

Inland waterways

7,100 km; Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels

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

Labor force

approximately 29 million, not including military Government

Land boundaries

4,562 km Water

Language

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

Legal system

based on Communist legal theory and French civil law system

Life expectancy

men 62, women 66

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (200 nm exclusive economic zone)

Literacy

78%

Major industries

petroleum, iron-ore mining, construction, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicles

food processing, textiles, machinebuilding, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires

Major trade partners

imports — 46% US, 5.2% Japan, 5.2% FRG, 4.8% Italy; exports— 40.9% US, 10.3% Italy, 7% FRG (1984)

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

Member of

Andean Pact, AIOEC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDE — Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC — International Wheat Council, LAIA, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, WFTU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy

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

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

Military manpower

males 15-49, 4,323,000; 3,283,000 fit for military service; 193,000 reach military age (18) annually Boundary n'pn-senlalron not n.-i cs'..triiy antho'ital Con Dao Land 329,707 km2; the size of New Mexico; 50% forest; 14% cultivated; 36% urban, inland water, and other

males 15-49, 14,619,000; 9,290,000 fit for military service; 687,000 reach military age (17) annually

Monetary conversion rate

(official) 7.5 bolivares=US$l (1 January 1986)

12.1 dong=US$l (June 1985)

National holiday

2 September

Nationality

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

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydroelectric power

phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, apatite, chromate, possible offshore oil deposits, forests

Official name

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Other political or pressure groups

FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group

Pipelines

6,370 km crude oil; 480 km refined products; 2,480 km natural gas

150 km, refined products

Political subdivisions

40 provinces, under central government control

Population

61,994,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 2.5%

Ports

6 major, 17 minor

9 major, 23 minor

Railroads

439 km total; 260 km 1.435-meter standard gauge all single track, government owned; 179km 1.435-meter gauge, privately owned

2,834 km total; 2,262 1.000-meter gauge, 130 km standard gauge, 230 km dual gauge, 212 km unoperable

Religion

Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islamic, Protestant

Shortages

foodgrains, petroleum, capital goods and machinery, fertilizer

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Telecommunications

modern expanding telecom system; 1.44 million telephones (9.5 per 100 popl.); 180 AM, 58 TV stations; 3 submarine coaxial cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station with 2 antennas, and 3 domestic satellite stations Defense Forces

Type

Communist state