Vietnam Geography

According to Educationvv, Vietnam is located in the east of the Indochina Peninsula and southeast of Asia, in a totally tropical zone. To the east and south of Vietnam are the Eastern Sea and the Pacific (with more than 3000 km of coastline); It borders China to the north and Laos and Cambodia to the west.

The country is shaped like the letter S, wide in the north (600 km) and in the south (400 km) and very narrow in the center (50 km – Quang Binh province). The distance between two extreme points north and south is 1650 km.

Territorial boundaries: Total: 4 639 km. Neighboring countries: Cambodia (1,228 km), China (1,281 km), Laos (2,130 km).

It has an area of about 331 688 km 2 (slightly smaller than Germany). The topographic system consists of hills and mountains densely populated with trees, covering 20% of the territory. 40% of the territory is mountainous and forests occupy 75%. Fan Si Pan Mountain is the highest in Vietnam (3,143 m).

The country has two main plains: the Red River Delta (Sông Hồng, in the north) of 15,000 km 2 and the Cuu Long River Delta (Sông Cửu Long – Mekong, in the south) of 40,000 km 2.

Provinces

  • Vinh Long Province (Vietnam).
  • Ban Can Province (Vietnam).
  • Binh Duong.
  • Cao Bang (Province).
  • Bac Ninh (province of Vietnam).
  • Binh Duong.
  • Binh Thuan (Viet Nam).
  • Ben Tre (province).
  • Bac Giang province.
  • Đồng Nai province.
  • Tra Vinh.
  • Ha Giang.

Climate

The climate is tropical and monsoon; humidity is 84% on average during the year. Annual precipitation ranges from 1,200 to 3,000 mm, and temperatures range from 5 ° C to 37 ° C.

Flora and fauna

Biodiversity is unique in Vietnam. The entire country appears covered with vegetation, while forests occupy 30% of the national territory. In the monsoon forest we find pines, bamboos, large-leaved plants and crops. Mangroves surround the tributaries of the deltas.

The tropical rainforest is home to the large mammals of Southeast Asia: elephants, bears, deer, tigers, panthers (leopards), a great variety of monkeys, hares, squirrels, otters, birds (more than 700 species), reptiles (such as the porous crocodile and siamese, python and lizards) and some 450 species of freshwater fish.

Vietnam is in the Indomalaya ecozone, according to the WWF. In terms of species diversity, Vietnam is one of the 25 countries with a high level of biodiversity. It is ranked number 16.

The country is home to almost 16,000 plant species, 10% of which are endemic. It is also home to some 237 species of mammals (33% are endemic), 260 species of reptiles, 120 species of amphibians, 840 species of birds (between 11 and 12% are endemic), 1,438 species of microalgae (9.6% of the total microalgae species in the world), 794 species of aquatic invertebrates and 2 458 species of marine fish.

In 2004, there were about 126 conservation areas, including 28 national parks, comprising about 1.2 million ha of protected land. For more information on the protected areas of Vietnam, see Protected Areas of Vietnam.

Among the fauna of Vietnam are:

  • The Asian elephant that inhabits large large forested areas throughout the country.
  • The Indian muntiac a species of deer discovered in 1996 in Vu Quang National Park.
  • The dole is a species of canid, its distribution in Vietnam is unknown. Its distribution is unknown nationally, the American Museum of Natural History estimates its area of distribution in the mountains of the north, center and south of the country. It is known that it safely inhabits the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, as at the end of February 2008 the directors of the park’s Science Center reported that traces of dole had appeared in various sectors of the park.
  • The pseudoryx nghetinhensis or saola a species discovered in 1992. It only inhabits an area of 500,000 hectares covered with forests along the border with Laos.
  • The cervus eldii or tamín deer species identified in the west of the country in 2000, there was no evidence of its existence since 1986.
  • The Indochinese tiger, about 200 individuals inhabit the forested mountains of the country, threatened with extinction. They are safe in about 100 protected areas.
  • The cissa chinensis or green crow a small colorful bird that inhabits the forests east of the Mekong River.
  • The megalaima franklinii a small bird that lives in the south of the country.
  • The crótalo oriental a kind of poisonous snake, an resident rare forest of northwestern country.

Economic development

In 1986, during the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, market elements began to be introduced as part of a broad package of economic reforms called Doi Moi (“Renewal”). In many ways, this followed the Chinese model and obtained similar results.

On the one hand, Vietnam achieved a GDP growth of 8% per year between 1990 and 1997 and continued to be around 7% during the years 2000 to 2002, thus becoming the second fastest growing economy in the world. Simultaneously, investments and savings multiplied.

In 2007 the unemployment rate was at 4.3%, standing in the middle. However, Vietnam is today (2008) one of the countries with the lowest percentage of unemployed population.

This set of data allows us to deduce that Vietnam can become a developed country in a short time. In 2007 the economy grew by 8.5%, which placed Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Poverty has been reduced considerably and is at less than 15%, the population in extreme poverty is situated at a scarce 2% and is much lower than that of other countries in the area.

Vietnam Geography