Grenada (2004) | Vietnam (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick | 58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural); An Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lak, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Hai Phong*, Ha Nam, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Ho Chi Minh*, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 34.5% (male 15,580; female 15,212)
15-64 years: 62% (male 29,321; female 26,104) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 1,467; female 1,673) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
32.13% (male 13,266,585; female 12,415,384) 15-64 years: 62.44% (male 24,357,343; female 25,556,187) 65 years and over: 5.43% (male 1,722,094; female 2,621,421) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables | paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs; fish |
Airports | 3 (2003 est.) | 34 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total:
17 over 3,047 m: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
17 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 8 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 344 sq km
land: 344 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
329,560 sq km land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km |
Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than New Mexico |
Background | One of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere, Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year. | France occupied all of Vietnam by 1884. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by communist forces under Ho Chi MINH, who took control of the north. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese forces overran the south. Economic reconstruction of the reunited country has proven difficult as aging Communist Party leaders have only grudgingly initiated reforms necessary for a free market. |
Birth rate | 22.61 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 21.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $85.8 million
expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
revenues:
$5.3 billion expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (1999 est.) |
Capital | Saint George's | Hanoi |
Climate | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds | tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March) |
Coastline | 121 km | 3,444 km (excludes islands) |
Constitution | 19 December 1973 | 15 April 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Grenada |
conventional long form:
Socialist Republic of Vietnam conventional short form: Vietnam local long form: Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam local short form: Viet Nam abbreviation: SRV |
Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) | dong (VND) |
Death rate | 7.31 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.22 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $196 million (2000) | $13.2 billion (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: the US Ambassador to Barbados, Ambassador Mary E. KRAMER, is accredited to Grenada
embassy: Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Douglas B. "Pete" PETERSON embassy: 7 Lang Ha Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi mailing address: PSC 461, Box 400, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [84] (4) 8431500 FAX: [84] (4) 8351510 consulate(s) general: Ho Chi Minh City |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE
chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561 FAX: [1] (202) 265-2468 consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate Nguyen Tam CHIEN chancery: 1233 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, Suite 400 telephone: [1] (202) 861-0737 FAX: [1] (202) 861-0917 consulate(s) general: San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with China in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; portions of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; agreement on land border with China was signed in December 1999, but details of alignment have not yet been made public |
Economic aid - recipient | $8.3 million (1995) | $2.1 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000 |
Economy - overview | Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. | Vietnam is a poor, densely populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress was achieved from 1986 to 1996 in moving forward from an extremely low starting point - growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems existing in the Vietnamese economy but, rather than prompting reform, reaffirmed the government's belief that shifting to a market oriented economy leads to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth continued at the moderately strong level of 5.5%, a level that should be matched in 2001. These numbers mask some major difficulties in economic performance. Many domestic industries, including coal, cement, steel, and paper, have reported large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient foreign producers; this problem apparently eased in 2000. Foreign direct investment fell dramatically, from $8.3 billion in 1996 to about $1.6 billion in 1999. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities have moved slowly in implementing the structural reforms needed to revitalize the economy and produce more competitive, export-driven industries. |
Electricity - consumption | 128.3 million kWh (2001) | 21.376 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 138 million kWh (2001) | 22.985 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
47.71% hydro: 52.29% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
lowest point:
South China Sea 0 m highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5% , and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian | Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999) | dong per US dollar - 14,530 (January 2001), 14,020 (January 2000), 13,900 (December 1998), 11,100 (December 1996), 11,193 (1995 average), 11,000 (October 1994) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
chief of state:
President Tran Duc LUONG (since 24 September 1997) and Vice President Nguyen Thi BINH (since NA October 1992) head of government: Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 25 September 1997); First Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan DUNG (since 29 September 1997); Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Cong TAN (since 29 September 1997), Nguyen Manh CAM (since 29 September 1997), and Pham Gia KHIEM (since 29 September 1997) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly from among its members for a five-year term; election last held 25 September 1997 (next to be held when National Assembly meets following legislative elections in NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister election results: Tran Duc LUONG elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $14.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace | crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes |
Exports - partners | US 14.9%, Germany 12.8%, Netherlands 8.5%, Saint Lucia 8.5%, Antigua and Barbuda 6.4%, UK 6.4%, Belgium 4.3%, Dominica 4.3%, France 4.3%, Saint Kitts and Nevis 4.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 4.3% (2003) | China, Japan, Germany, Australia, US, France, Singapore, UK, Taiwan |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions | red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $440 million (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $154.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7.7%
industry: 23.9% services: 68.4% (2000) |
agriculture:
25% industry: 35% services: 40% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,950 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2002 est.) | 5.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 07 N, 61 40 W | 16 00 N, 106 00 E |
Geography - note | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada | - |
Highways | total: 1,040 km
paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1999 est.) |
total:
93,300 km paved: 23,418 km unpaved: 69,882 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
3.5% highest 10%: 29% (1993) |
Illicit drugs | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US | minor producer of opium poppy with 2,100 hectares cultivated in 1999, capable of producing 11 metric tons of opium; probable minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin; opium/heroin/methamphetamine addiction problems |
Imports | NA (2001) | $15.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel | machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles |
Imports - partners | US 30%, Trinidad and Tobago 26.8%, UK 5.2%, Japan 4.4% (2003) | Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, US, Sweden |
Independence | 7 February 1974 (from UK) | 2 September 1945 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1997 est.) | 10.7% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction | food processing, garments, shoes, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper |
Infant mortality rate | total: 14.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
30.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2001 est.) | -0.6% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO | ACCT, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 5 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 18,600 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) | Supreme People's Court (chief justice is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president) |
Labor force | 42,300 (1996) | 38.2 million (1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 24%, industry 14%, services 62% (1999 est.) | agriculture 67%, industry and services 33% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total:
4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km |
Land use | arable land: 5.88%
permanent crops: 29.41% other: 64.71% (2001) |
arable land:
17% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 30% other: 48% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official), French patois | Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on communist legal theory and French civil law system |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by NA November 2008) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7 |
unicameral National Assembly or Quoc-Hoi (450 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 20 July 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - CPV 92%, other 8% (the 8% are not CPV members but are approved by the CPV to stand for election); seats by party - CPV or CPV-approved 450 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 64.52 years
male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
69.56 years male: 67.12 years female: 72.19 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.7% male: 96.5% female: 91.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | none | total:
143 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 705,388 GRT/1,071,902 DWT ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 108, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, container 2, liquefied gas 2, petroleum tanker 18, refrigerated cargo 3 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force | People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (includes Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force), Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | $650 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 2.5% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
21,704,588 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
13,673,438 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 17 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
961,124 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) | Independence Day, 2 September (1945) |
Nationality | noun: Grenadian(s)
adjective: Grenadian |
noun:
Vietnamese (singular and plural) adjective: Vietnamese |
Natural hazards | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November | occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding |
Natural resources | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors | phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -13.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 150 km |
Political parties and leaders | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Herbert PREUDHOMME]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [leader vacant]; New National Party or NNP [George McGUIRE]; People Labor Movement or PLM [leader NA] | only party - Communist Party of Vietnam or CPV [Le Kha PHIEU, general secretary] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 89,357 (July 2004 est.) | 79,939,014 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 32% (2000) | 37% (1998 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.14% (2004 est.) | 1.45% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Grenville, Saint George's | Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vinh, Vung Tau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 65, FM 7, shortwave 29 (1999) |
Radios | - | 8.2 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
2,652 km standard gauge: 166 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 2,249 km 1.000-m gauge dual gauge: 237 km NA-m gauges (three rails) (1998) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% | Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
general assessment:
Vietnam is putting considerable effort into modernization and expansion of its telecommunication system, but its performance continues to lag behind that of its more modern neighbors domestic: all provincial exchanges are digitalized and connected to Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City by fiber-optic cable or microwave radio relay networks; since 1991, main lines in use have been substantially increased and the use of mobile telephones is growing rapidly international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 33,500 (2002) | 2.6 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 7,600 (2002) | 730,155 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | at least 7 (plus 13 repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | volcanic in origin with central mountains | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest |
Total fertility rate | 2.41 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 2.49 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 12.5% (2000) | 25% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | - | 17,702 km
note: more than 5,149 km are navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 m draft |