Guernsey (2008) | Vietnam (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including Castel, Forest, Saint Andrew, Saint Martin, Saint Peter Port, Saint Pierre du Bois, Saint Sampson, Saint Saviour, Torteval, Vale | 58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), and 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: 14.8% (male 4,914/female 4,784)
15-64 years: 67.4% (male 21,897/female 22,298) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 4,955/female 6,725) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 31.6% (male 13,259,152; female 12,392,089)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 24,938,098; female 26,083,681) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 1,749,531; female 2,675,865) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle | paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs; fish |
Airports | 2 (2007) | 34 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
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 (2002) |
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 (2002) |
Area | total: 78 sq km
land: 78 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km |
Area - comparative | about one-half the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than New Mexico |
Background | Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. Guernsey is a British crown dependency, but is not part of the UK. However, the UK Government is constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation. | 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 | 8.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 20.89 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $563.6 million
expenditures: $530.9 million (2005 est.) |
revenues: $5.3 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (1999 est.) |
Capital | name: Saint Peter Port
geographic coordinates: 49 27 N, 2 32 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Hanoi |
Climate | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast | 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 | 50 km | 3,444 km (excludes islands) |
Constitution | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice | 15 April 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: Bailiwick of Guernsey
conventional short form: Guernsey |
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 | - | dong (VND) |
Death rate | 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 6.14 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $13.2 billion (2000) |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Raymond F. BURGHARDT
embassy: 7 Lang Ha Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi mailing address: PSC 461, Box 400, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [84] (4) 772-1500 FAX: [84] (4) 772-1510 consulate(s) general: Ho Chi Minh City |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Nguyen Tam CHIEN
chancery: 1233 20th Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 861-0737 FAX: [1] (202) 861-0917 consulate(s) general: San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | Vietnam disputes several offshore islands with Cambodia, preventing delimitation of a maritime boundary; Cambodia accuses Vietnam of territorial encroachments and initiating armed border incidents in seven provinces; demarcation of boundaries with Laos is nearing completion, but Laos protests Vietnamese squatters; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary with China in the Gulf of Tonkin still awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; demarcation of the land boundary with China has commenced, but details of the alignment have not been made public |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $2.1 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000 |
Economy - overview | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance - account for about 23% of employment and 32% of total income in this tiny, prosperous Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Financial services, construction, retail, and the public sector have been growing. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the environment under which Guernsey operates. | 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 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 then rose to 6.8% in 2000 and dropped back to 4.7% in 2001 against the background of global recession. 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. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities have moved slowly in implementing the structural reforms needed to revitalize the economy and produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement entered into force near the end of 2001 and is expected to significantly increase Vietnam's exports to the US. The US is assisting Vietnam with implementing the legal and structural reforms called for in the agreement. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 23.97 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 25.775 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 41%
hydro: 59% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 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, 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 | UK and Norman-French descent with small percentages from other European countries | Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups |
Exchange rates | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003)
note: the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound |
dong per US dollar - 15,085 (January 2002), 14,725 (2001), 14,168 (2000), 13,943 (1999), 13,268 (1998), 11,683 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor Sir Fabian MALBON (since 28 October 2005)
head of government: Chief Minister Michael W. TORODE (since 5 March 2007) cabinet: Policy Council elected by the States of Deliberation elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister is elected by States of Deliberation election results: Laurie MORGAN elected chief minister, percent of vote of the States of Deliberation NA |
chief of state: President Tran Duc LUONG (since 24 September 1997)
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 Vu KHOAN (since NA) 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 24 September 1997 (next to be held when National Assembly meets following legislative elections in May 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 | $15.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables | crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes |
Exports - partners | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) | Japan 18.1%, China 10.6%, Australia 8.8%, Singapore 6.1%, Taiwan 5.2%, Germany 5.1%, US 5.1% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross | red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $168.1 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
agriculture: 25%
industry: 35% services: 40% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2005 est.) | 4.7% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 28 N, 2 35 W | 16 00 N, 106 00 E |
Geography - note | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port | extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point |
Highways | - | 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%: 4%
highest 10%: 30% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | minor producer of opium poppy; probable minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin; domestic opium/heroin/methamphetamine addiction problems |
Imports | $NA | $15.3 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment | machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles |
Imports - partners | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) | Singapore 17.7%, Japan 14.4%, Taiwan 12.1%, South Korea 11.1%, China 9.1%, Thailand 5.2%, Hong Kong 3.9% (2000) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | 2 September 1945 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 10.4% (2001 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking | food processing, garments, shoes, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
29.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (June 2006) | -0.3% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | ACCT, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 5 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | 30,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Royal Court | 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 | 31,470 (March 2006) | 38.2 million (1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | 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: NA%
permanent crops: NA% other: NA% |
arable land: 17.41%
permanent crops: 4.71% other: 77.88% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts | Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; justice is administered by the Royal Court | based on communist legal theory and French civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral States of Deliberation (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote for four years); note - Alderney and Sark have parliaments
elections: last held 21 April 2004 (next to be held in 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - all independents |
unicameral National Assembly or Quoc-Hoi (498 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 19 May 2002 (next to be held 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - CPV 90%, other 10% (the 10% are not CPV members but are approved by the CPV to stand for election); seats by party - CPV 447, CPV-approved 51 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 80.53 years
male: 77.53 years female: 83.64 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 69.86 years
male: 67.4 years female: 72.5 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.7% male: 96.5% female: 91.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia |
Map references | Europe | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 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 | - | total: 153 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 782,912 GRT/1,173,186 DWT
ships by type: bulk 9, cargo 113, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, container 5, liquefied gas 2, petroleum tanker 20, refrigerated cargo 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cambodia 1, Japan 1, Singapore 1, United Kingdom 2 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | People's Army of Vietnam (includes Ground Forces, People's Navy Command [including Naval Infantry], Air and Air Defense Force, Coast Guard) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $650 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.5% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 22,220,891 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 13,978,653 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 17 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 961,124 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) | Independence Day, 2 September (1945) |
Nationality | noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural)
adjective: Vietnamese |
Natural hazards | NA | occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta |
Natural resources | cropland | phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 3.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 150 km |
Political parties and leaders | none; all independents | only party - Communist Party of Vietnam or CPV [Nong Duc MANH, general secretary] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | none |
Population | 65,573 (July 2007 est.) | 81,098,416 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 37% (1998 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.239% (2007 est.) | 1.43% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vinh, Vung Tau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 65, FM 7, shortwave 29 (1999) |
Radios | - | 8.2 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total: 3,142 km
standard gauge: 209 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 2,625 km 1.000-m gauge dual gauge: 308 km three-rail track combining 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (2001) |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist | Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.027 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.982 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.737 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
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 | 45,100 (2005) | 2.6 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 43,800 (2004) | 730,155 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | at least 7 (plus 13 repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | mostly level with low hills in southwest | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest |
Total fertility rate | 1.4 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.44 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.9% (March 2006 est.) | 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 |