Sudan (2001) | Vietnam (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | 26 states (wilayat, singular - wilayah); A'ali an Nil, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrat, Al Jazirah, Al Khartum, Al Qadarif, Al Wahdah, An Nil al Abyad, An Nil al Azraq, Ash Shamaliyah, Bahr al Jabal, Gharb al Istiwa'iyah, Gharb Bahr al Ghazal, Gharb Darfur, Gharb Kurdufan, Janub Darfur, Janub Kurdufan, Junqali, Kassala, Nahr an Nil, Shamal Bahr al Ghazal, Shamal Darfur, Shamal Kurdufan, Sharq al Istiwa'iyah, Sinnar, Warab | 59 provinces (tinh, singular and plural) and 5 municipalities (thu do, singular and plural)
provinces: 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, Cao Bang, Dac Lak, Dac Nong, Dien Bien, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Ha Nam, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hau Giang, Hoa Binh, 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 municipalities: Can Tho, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
44.62% (male 8,227,011; female 7,870,783) 15-64 years: 53.29% (male 9,619,218; female 9,608,469) 65 years and over: 2.09% (male 425,898; female 328,994) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.4% (male 12,524,098; female 11,807,763)
15-64 years: 65% (male 26,475,156; female 27,239,543) 65 years and over: 5.6% (male 1,928,568; female 2,714,390) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassara, mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock | paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs, fish |
Airports | 61 (2000 est.) | 19 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
12 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
49 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 25 under 914 m: 9 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2003 est.) |
Area | total:
2,505,810 sq km land: 2.376 million sq km water: 129,810 sq km |
total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US | slightly larger than New Mexico |
Background | Military dictatorships promulgating an Islamic government have mostly run the country since independence from the UK in 1956. Over the past two decades, a civil war pitting black Christians and animists in the south against the Arab-Muslims of the north has cost at least 1.5 million lives in war- and famine-related deaths, as well as the displacement of millions of others. | The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. 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. Despite the return of peace, for over two decades the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities have committed to economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to experience protests from the Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands over loss of land to Vietnamese settlers and religious persecution. |
Birth rate | 37.89 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 19.58 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$1.2 billion expenditures: $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $8.689 billion
expenditures: $9.718 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (2003 est.) |
Capital | Khartoum | Hanoi |
Climate | tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October) | 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 | 853 km | 3,444 km (excludes islands) |
Constitution | 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989; new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998 partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR | 15 April 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of the Sudan conventional short form: Sudan local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan local short form: As-Sudan former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan |
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 | Sudanese dinar (SDD) | dong (VND) |
Death rate | 10.04 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.14 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $24.9 billion (2000 est.) | $14.69 billion (2003) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | US officials at the US Embassy in Khartoum were moved for security reasons in February 1996 and have been relocated to the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make periodic visits to Khartoum; the US Embassy in Khartoum is located on Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue; mailing address - P. O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 09829; telephone - [249] (11) 774611 or 774700; FAX - [249] (11) 774137; the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located in the Interim Office Building on Mombasa Road, Nairobi; mailing address - P. O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831; telephone - [254] (2) 751613; FAX - [254] (2) 743204; the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is located at (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo; mailing address - Unit 64900, APO AE 09839-4900; telephone - [20] (2) 3557371; FAX - [20] (2) 3573200 | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael W. MARINE
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Mahdi Ibrahim MAHAMMAD (recalled to Khartoum in August 1998) chancery: 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 338-8565 FAX: [1] (202) 667-2406 |
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 | administrative boundary with Kenya does not coincide with international boundary; Egypt asserts its claim to the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 sq km under partial Sudanese administration that is defined by an administrative boundary which supersedes the treaty boundary of 1899 | demarcation of the land boundary with China continues, but maritime boundary and joint fishing zone agreement remains unimplemented; Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese squatters and armed encroachments along border; China occupies Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants |
Economic aid - recipient | $187 million (1997) | $2.8 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000 (2004) |
Economy - overview | Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic instability, adverse weather, weak world agricultural prices, a drop in remittances from abroad, and counterproductive economic policies. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture (which employs 80% of the work force), trading, and light industry which is mostly processing of agricultural goods. Most of the 1990s were characterized by sluggish economic growth as the IMF suspended lending, declared Sudan a non-cooperative state, and threatened to expel Sudan from the IMF. Starting in 1997, Sudan began implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms which have successfully stabilized inflation at 10% or less. Sudan continues to have limited international credit resources as over 75% of Sudan's debt of $24.9 billion is in arrears and Khartoum's continued prosecution of the civil war works to isolate Sudan. In 1999, Sudan began exporting oil and in 1999-2000 had recorded its first trade surpluses. Current oil production stands at 185,000 barrels per day, of which about 70% is exported and the rest refined for domestic consumption. Despite its many infrastructure problems, Sudan's increased oil production, the return of regular rainfall, and recent investments in irrigation schemes should allow the country to achieve economic growth of 6% in 2001. | 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 would lead to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth then rose to 6% to 7% in 2000-02 even 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. Since the Party elected new leadership in 2001, Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to 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 | 1.637 billion kWh (1999) | 27.71 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 1.76 billion kWh (1999) | 29.8 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
42.05% hydro: 57.95% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Red Sea 0 m highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification | 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, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1% | Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups |
Exchange rates | Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 257.44 (January 2001), 257.12 (2000), 252.55 (1999), 200.80 (1998), 157.57 (1997), 125.08 (1996) | dong per US dollar - 15,279.5 (2003), 15,279.5 (2002), 14,725.2 (2001), 14,167.7 (2000), 13,943.2 (1999) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - the National Congress Party (front for the National Islamic Front or NIF) dominates BASHIR's cabinet elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 13-23 December 2000 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR reelected president; percent of vote - Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 86.5%, Ja'afar Muhammed NUMAYRI 9.6%, three other candidates received less than a combined 4% of the vote note: BASHIR assumed supreme executive power in 1989 and retained it through several transitional governments in the early and mid-90s before being popularly elected for the first time in March 1996 |
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 (8 August 2002) 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 July 2002 (next to be held when National Assembly meets following legislative elections in 2007); 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 | $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | oil and petroleum products, cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar | crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes |
Exports - partners | Saudi Arabia 16%, Italy 10%, Germany 5%, France 3%, Thailand 3% (1999) | US 21.9%, Japan 13.8%, Australia 6.8%, China 6.5%, Germany 5.8%, Singapore 4.6%, UK 4.4% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side | red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $35.7 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $203.7 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
39% industry: 17% services: 44% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 21.8%
industry: 39.7% services: 38.5% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7% (2000 est.) | 7.2% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 30 00 E | 16 00 N, 106 00 E |
Geography - note | largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries | extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
11,900 km paved: 4,320 km unpaved: 7,580 km (1996) |
total: 93,300 km
paved: 23,418 km unpaved: 69,882 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 29.9% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | minor producer of opium poppy; probable minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin; domestic opium/heroin/methamphetamine addiction problems |
Imports | $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles | machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles |
Imports - partners | China 14.7%, Libya 14.7%, Saudi Arabia 8.9%, UK 8.7%, France 6.7% (1999) | China 13.7%, Taiwan 11.4%, Japan 11.3%, South Korea 11%, Singapore 10.4%, US 5.7%, Thailand 5.4%, Hong Kong 4.2% (2003) |
Independence | 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK) | 2 September 1945 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5% (1996 est.) | 16% (2003 est.) |
Industries | cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments | food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper |
Infant mortality rate | 68.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 29.88 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 33.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10% (2000 est.) | 3.1% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | ACCT (observer), APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 19,460 sq km (1993 est.) | 30,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Special Revolutionary Courts | 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 | 11 million (1996 est.) | 45.74 million (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 10%, government 6%, unemployed 4% (1996 est.) | agriculture 63%, industry and services 37% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
7,687 km border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km |
total: 4,639 km
border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km |
Land use | arable land:
5% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 19% other: 30% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 19.97%
permanent crops: 5.95% other: 74.08% (2001) |
Languages | Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of "Arabization" in process |
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 and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on communist legal theory and French civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (400 seats; 275 elected by popular vote, 125 elected by a supra assembly of interest groups known as the National Congress)
elections: last held 13-23 December 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: NA; few parties participated in the 2000 elections note: on 12 December 1999, BASHIR dismissed the National Assembly during an internal power struggle between the president and speaker of the National Assembly Hasan al-TURABI |
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:
56.94 years male: 55.85 years female: 58.08 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 70.35 years
male: 67.86 years female: 73.02 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 46.1% male: 57.7% female: 34.6% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.3% male: 93.9% female: 86.9% (2002) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia |
Map references | Africa | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
18 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | total:
4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 38,093 GRT/49,727 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 194 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,170,621 GRT/1,798,376 DWT
by type: bulk 16, cargo 135, chemical tanker 1, container 8, liquefied gas 4, petroleum tanker 25, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: Cambodia 1, Germany 1, Japan 2, South Korea 1, United Kingdom 3 registered in other countries: 11 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force Militia | People's Army of Vietnam: Ground Forces, People's Navy Command (including Naval Infantry), Air and Air Defense Force, Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $550 million (FY98) | $650 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 2.5% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
8,436,732 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 23,438,858 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
5,194,862 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 14,694,574 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
398,294 (2001 est.) |
males: 853,197 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 1 January (1956) | Independence Day, 2 September (1945) |
Nationality | noun:
Sudanese (singular and plural) adjective: Sudanese |
noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural)
adjective: Vietnamese |
Natural hazards | dust storms | occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta |
Natural resources | petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, hydropower | phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | refined products 815 km | condensate/gas 432 km; gas 210 km; oil 3 km; refined products 206 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | the government allows political "associations" under a 1998 law revised in 2000; to obtain government approval parties must accept the constitution and refrain from advocating or using violence against the regime; approved parties include the National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR], Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI], and a handful of minor pro-government parties | only party - Communist Party of Vietnam or CPV [Nong Duc Manh, general secretary] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | National Congress Party [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR] (front for the National Islamic Front or NIF); Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI]; Umma [Sadiq al-MAHDI]; Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI]; National Democratic Alliance [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI, chairman]; Sudan People's Liberation Army [Dr. John GARANG] | none |
Population | 36,080,373 (July 2001 est.) | 82,689,518 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 37% (1998 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.79% (2001 est.) | 1.3% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port Sudan, Sawakin | Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Long, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vinh, Vung Tau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 65, FM 7, shortwave 29 (1999) |
Radios | 7.55 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
5,311 km narrow gauge: 4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 716 km 1.6096-m gauge plantation line note: the main line linking Khartoum to Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic |
total: 2,600 km
standard gauge: 178 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 2,169 km 1.000-m gauge dual gauge: 253 km three-rail track combining 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (2003) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum) | Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.29 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 17 years of age; universal, but noncompulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
large, well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (2000) |
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; main lines have been substantially increased, and the use of mobile telephones is growing rapidly international: country code - 84; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 400,000 (2000) | 4.402 million (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 20,000 (2000) | 2.742 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (1997) | at least 7 (plus 13 repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest |
Total fertility rate | 5.35 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.22 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4% (1996 est.) | 6.1% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | 5,310 km | 17,702 km (5,000 km navigable by vessels up to 1.8 m draft) (2004) |