Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)
Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly,
mountainous in far north and northwest
Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil deposits, forests
Land use: arable land: 22% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 40% other: 35%
Irrigated land: 18,300 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices are
contributing to deforestation; soil degradation; water pollution and
overfishing threatening marine life populations; inadequate supplies
of potable water because of groundwater contamination
natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive
flooding
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Nuclear Test Ban
@Vietnam:People
Population: 74,393,324 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 36% (female 13,225,916; male 13,918,321)
15-64 years: 59% (female 22,353,710; male 21,223,739)
65 years and over: 5% (female 2,236,453; male 1,435,185) (July 1995
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.71% (1995 est.)