The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Vietnam declared independence after World War II, but France continued to rule until its 1954 defeat by Communist forces under Ho Chi Minh.

Under the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the Communist North and anti-Communist South. U.S. 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military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973.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 reuniting the country under Communist rule. Despite the return of peace, for over a decade the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies.

However, since the enactment of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have committed to increased 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 various groups - such as the Protestant Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands and the Hoa Hao Buddhists in southern Vietnam over religious persecution.

Montagnard grievances also include the loss of land to Vietnamese settlers.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 85,262,356 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.3% (male 11,617,032/female 10,784,264) 15-64 years: 67.9% (male 28,711,464/female 29,205,498) 65 years and over: 5.8% (male 1,919,138/female 3,024,960) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 26.4 years male: 25.3 years female: 27.6 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.004% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 16.63 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 6.19 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.077 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.983 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.634 male(s)/female total population: 0.982 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 24.37 deaths/1,000 live births male: 24.76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.07 years male: 68.27 years female: 74.08 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 220,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 9,000 (2003 est.)

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and plague are high risks in some locations animal contact disease: rabies water contact disease: leptospirosis note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)

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Nationality: noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural) adjective: Vietnamese

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Ethnic groups: Kinh (Viet) 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, others 4.1% (1999 census)

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Religions: Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, none 80.8% (1999 census)

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Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.3% male: 93.9% female: 86.9% (2002 est.)

Vietnam is a densely-populated, developing country that in the last 30 years 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 1997 in moving forward from an extremely low level of development and significantly reducing poverty. Growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems in the Vietnamese economy and temporarily allowed opponents of reform to slow progress toward a market-oriented economy. GDP growth averaged 6.8% per year from 1997 to 2004 even against the background of the Asian financial crisis and a global recession, and growth hit 8% in 2005 and 7.8% in 2006. Since 2001, however, Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and international integration. They have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. Vietnam's membership in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and entry into force of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement in December 2001 have led to even more rapid changes in Vietnam's trade and economic regime. Vietnam's exports to the US doubled in 2002 and again in 2003. Vietnam joined the WTO in January 2007, following over a decade long negotiation process. This should provide an important boost to the economy and should help to ensure the continuation of liberalizing reforms. Among other benefits, accession allows Vietnam to take advantage of the phase-out of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which eliminated quotas on textiles and clothing for WTO partners on 1 January 2005. Agriculture's share of economic output has continued to shrink, from about 25% in 2000 to 20% in 2006. Deep poverty, defined as a percent of the population living under $1 per day, has declined significantly and is now smaller than that of China, India, and the Philippines. Vietnam is working to create jobs to meet the challenge of a labor force that is growing by more than one million people every year. Vietnamese authorities have tightened monetary and fiscal policies to stem high inflation. Hanoi is targeting an economic growth rate of 7.5-8% during the next five years.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $262.5 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $48.43 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 8.2% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,100 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 20.1% industry: 41.8% services: 38.1% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 44.58 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 56.8% industry: 37% services: 6.2% (July 2005)

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Unemployment rate: 2% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 19.5% (2004 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 29.9% (1998)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 36.1 (1998)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.5% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 32.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $15.42 billion expenditures: $16.63 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 47.5% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: paddy rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood

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Industries: food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building; mining, coal, steel; cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, paper

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Industrial production growth rate: 11.3% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 40.11 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 37.3 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 400,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 230,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 2.5 billion bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 6.342 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 6.342 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 192.6 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $1.029 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $39.92 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes

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Exports - partners: US 21.1%, Japan 12.2%, Australia 9.3%, China 5.7%, Germany 4.5% (2006)

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Imports: $39.16 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles

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Imports - partners: China 17.1%, Singapore 12.5%, Japan 9.5%, South Korea 9.3%, Thailand 7.1%, Malaysia 4% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $11.92 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $21.86 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $2.8 billion in credits and grants pledged by the 2006 Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi (2004)

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Currency (code): dong (VND)

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Exchange rates: dong per US dollar - 15,983 (2006), 15,746 (2005), (2004), 15,510 (2003), 15,280 (2002) Fiscal year: calendar year