1976–present: reunification and reforms
Main article: Doi Moi
Saigon Trade Center, one of the first skyscrapers to be built in Ho Chi Minh City after the Doi Moi reforms.
In the aftermath of the war, under Lê Duẩn's administration, the government embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories.[73] This caused economic chaos and resulted in triple-digit inflation, while national reconstruction efforts progressed slowly. At least one million South Vietnamese were sent to reeducation camps, with an estimated 165,000 prisoners dying.[74][75] Between 100,000[74][76][77] and 200,000[78] South Vietnamese were executed in extrajudicial killings;[79] another 50,000 died performing hard labor in "New Economic Zones".[74][80] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, millions of people fled the country in crudely built boats, creating an international humanitarian crisis;[81][82] hundreds of thousands died at sea.[83]
In 1978, the Vietnamese military invaded Cambodia to remove from power the Khmer Rouge, who had been attacking Vietnamese border villages.[84] Vietnam was victorious, installing a government in Cambodia which ruled until 1989.[85] This action worsened relations with the Chinese, who launched a brief incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979.[86] This conflict caused Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid.
At the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in December 1986, reformist politicians replaced the "old guard" government with new leadership.[87][88] The reformers were led by 71-year-old Nguyễn Văn Linh, who became the party's new general secretary.[87][88] Linh and the reformers implemented a series of free-market reforms – known as Đổi Mới ("Renovation") – which carefully managed the transition from a planned economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy".[89][90]
Though the authority of the state remained unchallenged under Đổi Mới, the government encouraged private ownership of farms and factories, economic deregulation and foreign investment, while maintaining control over strategic industries.[90] The Vietnamese economy subsequently achieved strong growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction, exports and foreign investment. However, these reforms have also caused a rise in income inequality and gender disparities.[13][14][15]
§Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Vietnam and Military of Vietnam
The Presidential Palace in Hanoi, formerly the Palace of The Governor-General of French Indochina.
The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, along with China, Cuba, Laos, and North Korea, is one of the world's five remaining single-party socialist states officially espousing communism. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. The General Secretary of the Communist Party performs numerous key administrative and executive functions, controlling the party's national organization and state appointments, as well as setting policy. Only political organizations affiliated with or endorsed by the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. These include the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and worker and trade unionist parties. Although the state remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist,[91] with The Economist characterizing its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists".[92]
The President of Vietnam is the titular head of state and the nominal commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the Chairman of the Council of Supreme Defense and Security. The Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of government, presiding over a council of ministers composed of three deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions.
§Legislature
The National Assembly of Vietnam is the unicameral legislature of the state, composed of 498 members. Headed by a Chairman, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly. The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, headed by a Chief Justice, is the country's highest court of appeal, though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and numerous local courts. Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of national security. Vietnam maintains the death penalty for numerous offences; as of February 2014, there are around 700 inmates on death row in Vietnam.[93]
§Military
The Vietnam People's Armed Forces consists of the Vietnam People's Army, the Vietnam People's Public Security and the Vietnam Civil Defense Force. The Vietnam People's Army (VPA) is the official name for the active military services of Vietnam, and is subdivided into the Vietnam People's Ground Forces, the Vietnam People's Navy, the Vietnam People's Air Force, the Vietnam Border Defense Force and the Vietnam Coast Guard. The VPA has an active manpower of around 450,000, but its total strength, including paramilitary forces, may be as high as 5,000,000.[94] In 2011, Vietnam's military expenditure totalled approximately US$2.48 billion, equivalent to around 2.5% of its 2010 GDP.[95]
§International relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Vietnam
Vietnamese troops on one of the disputed Spratly Islands in 2009.
Throughout its history, Vietnam's key foreign relationship has been with its largest neighbour and one-time imperial master, China. Vietnam's sovereign principles and insistence on cultural independence have been laid down in numerous documents over the centuries, such as the 11th-century patriotic poem Nam quốc sơn hà and the 1428 proclamation of independence Bình Ngô đại cáo. Though China and Vietnam are now formally at peace, significant territorial tensions remain between the two countries.[96]
Currently, the formal mission statement of Vietnamese foreign policy is to: "Implement consistently the foreign policy line of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development; the foreign policy of openness and diversification and multi-lateralization of international relations. Proactively and actively engage in international economic integration while expanding international cooperation in other fields."[97] Vietnam furthermore declares itself to be "a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the international community, actively taking part in international and regional cooperation processes."[97]
By December 2007, Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with 172 countries, including the United States, which normalized relations in 1995.[98][99] Vietnam holds membership of 63 international organizations, including the United Nations, ASEAN, NAM, Francophonie and WTO. It is furthermore a member of around 650 non-government organizations.[100]
§Administrative subdivisions
Main articles: Provinces of Vietnam, Municipalities of Vietnam and Districts of Vietnam
Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces (Vietnamese: tỉnh, from the Chinese 省, shěng). There are also five municipalities (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương), which are administratively on the same level as provinces.
A clickable map of Vietnam exhibiting its 58 provinces and 5 centrally controlled municipalities.
A clickable map of Vietnam exhibiting its provinces.
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Red River Delta
Bắc Ninh
Hà Nam
Hải Dương
Hưng Yên
Nam Định
Ninh Bình
Thái Bình
Vĩnh Phúc
Hanoi (municipality)
Hai Phong (municipality)
Northeast
Bắc Giang
Bắc Kạn
Cao Bằng
Hà Giang
Lạng Sơn
Lào Cai
Phú Thọ
Quảng Ninh
Thái Nguyên
Tuyên Quang
Yên Bái
Northwest
Điện Biên
Hòa Bình
Lai Châu
Sơn La
North Central Coast
Hà Tĩnh
Nghệ An
Quảng Bình
Quảng Trị
Thanh Hóa
Thừa Thiên–Huế
Central Highlands
Đắk Lắk
Đắk Nông
Gia Lai
Kon Tum
Lâm Đồng
South Central Coast
Bình Định
Bình Thuận
Khánh Hòa
Ninh Thuận
Phú Yên
Quảng Nam
Quảng Ngãi
Da Nang (municipality)
Southeast
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu
Bình Dương
Bình Phước Province
Đồng Nai
Tây Ninh
Ho Chi Minh City (municipality)
Mekong Delta
An Giang
Bạc Liêu
Bến Tre
Cà Mau
Đồng Tháp
Hậu Giang
Kiên Giang
Long An
Sóc Trăng
Tiền Giang
Trà Vinh
Vĩnh Long
Cần Thơ (municipality)
The provinces are subdivided into provincial municipalities (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh), townships (thị xã) and counties (huyện), which are in turn subdivided into towns (thị trấn) or communes (xã). The centrally controlled municipalities are subdivided into districts (quận) and counties, which are further subdivided into wards (phường).
§Geography
Main article: Geography of Vietnam
Topographic map of Vietnam.
Vietnam is located on the eastern Indochina Peninsula between the latitudes 8° and 24°N, and the longitudes 102° and 110°E. It covers a total area of approximately 331,210 km2 (127,881 sq mi),[2] making it almost the size of Germany. The combined length of the country's land boundaries is 4,639 km (2,883 mi), and its coastline is 3,444 km (2,140 mi) long.[2] At its narrowest point in the central Quảng Bình Province, the country is as little as 50 kilometres (31 mi) across, though it widens to around 600 kilometres (370 mi) in the north. Vietnam's land is mostly hilly and densely forested, with level land covering no more than 20%. Mountains account for 40% of the country's land area, and tropical forests cover around 42%.
The northern part of the country consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. Phan Xi Păng, located in Lào Cai Province, is the highest mountain in Vietnam, standing 3,143 m (10,312 ft) high. Southern Vietnam is divided into coastal lowlands, the mountains of the Annamite Range, and extensive forests. Comprising five relatively flat plateaus of basa