330,363 sq km

Population

78.69m (2001)

Main towns

Population (of province) in ‘000 (2001)

Ho Chi Minh City 5,378

Hanoi (capital) 2,842

Haiphong 1,711

Climate

Tropical monsoon; north cool and damp in winter (November-April), hot and rainy in summer; south more equable; centre most subject to typhoons. The rains are highly unpredictable

Weather in Hanoi (altitude 216 metres)

Hottest month, June, 26-33°C; coldest month, January, 13-20°C; wettest month, August, 343 mm average rainfall; driest month, January, 18 mm average rainfall

Weather in Ho Chi Minh City (altitude 9 metres)

Hottest month, April, 24-35°C; coldest month, January, 21-32°C; wettest month, September, 335 mm average rainfall; driest month, February, 3 mm average rainfall

Languages

Vietnamese (spoken by about 90% of the population); English (increasingly favoured as a second language); some French; a little Russian; minority languages such as Hmong, Thai, Khmer in remoter rural areas.

Weights and measures

Metric system. Local land measurement 1 mau=3,600 sq metres (north); 1 mau=5,000 sq metres (centre)

Currency

Dong (D). Average exchange rate in 2001: D14,725:US$1; exchange rate on September 27th 2002: D15,342:US$1

Time

7 hours ahead of GMT