Vietnam
Updated: Sep 9, 2022
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Country Name
Vietnam, and officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Location
Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia and the easternmost country on the Indochinese Peninsula. Vietnam shares its land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west.
It shares its maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea.
Capital
Hanoi.
Reason for Naming the country
The name Việt Nam is a modification of Nam Việt, a name that can be traced back to the Triệu dynasty of the 2nd century BC.
The word Việt originated as a shortened form of Bách Việt, the name of a group of people then living in southern China and Vietnam. The form "Vietnam" is first recorded in the 16th century. The name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Hải Phòng that dates to 1558.
In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (who later became Emperor Gia Long) established the Nguyễn dynasty. In the second year of his rule, he asked the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty to give him the title 'King of Nam Viet after gaining power in Annam. The Emperor refused since the name was related to Zhao Tuo's Nanyue, which included the regions of Guangxi and Guangdong in southern China. The Qing Emperor, therefore, decided to call the area "Viet Nam" instead.
Flag
The Flag of Vietnam was adopted on 5 September 1945. The flag then was adopted on 30 November 1955 to make the rays of the star sharper. Then the current version was adopted on 2 July 1976.
The flag of Vietnam consists of a large yellow star centered on a red background. The red background represents blood, the yellow represents the color of people’s skin, and the five points of the star represent intellectuals, peasants, workers, traders, and soldiers.
Language
Vietnamese is both the national and the official language of Vietnam.
The majority of the population of the country speaks this language.
Minority Languages Of Vietnam; Mường, Cham, Tày, Chinese, Nùng, and Hmong.
The French language is spoken by many educated Vietnamese as a second language, Russian, Czech, German, and Polish are also spoken by small sections of the Vietnamese population. With greater contact of the Vietnamese with the Western world, English has also attained popularity in the country.
Religion
The major religions in Vietnam are Vietnamese folk religions.
Religions recognized in Vietnam are Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Caodaism, Hoahaoism, Muslims, Baha'is, and Hindus.
Currency
đồng (VND).
Time Zone
+07:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic.
Climate
In Vietnam, the climate is subtropical in the north and tropical in the center and south, and it's influenced by the monsoons: the southwest monsoon affects the country from May to October, and the northeast monsoon from October to April.
The best time to visit Vietnam as a whole is the first half of February, March & April since it's the only period that is neither very rainy nor very hot throughout the country, even though it is cloudy in the north and sometimes very cool. December and January are dry and sunny in the center and south, but not in the north.
International Phone Code
+84
Internet Code
.vn