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Location: Southeastern Asia between China and Cambodia, bordering Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea.
Area: total area: 329,560 sq. km land area: 325,360 sq. km
Land boundaries: total 3,818 km, Cambodia 982 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 1,555 km
Coastline: 3,444 km (excluding islands)
Climate: tropical in south; monsoons 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, hydropower.
Land use: arable land: 20.14%, permanent crops: 6.93%, other: 72.93% (2005)
Irrigated land: 30,000 sq. km (2003.)
Environment – current issues: logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices are contributing to deforestation; soil degradation; water pollution and over fishing threatening marine life populations; inadequate supplies of potable water because of groundwater contamination.
Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta.
International agreements: party to Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands. Signed but not ratified any of the selected agreements.