Geography | People | Government | Ministries | Communication | Transports

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.