Full country name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Area: 329,566 sq km
Population: 79 million
Capital city: Hanoi (pop 1 million)
People: 85% ethnic Vietnamese, 3% ethnic Chinese, also Khmers, Chams (a remnant of the once-great Indianised Champa Kingdom) and members of some 60 ethnolinguistic groups (also known as Montagnards, 'highlanders' in French)
Languages: Vietnamese, Russian, French, Chinese, English and a variety of Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian local dialects
Religion: Buddhism is the principal religion but there are also sizeable Taoist, Confucian, Hoa Hao, Caodaists, Muslim and Christian minorities
Government: Communist People's Republic
President: Tran Duc Luong

GDP: US$24 billion
GDP per head: US$310
Annual growth: 4%
Inflation: 3.2%
Major industries: Rice, rubber, food processing, textiles, chemicals
Major trading partners: China, Singapore,South Korea, Japan, Taiwan