Vietnam - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Vietnam. note 1: extending 1,650 km (1,025 mi) north to south, the country is only 50 km (31 mi) across at its narrowest point
note 2: Son Doong in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is the world's largest cave (greatest cross-sectional area) and is the largest known cave passage in the world by volume at 38.5 million cu m (about 1.35 billion cu ft); it connects to Thoong cave, but not yet officially -- when recognized, it will add an additional 1.6 million cu m; it is so massive that it contains its own jungle, underground river, and localized weather system, with clouds forming inside the cave and spewing from its exits
. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 124 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Vietnam
| Location | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, as well as China, Laos, and Cambodia |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 16 10 N, 107 50 E |
| Map references | Southeast Asia |
| Tarrain | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest |
| Natural Resources | antimony, phosphates, coal, manganese, rare earth elements, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, timber, hydropower, arable land |
| Natural Hazards | occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta |
| Irrigated Land | 46,000 sq km (2012) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Sông Tiên Giang (Mekong) river mouth (shared with China [s], Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia) - 4,350 km; Pearl river source (shared with China [m]) - 2,200 km; Red river mouth (shared with China [s]) - 1,149 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 4,616 km |
| Border Countries | Cambodia 1,158 km; China 1,297 km; Laos 2,161 km |
| Coastline | 3,444 km (excludes islands) |
| Climate | tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March) |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 310,070 sq km |
| Water Area | 21,140 sq km |
| comparative Area | about three times the size of Tennessee; slightly larger than New Mexico |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Continental shelf | 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Fan Si Pan 3,144 m |
| Lowest point | South China Sea 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 398 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 39.3% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 21.5% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 15.7% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 2% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 47.2% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 13.5% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
Though it has one of the highest population densities in the world, the population is not evenly dispersed; clustering is heaviest along the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin, with the Mekong Delta (in the south) and the Red River Valley (in the north) having the largest concentrations of people
People and Society
In Vietnam, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Kinh (Viet) 85.3%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.9%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.4%, Mong 1.4%, Nung 1.1%, other 5.5% (2019 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.89% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 14.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.8 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 4.6% of GDP (2021) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 2.6 beds/1,000 population (2017 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.03 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.96 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 72.8% (2020) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 72.6% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 4.1% of GDP (2020 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Vietnamese | Vietnamese (singular and plural) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Catholic 6.1%, Buddhist 5.8%, Protestant 1%, other 0.8%, none 86.3% (2019 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 23.2% (male 12,953,719/female 11,579,690) |
| 15-64 years | 68.5% (male 36,591,845/female 35,887,201) |
| 65 years and over | 8.3% (2024 est.) (male 3,563,611/female 5,182,909) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 45.9 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 33.8 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 12.1 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 8.3 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 33.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 32 years |
| Female | 34.2 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 39.5% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 2.7% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 9.321 million Ho Chi Minh City, 5.253 million HANOI (capital), 1.865 million Can Tho, 1.423 million Hai Phong, 1.221 million Da Nang, 1.111 million Bien Hoa (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.1 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.12 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.02 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.69 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 14.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 13.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 76.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 73.5 years |
| Female | 78.9 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.2% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 95.5% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 96.9% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.8% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 4.5% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 3.1% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 98.7% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 90% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 93.3% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 1.3% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 10% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 6.7% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 3.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 3.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 22% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 43.1% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 2.1% (2025 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 1.1% (2021) |
| Women married by age 18 | 14.6% (2021) |
| Men married by age 18 | 1.9% (2021) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Vietnam
Want to know more about Vietnam? Check all different factbooks for Vietnam below.
