lity rate: 30.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.56 years

male: 67.12 years

female: 72.19 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.49 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.24% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 100,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 2,500 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural)

adjective: Vietnamese

Ethnic groups: Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer,
Cham, mountain groups

Religions: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly
Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, Muslim

Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a
second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area
languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 93.7%

male: 96.5%

female: 91.2% (1995 est.)

Vietnam Government

Country name: conventional long form: Socialist Republic of Vietnam

conventional short form: Vietnam

local long form: Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam

local short form: Viet Nam

abbreviation: SRV

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Hanoi

Administrative divisions: 58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural),
3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural); An Giang, Bac
Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh
Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Cao Bang,
Dac Lak, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong,
Hai Phong*, Ha Nam, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Ho Chi
Minh*, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong,
Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh
Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quang
Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai
Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen
Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai

Independence: 2 September 1945 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day, 2 September (1945)

Constitution: 15 April 1992

Legal system: based on communist legal theory and French civil law
system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Tran Duc LUONG (since
24 September 1997) and Vice President Nguyen Thi BINH (since NA
October 1992)

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