tities of cocaine and
heroin transit the country from Colombia bound for US and Europe;
important money-laundering hub; active eradication program primarily
targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by
Colombian insurgents on border

______________________________________________________________________

VIETNAM

@Vietnam:Introduction

Background: France occupied all of Vietnam by 1884. Independence was
declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until
1954 when they were defeated by communist forces under HO Chi Minh,
who took control of the north. US economic and military aid to South
Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the
government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire
agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese forces overran the
south. Economic reconstruction of the reunited country has proven
difficult as aging Communist Party leaders have only grudgingly
initiated reforms necessary for a free market.

@Vietnam:Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of
Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km
water: 4,200 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries:
total: 4,639 km
border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal 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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m

Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 30%
other: 48% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 18,600 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive
flooding

Environment - current issues: logging and slash-an