Land area

331,051 sq km

Population

86m (2009, General Statistics Office estimate)

Main towns

Population (of province) in '000 (2009)

Ho Chi Minh City: 7,165

Hanoi (capital): 6,472

Haiphong: 1,842

Climate

Tropical monsoon; north cool and damp in winter (November-April), hot and rainy in summer; south more equable; centre most subject to typhoons. The rains are highly unpredictable

Weather in Hanoi (altitude 216 metres)

Hottest month, June, 26-33°C; coldest month, January, 13-20°C; wettest month, August, 343 mm average rainfall; driest month, January, 18 mm average rainfall

Weather in Ho Chi Minh City (altitude 9 metres)

Hottest month, April, 24-35°C; coldest month, January, 21-32°C; wettest month, September, 335 mm average rainfall; driest month, February, 3 mm average rainfall

Language

Vietnamese (spoken by about 90% of the population); English (increasingly favoured as a second language); some French; a little Russian and German; minority languages such as Hmong, Thai, Khmer in more remote rural areas

Weights and measures

Metric system. Local land measurement: 1 mau = 3,600 sq metres (north); 1 mau = 5,000 sq metres (centre)

Currency

Dong (D). Average exchange rate in 2010: D19,127:US$1

Time

7 hours ahead of GMT

Public holidays

January 1st (New Year's Day; holiday taken on January 3rd); February 2nd-7th (Tet, Lunar New Year); April 12th (Gio To Hung Vuong Day); April 30th (Liberation of Saigon; holiday taken on May 2nd); May 1st (Labour Day; holiday taken on May 3rd); September 2nd (National Day)