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People
Cultural Demography
Ethnic Vietnamese constitute 87 percent of the country's population totalling about 88 million. The Chinese make up the largest minority group; the Chinese comprise about three percent of the population and are concentrated in the south. About 50 other ethnic groups comprise the remaining 10 percent of the population; the most of whom are Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer and Nung scattered over mountain areas, each group numbering about one million.
Language
During the years of Chinese rule, Chinese was the official language in Vietnam. During the French domination, French was used in administrative, educational and diplomatic areas. Since independence from France in 1945, the Vietnamese language has gradually obtained its dominating position and is now the only official language in the country. Chinese, French, Khmer and English are still spoken in some circles.
Religion
In terms of religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam among other belief systems are practiced in Vietnam.
Cultural Influences
Although Vietnamese culture was strongly influenced by traditional Chinese civilization, the struggle for political independence from China instilled a strong sense of national identity in the Vietnamese people. In addition, nearly 100 years of French rule from 1858 to 1954 introduced some European elements into Vietnamese culture. However, the people continue to observe rites honoring their ancestors and attach great importance to family, indicating the persistence of tradition
Human Development
The Vietnamese government administers virtually all educational facilities, and most Vietnamese have at least a primary school education. Literacy is relatively high among the general population, with 90.3 of the total population (86.9 percent of the female population and 93.9 percent of the male population) aged 15 and over being able to read and write.
In terms of health and welfare, life expectancy in Vietnam is 71.33 years of age (68.52 years for males and 74.33 years for females), according to recent estimates. The infant mortality rate of Vietnam is 23.61 deaths per 1,000 live births.
About 5.3 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures in this country; about 7.2 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Access to water and sanitation is generally good, especially in urban areas; however, access is more problematic in rural areas.
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Vietnam in the medium human development category, at 113th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com . See Bibliography for list of research sources.
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