Population: 79,939,014 (July 2001 est.)

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

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...

Currency: dong (VND, No information)

Data from CIA World Factbook. Click on CIA link for more. Click on map or flag for larger images.