y in 1975. In the aftermath of the war, the unified Communist nation was politically isolated and economically backward. In 1986, the government initiated market-based economic and political reforms which began a path towards integration into the world economy.[8] By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with most nations. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world since 2000,[9] and according to Citigroup, such high growth is set to continue. Vietnam has the highest Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies,[10] and its successful economic reforms resulted in it joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. However, the country still suffers from relatively high levels of income inequality, disparities in healthcare provision, and poor gender equality.[11][12][13][14][15] Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Pre-Dynastic era 2.2 Dynastic era 2.3 French colonisation 2.4 First Indochina War 2.5 Vietnam War 2.6 Postwar history 2.6.1 Free-market reforms 3 Government and politics 3.1 Military 3.2 International relations 3.3 Administrative subdivisions 4 Geography 4.1 Climate 5 Ecology and biodiversity 6 Economy 6.1 Trade 7 Science and technology 8 Transport 8.1 Air 8.2 Road 8.3 Rail 8.4 Water 9 Demographics 9.1 Population 9.2 Largest cities 9.3 Languages 9.4 Religion 9.5 Education 9.6 Health 10 Media 11 Culture 11.1 Clothing 11.2 Cuisine 11.3 Music 11.4 Literature 11.5 Sport 11.6 Festivals 11.7 Tourism 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links Etymology Main article: Names of Vietnam The name Vi?t Nam (Vietnamese pronunciation: [vj?`tnam]) is a variation of "Nam Vi?t" (??; pinyin: Nányuè; literally Southern Vi?t), a name that can be traced back to the Trieu dynasty of the 2nd century BC.[16] The word Vi?t originated as a shortened form of Bách Vi?t (??; pinyin: Baiyuè), a word applied to a group of peoples then living in southern China and Vietnam.[17] The form "Vietnam" (??) is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem S?m Tr?ng Trình.[18] The name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that was carved in 1558.[19] Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long.[20] It was revived in the early 20th century by nationalists such as Phan Boi Chau, and most notably by the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnamese Nationalist Party).[21] The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when Emperor Bao Dai changed the official name back to Vi?t Nam.[21] Since the use of Chinese characters was discontinued at this time, the alphabetic spelling of Vietnam is now official. History Main article: History of Vietnam Pre-Dynastic era The region now known as Vietnam has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, with some archaeological sites in Thanh Hóa Province purportedly dating back several thousand years. Archaeologists have linked the beginnings of Vietnamese civilization to the late Neolithic-early Bronze Age Phung Nguyen culture, which was centered in what is now Vinh Phúc Province between 2000 and 1400 BC. By about 1200 BC, the development of wet-rice cultivation and bronze casting in the Ma River and Red River floodplains led to the development of the Dong Son culture, notable for its elaborate bronze drums. The bronze weapons, tools, and drums of Dong Son sites show a Southeast Asian influence that indicates an indigenous origin for the bronze-casting technology. A Dong Son bronze drum. Many ancient copper mine sites have been found in northern Vietnam. The Dong Son sites share many similarities with other Bronze Age Southeast Asian sites, including the presence of boat-shaped coffins, burial jars, and stilt dwellings, and evidence of the customs of betel-nut-chewing and teeth-blackening. Dynastic era The legendary H?ng Bàng Dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered the first Vietnamese state, known in Vietnamese as Van Lang. In 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Th?c Phán, who consolidated the L?c Vi?t and Âu Vi?t tribes to form the Âu L?c, proclaiming himself An Duong Vuong. In 207 BC, a Chinese general named Zhao Tuo defeated An Duong Vuong and consolidated Âu L?c into Nanyue. However, Nanyue was itself incorporated into the empire of the Chinese Han Dynasty in 111 BC. For the next thousand years, Vietnam remained mostly under Chinese rule.[22] Early independence movements, such as those of the Trung Sisters and Lady Tri?u, were only temporarily successful, but the region did become independent as V?n Xuân under the Anterior Lý Dynasty between 544 and 602 AD. By the early 10th century, Vietnam had gained autonomy, but not independence, under the Khúc family. Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam ti?n), 1069–1757. The Imperial City in Hu?. In 938 AD, the Vietnamese lord Ngô Quy?n defeated Southern Han Chinese forces at B?ch Ð?ng River and regained independence after a millennium of Chinese domination.[23] Renamed as Ð?i Vi?t (en: Great Viet), the nation enjoyed a golden era under the Lý and Tr?n Dynasties. During the rule of the Tr?n Dynasty, Ð?i Vi?t repelled three Mongol invasions.[24] Meanwhile, Buddhism flourished and became the state religion. Following the brief rule of the H? Dynasty, Vietnamese independence was momentarily interrupted by the Chinese Ming Dynasty, but was restored by Lê L?i, the founder of the Lê Dynasty. The Vietnamese dynasties reached their zenith in the Lê Dynasty of the 15th century, especially during the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497). Between the 11th and 18th centuries, Vietnam expanded southward in a process known as nam ti?n (southward expansion),[25] eventually conquering the kingdom of Champa and part of the Khmer Empire.[26][27] From the 16th century onwards, civil strife and frequent infighting engulfed much of Vietnam. First, the Chinese-supported M?c Dynasty challenged the Lê Dynasty's power. After the M?c Dynasty was defeated, the Lê Dynasty was nominally reinstalled, but actual power was divided between the northern Tr?nh Lords and the southern Nguy?n Lords, who engaged in a civil war for more than four decades before a truce was called in the 1670s. During this time, the Nguy?n expanded southern Vietnam into the Mekong Delta, annexing the central highlands of Tay Nguyen and the Khmer lands in the Mekong Delta. The division of the country ended a century later when the Tây Son brothers established a new dynasty. However, their rule did not last long, and they were defeated by the remnants of the Nguy?n Lords, led by Nguy?n Ánh and aided by the French.[28] Nguy?n Ánh unified Vietnam, and established the Nguy?n Dynasty, ruling under the name Gia Long. French colonisation French Indochina in 1913. Main articles: Cochinchina campaign, Sino-French War, French Indochina, and Empire of Vietnam Vietnam's independence was gradually eroded by France – aided by large Catholic collaborator militias – in a series of military conquests between 1859 and 1885, after which the entire country became part of French Indochina. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and Roman Catholicism was propagated widely in Vietnamese society. Most of the French settlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina – the southern third of Vietnam – based around the city of Saigon.[29] Developing a plantation economy to promote the export of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, the French largely ignored increasing calls for Vietnamese self-government and civil rights. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Phan Dinh Phung, Emperor Hàm Nghi and Ho Chi Minh fighting or calling for independence. However, the royalist Can Vuong was defeated in the 1890s after a decade of resistance, and the 1930 Yen Bai mutiny of the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang was put down easily. The French maintained control of their colonies until World War II, when the war in the Pacific led to the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in 1941. With the defeat of France in Europe in 1940, the French Third Republic was replaced by the Vichy Regime, to which the colony remained loyal. Heavily dependent on Nazi Germany, Vichy France was forced to surrender control of French Indochina to Germany's ally, Japan. The natural resources of Vietnam were exploited for the purposes of the Japanese Empire's military campaigns into the British Indochinese colonies of Burma, the Malay Peninsula and India. The Japanese occupation was a key cause of the Vietnamese Famine of 1945, which caused around two million deaths, equivalent to as much as 10% of the contemporary population.[30] First Indochina War Main articles: First Indochina War, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, State of Vietnam, State of Vietnam referendum, 1955, and Operation Passage to Freedom In 1941, the Viet Minh – a communist and nationalist liberation movement – emerged under the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, who sought independence for Vietnam from France and the end of the Japanese occupation. Following the military defeat of Japan and the fall of its puppet Empire of Vietnam in August 1945, the Viet Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed a provisional government, which asserted national independence on 2 September.[31] A French-marked USAF C-119 flown by CIA pilots over Dien Bien Phu in 1954. In the same year, the Provisional French Republic sent the French Far East Expeditionary Corps – originally created to fight the Japanese occupation forces – to pacify the Vietnamese liberation movement and to restore French colonial rule. On 23 November 1946, French vessels bombarded the port city of Hai Phong, and the Viet Minh's guerrilla campaign against French forces began soon after. The resulting First Indochina War lasted until 20 July 1954. Despite taking fewer losses during the course of the war – the Expeditionary Corps suffered one-third of the casualties of the Chinese and Soviet-backed Viet Minh – the French and Vietnamese loyalists eventually suffered a major strategic setback at the Siege of Dien Bien Phu, which allowed Ho Chi Minh to negotiate a ceasefire from a favorable position at the Geneva Conference of 1954. The colonial administration ended and French Indochina was dissolved under the Geneva Accords of 1954, which separated the forces of former French supporters and communist nationalists at the 17th parallel north with the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. A 300-day period of free movement was given, during which almost a million northerners, mainly Catholic, moved south, fearing persecution by the communists. The partition of Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in North Vietnam, and Emperor B?o Ð?i's State of Vietnam in South Vietnam, was not intended to be permanent by the Geneva Accords, and the Accords expressly forbade the interference of third powers. However, in 1955, the State of Vietnam's Prime Minister, Ngo Dinh Diem, toppled B?o Ð?i in a fraudulent referendum organised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, and proclaimed himself president of the Republic of Vietnam. The Accords mandated nationwide elections by 1956, which Diem refused to hold, despite repeated calls from the North for talks to discuss elections.[32] Vietnam War Main articles: Vietnam War, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, Buddhist crisis, Role of the United States in the Vietnam War, ARVN, Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Operation Menu The pro-Hanoi Vietcong began a guerrilla campaign in the late 1950s to overthrow Diem's government, which an official Vietcong statement described as a "disguised colonial regime."[32] In the North, the communist government massacred landowners and peasant rebels in a series of purges, with upper estimates of the death toll ranging between 172,000[33] and 500,000.[34] Northern collectivization efforts, though broadly successfully, also led to a brief famine. In the South, Diem went about crushing political and religious opposition, imprisoning or killing tens of thousands; dissidents were routinely labelled as communists even if they were anti-communist. Both Vietnams developed into virtual police states.[citation needed] A Vietcong soldier stands guard during a prisoner exchange with American forces in 1973. In 1963, Buddhist discontent with Diem's pro-Catholic regime erupted into mass demonstrations following the banning of the Buddhist flag and the Hue Vesak shootings. With Diem unwilling to compromise, Nhu orchestrated the Xa Loi Pagoda raids; estimates of the death toll range into the hundreds. As a result, America's relationship with Diem broke down, resulting in the 1963 coup that saw Diem and Nhu killed. Diem was followed by a series of corrupt military regimes that often lasted only months before being toppled by other military officers. With South Vietnam paralyzed by instability, the communists began to gain ground. There were more than a dozen South Vietnamese governments between 1961 and 1965, before the pairing of Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky and General Nguy?n Van Thi?u took control in mid-1965. Thieu gradually outmaneuvered Ky and cemented his grip on power in fraudulent elections in 1967 and 1971.[citation needed] To support South Vietnam's struggle against the communist insurgency, the United States began increasing its contribution of military advisers, using the controversial 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident as a pretext for such intervention. US forces became embroiled in ground combat operations in 1965, and at their peak they numbered more than 500,000.[35][36] Communist forces attacked most major targets in South Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive, and although their campaign failed militarily, it shocked the American establishment, and turned US public opinion against the war.[37] Communist forces supplying the Vietcong carried supplies along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which passed through Laos and Cambodia. US president Richard Nixon authorized Operation Menu, an SAC bombing campaign in Laos and Cambodia, which he kept secret from the US Congress.[38][39] Its own casualties mounting, and facing opposition to the war at home and condemnation abroad, the US began withdrawing from ground combat roles according to the Nixon Doctrine; the process was subsequently called Vietnamization. The effort had mixed results, ultimately failing to stabilize South Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords of 27 January 1973 formally recognized the sovereignty of Vietnam "as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements." Under the terms of the accords, all American combat troops were withdrawn by 29 March 1973. Limited fighting continued, before North Vietnam captured the province of Phuoc Long in December 1974 and started a full-scale offensive, culminating in the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. South Vietnam briefly came under the nominal rule of a Provisional Revolutionary Government while under military occupation by North Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.[1] Postwar history Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City, in 2005. In the aftermath of the war, under Lê Du?n's administration, the government embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories. This caused an economic collapse and resulted in triple-digit inflation. Reconstruction of the war-ravaged country was slow, and serious humanitarian and economic problems confronted the communist regime. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, millions of people fled the country in crudely built boats, creating an international humanitarian crisis.[40][41] In 1978, the Vietnamese military invaded Cambodia to remove from power the Khmer Rouge, who had been razing Vietnamese border villages and massacring the inhabitants.[42] Vietnam was victorious, installing a regime in Cambodia whose leaders ruled until 1989.[43] This action worsened relations with the Chinese, who launched a brief incursion into northern Vietnam in 1979.[44] This conflict caused Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid. Free-market reforms Main article: Doi Moi At the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in December 1986, reformist politicians upset by the country's lack of economic progress replaced the "old guard" government with new leadership.[45][46] The reformers were led by 71-year-old Nguyen Van Linh, who became the party's new general secretary.[46] Linh was a native of northern Vietnam who had served in the south both during and after the Vietnam War.[45][46] In a historic shift, Linh and the reformers implemented a series of free-market reforms – known as Ð?i M?i (Renovation) – which carefully managed the transition from a planned economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy".[47][48] Though the authority of the state remained unchallenged, the government encouraged private ownership of farms and factories, economic deregulation and foreign investment, while maintaining control over strategic industries.[48] The economy of Vietnam subsequently achieved rapid growth in agricultural and industrial production, construction, exports and foreign investment. However, these reforms have also caused a rise in income inequality and gender disparities.[13][14][15] Government and politics Main articles: Politics of Vietnam and Military of Vietnam The Presidential Palace in Hanoi, formerly the Palace of The Governor-General of French Indochina. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single-party state. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. The General Secretary of the Communist Party performs numerous key administrative and executive functions, controlling the party's national organization and state appointments, as well as setting policy. Only political organizations affiliated with or endorsed by the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. These include the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and worker and trade unionist parties. Although the state remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist,[49] with The Economist characterizing its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists".[50] The President of Vietnam is the titular head of state and the nominal commander-in-chief of the military of Vietnam, serving as the Chairman of the Council of Supreme Defense and Security. The Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of government, presiding over a council of ministers composed of three deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions. The National Assembly of Vietnam is the unicameral legislature of the state, composed of 498 members. Headed by a Chairman, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly. The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, headed by a Chief Justice, is the country's highest court of appeal, though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and numerous local courts. Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of national security. Military The Vietnam People's Armed Forces consists of the Vietnam People's Army, the Vietnam People's Public Security and the Vietnam Civil Defense Force. The Vietnam People's Army (VPA) is the official name for the active military services of Vietnam, and is subdivided into the Vietnam People's Ground Forces, the Vietnam People's Navy, the Vietnam People's Air Force, the Vietnam Border Defense Force and the Vietnam Mar