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World > Asia >
Vietnam > Geography (Facts)
Vietnam - Geography (Facts) |
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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: |
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Climate: |
tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to 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: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m |
Natural resources: |
phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower |
Land use: |
arable land: 20.14% permanent crops: 6.93% other: 72.93% (2005) |
Irrigated land: |
30,000 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards: |
occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta |
Environment - current issues: |
logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City |
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note: |
extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point |
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