Vietnam
Overview:
Vietnam is a country in southeast end of East Asia and is the easternmost country in Indochina. It is the 13th most populous country in the world with a population of approximately 90 million. It is officially known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam has a rich and distinct culture with its well known top pyramid hats, unique food dishes and fusion music.
History:
Due to its strategic geographic position with shipping lands and land trade lanes and its inability to defend itself for most of history, Vietnam has been the center of conflict for the past two thousand years. Vietnam was a colony of China for over 1,100 years up until 938 A.D and again during for another 100 years during the Ming Dynasty. It was ruled by monarchies through successive dynasties until 1853 when it was colonized by France. The French were defeated and booted out by 1945 but it left the country politically divided. Fighting went on from 1945 up until the Vietnam War in which the United States participated and ending with a victorious North Vietnam in 1975. For the next 20 years the country was politically and economically isolated until the late 1980s when the government issued reforms to increase business activity and to increase the cultural arts.
Language:
Almost the entire population of approximately 90 million speak Vietnamese. For over 1500 years in Vietnamese history the country used Chinese characters in its writing language. In the late 13th century the Vietnamese developed their own characters called Chu nom and was later romanized during the French occupation. English study is not mandatory in most schools while Chinese and Japanese have become popular.
Geography:
Art and Crafts:
Vietnamese muisc is a mixture of traditional river songs, modern techno pop and Vietnam's version of classical muisc. Northern classical music is the oldest known music and more formal while the South has embraced modern music and western pop music.
Vietnam has a small film industry that produces dramas, comedies and some action (mostly martial arts) movies with a Vietnamese flair. The main media channels are all controlled by the government with the Voice of Vietnam as the offical state-run radio channel.
Cuisine:
Vietnam is mostly an agrarian society based on a diet of "broken" rice which are smaller and harder than the more common jasmine rice eaten around East Asia. China has had the greatest influence on foods followed by India and then France. There are a number of dishes with various forms of sliced beef, flat rice noodles emersed in beef broth called pho. There are spring rolls made of sticky rice paper wraps stuffed with shrimp or pork and various mints and lettuce. There are the broken rice dishes served with charbroiled pork, Vietnamese quiche, shredded pork and topped with a sweet fish sauce.
Demographics:
Vietnam has approximately 90 million people with Vietnamese, the Viet, representing 86% of the population. There are 54 nationally recognized minorities with the largest being Chinese emigrants but Vietnam is considered a homogeneous society. However, 450,000 Chinese fled Vietnam as the communists won the war and took all their possessions. Most Chinese were business people and thus wealthy and sided mostly with the United States. These factors led to their desparate flight with many going through treacherous jungle roads threatened with Viet Cong and land mines while others suffered high seas and pirates.
Sports:
Martial arts are the most common sports which are partially due to the influence of China and that its constant state of wars. The most popular sport in Vietnam is soccer (known as football around the world) followed by badminton, tennis, ping pong, cheese and volleyball.
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