Research Project IWRM-Vietnam, Integrated Water Resources Management
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>> Vietnam Today  June 10 , 2014
Vietnam


Capital city:

Hanoi

Population:

85.5 million (2006)

Population density:

257.8 inhabitants/km2

Area:

331,690 km2

Annual income per person per year:

620

Climate:

Tropical in south, monsoonal in north

Land

Agriculture: 28.4 %
Forest: 35.2 %
Urban areas, industries and other: 4.7 %
Scrub and grassland: 23 %


Geography
 

Vietnam
’s shape is long and narrow with a 1,400 km long coastline. It can be divided into three major regions:
The north: The far north is mountainous, with the western Hoãng Lûn Sõn mountains reaching heights above 3,000 m, the highest point being Phan Si Pan mountain. The delta of the Red River is very flat and is one of Vietnam’s main rice production areas. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi is located in the heart of the Red River Delta.

The center: The mountains of the approximately 1,000 km long middle part of Vietnam extend to the seacoast where they fall steeply into the sea. The highest point is the Ngoc Linh at 2,598 m above sea level. More to the south the mountains descend into the high plateau of the Central Highland. The highlands are mostly fertile areas suitable for production of coffee, vegetables, etc. The narrow low-lying area along the coast is less suitable for agriculture; fishing and aquaculture dominates here.


The south: A large part of the south is covered by the Mekong Delta. The region is flat and without any important mountains. The Mekong Delta is the country’s main rice production area. Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Vietnam largest and busiest city lies just north of the Mekong Delta.

Vietnam – morphology

Climate

 
Vietnam
has a tropical monsoon climate with high temperatures and humidity. During the year there is a shift from humid heat and heavy rainfalls from May to September to a cold, dry climate from November to March. Because of large geographic differences, climate characteristics vary locally.
 
Economy

Land reform and de-collectivization converted Vietnamfrom a country facing chronic food shortages in the early 1980s to the second-largest rice exporter in the world. Besides rice, key exports are coffee, tea, rubber, and fisheries products. Agriculture's share of economic output has declined, falling as a share of GDP from 42 % in 1989 to 20.4 % in 2006, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen. Paralleling its efforts to increase agricultural output, Vietnam’s industrial production has grown. Industry contributed 41.5 % of GDP in 2006, up from 27.3 % in 1985.


Vietnam
achieved around 8 % annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997 and continued at around 7 % from 2000 to 2005, making it the world's second-fastest growing economy. Simultaneously, foreign investment grew threefold and domestic savings quintupled. Manufacturing, information technology and high-tech industries form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy.

Environment 

Vietnam is very rich in natural resources. Because it has a wide range of habitats (equatorial lowlands to high, temperate plateaus and even alpine peaks) its wild fauna and flora is enormously diverse. 

However, Vietnam is one of the most natural disaster-prone countries and is today increasingly threatened by environmental problems caused by the high speed of economic development.

For example, increasing water demands for a growing number of irrigated areas have resulted in falling water tables. Water quality is threatened by the fast development of industries and by urbanization. Also the increase of fisheries and aquaculture damages the water quality. 

Marine biodiversity is also threatened by dam and road construction, dredging, overfishing and intensive aquaculture.

The aftermath of the war is still apparent in Vietnam. The effects of Agent Orange are obvious in large areas of the country, especially in the mangrove swampland, where the forest is irrecoverably destroyed. Forests on hillsides cannot be reforested, so erosion is typical in these areas. 

The Vietnamese government is today increasingly concerned with the challenge to preserve a healthy environment as the basis for sustainable development of the country.

Further information

 Web site of the Government of Vietnam 
     
     
 

Posted by Administrator on 0000-00-00 00:00:00 | Print friendly | Go to top
 
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eE+E Institute of environmental Engineering+Ecology, University of Bochum
IGG Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald
INRES Institute of Plant Sciences & Resource Protection, University of Bonn
The research project IWRM-Vietnam is fundedby the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
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