Vietnam's Geography | Vietnamese Geography

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: 12 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 (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-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: 19.97% permanent crops: 5.95% other: 74.08% (2001)

Irrigated land: 30,000 sq km (1998 est.)

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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