PEOPLE
Originating
in what is now southern China and northern Vietnam, the Vietnamese
people pushed southward over 2 millennia to occupy the entire
eastern seacoast of the Indochinese Peninsula. Ethnic Vietnamese
constitute about 90% of Vietnam's population.
Vietnam's
approximately 2.3 million ethnic Chinese, concentrated mostly
in southern Vietnam, constitute Vietnam's largest minority group.
Long important in the Vietnamese economy, Vietnamese of Chinese
ancestry have been active in rice trading, milling, real estate,
and banking in the south and shopkeeping, stevedoring, and mining
in the north. Restrictions on economic activity following reunification
of the north and south in 1975 and the subsequent but unrelated
general deterioration in Vietnamese-Chinese relations sent chills
through the Chinese-Vietnamese community. In 1978-79, some 450,000
ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees (many officially
encouraged and assisted) or were expelled across the land border
with China.
The second-largest
ethnic minority grouping, the central highland peoples commonly
termed Montagnards (mountain people), comprise two main ethnolinguistic
groups--Malayo-Polynesian and Mon-Khmer. About 30 groups of various
cultures and dialects are spread over the highland territory.
The third-largest
minority, the Khmer Krom (Cambodians), numbering about 600,000,
is concentrated near the Cambodian border and at the mouth of
the Mekong River. Most are farmers. Other minority groups include
the Cham--remnants of the once-mighty Champa Kingdom, conquered
by the Vietnamese in the 15th century--Hmong, and Thai.
Vietnamese
is the official language of the country. It is a tonal language
with influences from Thai, Khmer, and Chinese. Since the early
20th century, the Vietnamese have used a Romanized script introduced
by the French. Previously, Chinese characters and an indigenous
phonetic script were both used.
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Vietnamese (sing. and pl.).
Population (2007 estimate): 85.2 million.
Annual growth rate (2007 estimate): 1.004%.
Ethnic groups: Vietnamese (85%-90%), Chinese (3%), Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups.
Religions: Buddhism, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), animism, Islam.
Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages.
Education (2006): Literacy--90%.
Health (2007 estimate): Birth rate—16.63 births/1000 population. Infant mortality rate--17.4 /1000. Life expectancy--70.8 yrs. Death rate--6.56/1,000.
