Total area: 329,560 km2
land area: 325,360

Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries: 3,818 km total
Cambodia 982 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 1,555 km

Coastline: 3,444 km (excluding islands)

Maritime claims: Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: offshore islands and three sections of the boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; occupied Cambodia on 25 December 1978; sporadic border clashes with China; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan; unresolved maritime boundary with Thailand; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; unresolved maritime boundary with Thailand

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

Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil deposits, forests

Land use: arable land 22%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and woodland 40%; other 35%; includes irrigated 5%

Environment: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding

NOTE: The information regarding Vietnam on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Vietnam Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Vietnam Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.