Did You Know? - Interesting Facts about Vietnam

Vietnam Interesting Facts

This page gives our most curious visitors a variety of interesting facts about Vietnam.

Did you know how large Vietnam is, compared to its neighbours? What is the highest mountain in Vietnam, and does it compare to world’s highest? Would it be interesting to know that Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, has first received this status exactly a thousand years ago, in 1010?

Find out all these, and a lot more interesting and exciting facts about geography and nature of Vietnam, people and culture of the country, as well as various cities and travel destinations in Vietnam.

Interesting facts ... Geography of Vietnam
	Did you know that Vietnam has almost exactly the same geographical area with Malaysia, its close neighbour in South-East Asia? Find out a lot more interesting facts about the country's geography ... gallery:

Did you know that ...

	Vietnam has a smaller geographical area in comparison with California or Germany, but larger than compared to Italy or Arizona.
	The length of Vietnam from north to south is about 1650 km. It is roughly the distance from London to Rome in Europe, New York to Miami in the United States, or Melbourne to Brisbane in Australia.
	China is Vietnam’s largest neighbouring country. It is 32 times bigger than Vietnam in geographical area and 15 times bigger in population.
	Laos is Vietnam’s smallest neighbour, about 30% smaller in territory, but nearly 15 times smaller in population.
	Hanoi is located at the same geographical latitude, 21 degrees North, with Honolulu in Hawaii and Cancun in Mexico.
	Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is located at 10 degrees North parallel, which corresponds with the latitude of Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.

See country information and map of Vietnam for more details.

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Interesting facts ... Nature of Vietnam
	Did you know that more than 75% of Vietnamese territory is covered by mountains and hills? Find out a lot more interesting facts about nature of Vietnam and the country's national parks ... gallery:

It is interesting that ...

Vietnam's highest mountain is Fan Si Pan, located next to Sapa. It is 3150 meters (10300 feet) high, and, thus, lower than other peaks in South East Asia, e.g. Mt.Kinabalu in Borneo. Still, Fan Si Pan is the highest mountain peak in Indochina.

Vietnam has thirty national parks. The largest, Yok Don, is in Dak Lac province, Central Highlands. It has a larger geographical area (1200 sq.km) then any of the three Vietnam’s smallest provinces, all located in Red River Delta region.

Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam. It is about the size of Isle of Man in the UK, and three times smaller than Long Island in New York, United States.

See nature of Vietnam for more information

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Interesting facts ... People of Vietnam
	The population of Vietnam, 87 million, makes it the third most populous country in South-East Asia, after Indonesia and Philippines. See a lot more of interesting facts, related to people of Vietnam ... gallery:

Did you know that ...

	The country is divided into 58 provinces and 5 “centrally governed cities” – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Da Nang and Haiphong.
	The largest, by area, province of Vietnam, Nghe An, is located in Central Vietnam, while three smallest are all in Red River Delta.
	The majority of population in Central and Southern Vietnam were not always Vietnamese. Cham people were the largest population group in Central Vietnam until the 16th century, and Khmers inhabitated Mekong Delta region until it was incorporated into Vietnam in the 18th century.
	Altogether, about 87 million people in the world speak Vietnamese. The majority of them, 84 million, live in Vietnam, while the other 3 million belong to Vietnamese diaspora overseas.
	Red River Delta in Vietnam has a smaller geographical area than Mekong Delta, but it has a larger population.
	Vietnam does not rank very high among other countries by density of population (number of people by square km/mile). Population density in Vietnam (276 people per sq.km) is lower than in Japan (339), India (372), or Netherlands (399). It is still a bit higher, though, compared to UK (251) or Germany (216).

See our comprehensive and well-illustrated guide to people of Vietnam

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Interesting facts ... Culture of Vietnam
	Did you know that until the late 19th centrury, Chinese script (set of characters) was universally used for of all documentation in Vietnam? It is a different script in use these days, based on a Latin aphabet. Find out more interesting facts about the culture of Vietnam ... gallery:

It is interesting that ...

	Vietnamese language uses the script that has 29 characters, most of them are identical to those used in English
	Vietnamese language is linguistically unique, and not related to other languages
	Approximately 40% of all Vietnamese, or more than 30 million people, share the same family name, Nguyen.
	Vietnam has three destinations, officially recognized as World Heritage sites - Royal monuments of Hue, ancient city of Hoi An and My Son – and related to the country’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

See culture of Vietnam for more information

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Interesting facts ... Cities / Destinations in Vietnam
	Vietnam is a country with a large population, and, unsurprisingly, there are at least five cities in the country with a population of one million or more. In fact, one of these cities, has the largest population in Indochina. See other interesting facts about cities and travel destinations in Vietnam ... gallery:

Did you know that ...

	Hanoi has become the capital of Vietnamese kingdom as early as 1000 years ago. The city had at least five different names throughout its history. The current name was officially recognized only in the middle of 19th century.
	Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, with a population of nearly 10 million people, is not only the largest city in Vietnam, but also the largest in Indochina, and third largest city, after Jakarta and Manila, in South-East Asia.
	Nha Trang, the most popular beach resort destination in Vietnam, quite possibly, has the best climate in Vietnam.
	Sapa, famous for its hiking trips and hill tribes, is one of the few places in Vietnam where it can snow in winter, although the snow occurs only once in several years.
	Dalat in Central Highlands region of Vietnam, has the reputation of the most famous wedding and honeymoon holiday town for the Vietnamese.
	Halong Bay, the most visited natural attraction for travelers to Vietnam, has been the place of historic navy battles centuries ago between Vietnamese and foreign invaders to Vietnam.