VIETNAM

Geography: Vietnam borders Cambodia, Laos and China. While three-quarters of the country is mountainous and hilly, there are two main cultivated areas in the Red River and Mekong Deltas and the country is made up of equatorial lowlands, high, temperate plateaus and alpine peaks. The wildlife is rich, but is declining because of the destruction of habitats and illegal hunting. Less than 20% of the country remains forested, but is under threat from slash and burn agriculture with excessive harvesting.

Climate: Vietnam lies in the 'intertropical zone' so that local conditions vary from frosty winter in the far northern hills to the year-round warmth of the Mekong Delta. At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27oC in the south, falling to about 21oC in the far north.

Languages: The Vietnamese language (kinh) is a hybrid of Mon-Khmer, Tai and Chinese. The most widely spoken foreign languages are Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French and Russian.

Currency: Dong.