VIETNAM Country Profile
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Info4Migrants VIETNAM Country profile Project number: UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615 1 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM 332,210 km2 POPULATION 92,477 mln GDP per capita $1,910 CURRENCY Dong (VND) Language VIETNAMESE 2 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM COUNTRY BACKGROUND CHINA VIETNAM Hanoi LAOS THAILAND CAMBODIA Official name: the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Location: South-Eastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia National Flag Capital: Hanoi 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), subtropical climate in northern Vietnam with distinct 4 seasons. Ethnic Make-up: 54 ethnic groups. Kinh (86.2%), Tay (1.9%), Thai (1.7%), Khmer, Hoa (Chinese), Hmong, Cham, and other minor groups. National emblem Religions: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs and Mus- lim. 3 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM VIETNAM FACTS Capital Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital and second largest city (af- ter Ho Chi Minh City). Hanoi has been a major political city in Vietnam since it was established in 1010, and served as the capital of French Indochina and North Vietnam. Language Vietnamese is a tonal language that can be compared to Cambodia’s official language, Khmer. With each syllable, there are six different tones that can be used, which change the meaning. This often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language. There are other languages spoken as well, for example Chinese, Khmer, Cham and tribal languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. There are some similarities between Vietnamese and Southeast Asian lan- guages, such as Chinese, but Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, even though it is a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family. In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing, called quoc ngu, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced a system using Chi- nese characters (chu nom), which had been the unofficial written form used for centuries. 4 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM VIETNAM FACTS Nguyen surname As of 2012, about 36 million people, constituting ap- proximately 40% of all Vietnamese around the world, share the same family name Nguyễn. Nguyễn ranks 4th on the list of the world’s most com- mon surnames, only after Li or Lee (with more than 120 million people), Zhang (100 million), and Wang (92.88 million). The Vietnamese surname is also becoming the most popular one in Australia. New Year Tết, or Vietnamese New Year, is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The word is a short- ended form of Tết Nguyên Đán, which is Sino-Vietnam- ese for “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese variation of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, where the date usually falls between the months of January and February. Vietnamese New Year, the first day of spring, carries with it all the rebirth connotations that Easter has in the West. There are a lot of customs practiced during Tết, such as visiting a person’s house on the first day of the New Year (xông nhà), ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year’s greetings, giving lucky money to children and elderly people, and opening a shop. Tết is also an occasion for pilgrims and family reunions. During Tết, Vietnamese visit their relatives and temples, forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hop- ing for a better upcoming year. 5 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM VIETNAM FACTS Food Vietnamese food is a blend of Chinese and Thai styles and it is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world, with its combination of fresh ingredients like fresh herbs, seafood, fruits and vegetables along with fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce and rice. Religion Most Vietnamese consider themselves non-religious, though many still attend religious services. Vietnam’s government does not require an official religion, though it only recognizes Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao. The main religion practiced in Vietnam is also the oldest one, Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism, along with Confu- cianism and Taoism, are considered the “Triple Religion” that all work with one another. Vietnamese culture also practices ancestor-worship, like much of Asia. Hoa Hao (a form of Buddhism) and Cao Dai are two religions of Vietnamese origin. Cao Dai is not generally accepted as a form of Buddhism. Vietnam War The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochi- na War, and also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America, was a Cold War era proxy war that oc- curred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 Novem- ber 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. 6 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 1 January: New Year’s Day incense burning in temples 1 May: International Labour Vietnam takes part in the in- is performed in their mem- Day ternational celebration of the ory and honor. The holiday True to its working class first day of the first month of features bronze drum per- ideology, Vietnam honors the the Gregorian calendar. formances, parades on stilts, laborers on this day and their folk song contests, and drag- economic and social contri- Moveable date in January - on parades. butions to the country. February: Lunar New Year The “Feast of the First Morn- 30 April: Independence Day 2 September: National Day ing”, or simply “Tet”, is the On this day in 1975, Saigon Commemorates the day most important occasion of was captured by the Commu- when President Ho Chi Minh all Vietnam public holidays. nist-backed Viet Cong, ending declared Vietnam’s indepen- The week leading to Tet is the Vietnam War with the dence from colonial forces. very busy as families clean United States on the losing On this day in 1945, Ho Chi their homes, settle their side. The “Fall of Saigon” led Minh read a declaration of debts, buy new clothes, to the reunification of North independence from France. personal effects and other and South, which for years However, sovereignty would needs for the coming year, have been divided ideologi- only come after the Vietnam cook food to last through the cally. War, when Northern Viet- festivities, and reconcile with nam, backed by communist themselves and others to On this day, there are military China, finally won. To mark leave behind any ill will. parades, cultural performanc- this turning point in the coun- es that highlight the triumph try’s history, the yellow-star- Moveable date in April: of Vietnamese revolution- red-background Vietnamese Hung King Festival aries, and fireworks that sig- flags are flown everywhere, On this day, people pay trib- nal the hour when the South and the streets and billboards ute to the Hung kings who Vietnamese government are flooded with pictures of were instrumental in found- finally surrendered. “Uncle Ho.” ing Vietnam. Ceremonial 7 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM AMAZING FACTS ABOUT VIETNAM • Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashews in the world, and the second largest exporter of rice. • Although Vietnam is a devel- oping country, it has a literacy rate of 94%. • Among all developing countries, Viet- nam has one of the lowest unemploy- ment rates. • An estimated ten million motor bikes travel on the roads of Vietnam every day. • Ruou ran (snake wine), a Vietnamese specialty of rice wine with a pickled snake inside, allegedly can cure any sickness. • The Vietnamese language has six different tones. A change in tone changes the meaning of the word. • Vietnam is world-famous for its animal wildlife. This wildlife – which includes elephants, buffa- loes, tigers, monkeys, rhinoceroses, snakes and turtles – attracts thousands of tourists to Viet- nam each year. • Local people prefer Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City, which was imposed by the government in Hanoi. 8 Learnmera Oy www.thelanguagemenu.com Country profileVIETNAM SOCIAL CULTURE Respect for parents and ancestors is an and women chafed under social mores that important virtue in Vietnam. The oldest demanded obedience to their fathers and male in the family is the head of the family husbands. In the countryside, however, tra- and the most important family member. His ditional Vietnamese family values remained oldest son is the second leader of the fami- strong. ly. Sometimes, related families live together in a big house and help each other. The trend toward adopting Western values continues in South Vietnam after the divi- Vietnam Culture vs Western Values sion of the country in 1954. Many young The French introduced Western values of people embraced sexual freedom and the individual freedom and sexual equality, movies, clothing styles, and rock music which undermined the traditional Vietnam- from Western cultures became popular. But ese social system. in the North, social ethnics were defined by Vietnam Communist Party’s principles. In urban areas, Western patterns of social behaviour became increasingly common, The government officially recognized equal- especially among educated and wealthy ity of the sexes, and women began to ob- Vietnamese who attended French schools, tain employment in professions previously read French books, replaced traditional at- dominated by men. tire with Western-style clothing, and drank French wines instead of the traditional wine At the same time, the government began distilled from rice. Adolescents began to enforcing a more puritanical lifestyle as a resist the tradition of arranged marriages, means to counter the so-called decadent practices of Western society.