Vietnam by Hoang Yen Pham

Hello, My name is Hoang Yen Pham. I'm 14 years old . I'm from Ho Chi Minh , Vietnam. My favorite tv shows are cartoons and I read novels. I'll give you information about my country...................

Vietnam: about size of New Mexico, Vietnam's long eastern coastline borders the Gulf of Tonkin, the South China Sea, and the gulf of Thailand. In the north lies the fertile delta of the Red River. A delta is an area of land formed by soil deposits at the mouth of a river. In the south you find the wide, swampy delta at the Mekong River. Monsoons bring wet and dry seasons.

Farmers grow large amounts of rice, sugarcane, cassava, sweet potatoes, corn, bananas, and coffee in river deltas. Vietnam's mountain forests provide wood, and the South China Sea yields large catches of fish.

Northern and central Vietnam are rich in coal, natural gas, and other mineral resources, Most factories lie in the south, which is a bustling commercial area. Cement, fertilizer, steel, clothing, and bicycles are manufactured. Years of warfare and strick government controls have kept Vietnam's industries from fully developing.

With 79.5 million people, Vietnam has the largest populartion in mainland Southeast Asia. About 80 percent live in the countryside. The largest urban area is Ho Chi Minh(HOH CHee MIHN)City, Named for the country's first leader. It used to be call Saigon (sy GAHN). Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, is locatedin the north. Most people are Buddhists and belong to the Vietnamese ethnic group. The rest are Chinese, Cambodians, and other Vietnamese ethnic groups. Vietnamese is the major language, but Chinese and Enlish are also spoken.

The ancestors of Vietnam's people came from China more than 2,000 years ago. From the late 1800s to the mid-1950s, Vietnam was under the French in 1954. The Communist government controlled northern Vietnam, while an America-supported government ruled the south. In the 1960s, fighting between these two groups led to the Vietnam War. During this 10-year conflict, more than 3 million Americans helped fight against the Communist. The war was costly, and the United States eventually withdrew its forces in 1973. Within two years, the Communist had captured the south. Many thousands of people fled Vietnam, settling in the United States and other countries.

In recent years, Vietnam's Communist leaders have opended the country to Western ideas, businesses, and tourists. They also have loosened government controls on the economy. In these two ways, the Communist leaders hope to raise Vietnam's standard of living