Vietnam has an area of 331,212 km², a land border of 4,639 km, a coastline of 3,260 km, and shares a maritime border with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand and with China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia through the East Sea. Vietnam claims sovereignty over two disputed geographical entities in the East Sea, the Hoang Sa archipelagos (which has lost control in reality) and Truong Sa
Vietnam is located in the Indomalaya ecological region. According to the 2005 National Environmental Status Report, Vietnam is among the 25 countries with high levels of biodiversity, ranked 16th worldwide in terms of biodiversity and is home to about 16% of the world's biodiversity. species in the world. 15,986 plant species have been found throughout the country, of which 10% are endemic. Vietnam has 307 species of nematodes, 200 species of oligochaeta, 145 species of acarina, 113 species of springtails, 7,750 species of insects, 260 species of reptiles. , 120 species of amphibians, 840 species of birds and 310 species of mammals, of which 100 species of birds and 78 species of mammals are endemic. There are also 1,438 species of freshwater algae, accounting for 9.6% of the total number of algae species, as well as 794 species of aquatic invertebrates and 2,458 species of marine fish. In the late 1980s, a population of Javan Rhinos was discovered in Cat Tien National Park and it is possible that the last individual of this species in Vietnam died in 2010.
According to the ups and downs of the nation's history, Vietnamese customs and practices are constantly being innovated according to social trends. One of the oldest and most influential customs in history is the custom of chewing betel. This is a custom that dates back to the Hung King period and originates from the legend of Trau Areca and this custom has become a typical image of the brotherhood and love between husband and wife of Vietnamese people. Not only the custom of chewing betel, Vietnam also has another custom that was born in ancient times, which is the custom of welcoming the new year, also known as Tet - traditional Tet.
Vietnam's history began from 1 to 2 thousand years BC. Over many centuries with the Ly, Tran, Le, and Nguyen dynasties, from the mid-19th century, Vietnam became a French colony. After the August Revolution, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 marked the end of the French in the territory, but Vietnam was divided into two countries: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North and the Republic of Vietnam in the South. After the events of April 30, 1975, Vietnam was unified and from July 2, 1976, officially named the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.