The specialties of each region of Vietnam carry within themselves the local lifestyle and the quintessence of nature there. The North cherishes delicate recipes, like a delicious bowl of bun thang that must be prepared for many hours. In the Central region, royal culinary traditions and typical spices blend in unique dishes such as lotus rice or spring rolls. Southern braised fish and sour soup come from abundant seafood resources, the pride of the Mekong Delta.
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.
The Vietnam National Gene Bank preserves 12,300 varieties of 115 species. The Vietnamese government spent US$497 million to maintain biodiversity in 2004 and has established 126 protected areas including 28 national parks. Vietnam has 2 world natural heritage sites: Ha Long Bay and Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park and 6 biosphere reserves including Can Gio, Cat Tien, Cat Ba, Kien Giang, and River Delta mangrove forests. Hong and Tay Nghe An.