It is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia, the easternmost of the Indochinese peninsula. Its name was first officially adopted in 1802 by Emperor Gia Long. In 1945 it was officially established again with the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam chaired by Ho Chi Minh. It has an extensive coastline to the east bathed by the South China Sea. After the Indochina War against France, which ended with the defeat and expulsion of the French troops in 1954, the country was politically divided into two rival states, the North and the South, which began a conflict of increasing intensity that ended in the well-known as the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975 with the victory of the North and the following year the country was unified under a socialist-oriented regime. In 1986 the government began the reformist path, which put Vietnam on the path of integration with the global economy and by the year 2000 the country already had diplomatic relations with most nations. In the 21st century, Vietnam's economic growth has been one of the highest in the world, an economic success that led the country to join the World Trade Organization in 2007. In Vietnam, three main tourist areas can be distinguished: The northern area where There is the capital, Hanoi, in this area there are two very prominent points of interest: Halong Bay and the Sa Pa region; the central area, where there are three important cities: Da Nang, Hue and Nha Trang, the latter with beaches that attract tourists seeking relaxation; and the southern area, with the frenetic city of Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) and the mouth of the Mekong River, with its famous delta. In Vietnam, biodiversity is unique, the entire country is covered in vegetation, forests occupy 30% of the national territory. In the monsoon forest you can find pine trees, bamboos, large-leaved plants and crops. Mangroves surround the branches of the deltas. The large mammals of Southeast Asia such as elephants, bears, deer, tigers, panthers (leopards) live in the tropical rainforest; a wide variety of monkeys, hares, squirrels, otters; more than 700 species of birds; reptiles (such as the porous and Siamese crocodile, python, and lizards); and about 450 species of freshwater fish.

Programs at Vietnam

Useful information for traveling to Vietnam