Geographic coordinates: 16 00 N, 106 00 E
Area:
total: 329,560 sq km land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than [United States/New Mexico]?
Land boundaries:
total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km
Coastline: 3,444 km (excludes islands)
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
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)
Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m
Natural resources: phosphates?, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate?, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 17% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 30% other: 48% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 18,600 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: occasional typhoon?s (May to January) with extensive flooding?
Environment - current issues:
Logging? and [slash-and-burn agricultural]? practices contribute to deforestation and [soil degradation]?; [water pollution]? and overfishing? threaten [marine life]? populations; [groundwater contamination]? limits [potable water]? supply; growing [urban industrialization]? and [population migration]? are rapidly degrading environment? in Hanoi? and [Ho Chi Minh City]?
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, [Hazardous Wastes]?, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, [Ship Pollution]?, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban
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