Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Population

Population: 86,116,559 (July 2008 est.)

Capital: Hanoi

Nationality: Vietnamese

Ethnic groups: Kinh (Viet) 86.2%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.7%, Muong 1.5%, Khome 1.4%, Hoa 1.1%, Nun 1.1%, Hmong 1%, others 4.1% (1999 census from www.cia.gov)

Language:Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and hill tribe languages.

Government

Vietnam is a Communist State. President Nguyen Minh TRIET and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan DUNG were elected by party members in 2006 for a five-year term.

Economy

Terrible poverty, those living under $1 per day, has declined significantly and is now smaller than that of China, India, and the Philippines. Vietnam is working to create jobs to meet the challenge of a labor force that is growing by almost two million people a year.

Currency (code): dong (VND)

Exchange rates: dong per US dollar - 16,119 (2007), 15,983 (2006), 15,746 (2005)

Team members lay hands on leaders at a Pastors Conference in Hanoi

Pastor Terry Purvis ministers to 400 hungry hearts at a Women's Conference in 2008

Groups from tribal villages are especially targeted by police and must sneak into the cities to attend our conferences

Worship at Pastors Conferences are loud and passionate despite the risk of being caught