Fishermen cast their nets on the Nam Dinh coast. John Kleinen

OCCUPATIONS
In Vietnam most people are farmers, and most farmers grow rice. Fish contribute significantly to both the diet and the economy. While crude oil is Vietnam’s largest export, food products run a close second. Vietnam is one of the world’s three top rice exporters.

POPULATION
More than 80 million people live in Vietnam today, making it the 14th most populous country on the globe. The nation’s literacy rate approaches 85 percent, and over half of Vietnam’s citizens are younger than 25.

A crowded intersection in Ho Chi Minh City. Ellen Kaplowitz

PATTERNS
Most Vietnamese people live in villages along the densely populated coast and the river deltas, though cities are now home to a quarter of the population. Hanoi in the north, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south and Danang in the center are Vietnam’s largest cities.

PEOPLES
Vietnam is the most diverse country in Southeast Asia. More than 50 different ethnic groups, each with its own language, call Vietnam home. The Kinh, or Viet, ethnic group makes up 87 percent of the population.

GEOGRAPHY
Roughly 900 miles long, and slightly smaller than California, Vietnam is wide in the north and south, narrow in the middle. A spine of forested mountains connects the flat, fertile deltas at the mouths of two great rivers, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south.