Vietnam: Biological and Cultural Diversity

From its tropical forests to its mountains and coral reefs, Vietnam is home to an amazing diversity of plants and animals — including many species found nowhere else in the world. 

It’s also the most culturally diverse country in Southeast Asia, with more than 50 different ethnic groups, each with its own language. Internationally Isolated for much of the 20th century, Vietnam is now a fascinating destination for biologists, anthropologists and tourists alike—and changing fast.

Video SciCafe: The Search for Slow Lorises Protecting an endangered primate in Vietnam.   Amphibians and Reptiles of Mainland Southeast Asia The CBC's research and conservation work in the heart of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot - an enormous and geographically complex... Educator Materials Vietnam Educator's Guide Activity: Rights of Passage In a Yao initiation ceremony, a 13-year-old boy jumps off a ladder, freeing his soul to travel to divine realms. Now he's ready to... Video Surveying Vietnam Will Vietnam's biodiversity vanish faster than biologists can document it? Article Biodiversity Science in Vietnam Vietnam harbors an astonishing range of habitats, from rain forests and dry forests to mangroves and coral reefs. It's also home... Article Journeys of Gods, Family Ancestors For the Kinh, the Hoa (Chinese), and some other ethnic groups living in Vietnam, the year's journey begins with Tet, the lunar New... Article Journeys of Heroes and Deities Large and exuberant festivals in honor of local gods are central to village life among the Kinh majority in Vietnam. Article Journeys Through Time and Space More than 80 million people live in Vietnam today, making it the 14th most populous country on the globe. Article Journeys of Life and Death If life is a journey, passage rites—initiations, weddings, and funerals—are the way stations that signal transitions from one stage...   Small Mammals of Mainland Southeast Asia Addressing knowledge gaps about the regional diversity and natural history of mainland Southeast Asia's small mammals in the face...

Support for the development of Science Topics was generously provided by Sidney and Helaine Lerner, GRACE Communications Foundation.