Vietnam
- Capital:
- Hanoi
- Continent:
- Asia
- Region(s):
- Southeast Asia
- Largest Cities:
- Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa
- Abbreviation:
- VNM
* As of 11/21/2025
1 birth
Every 23.8 seconds
1 death
Every 46.2 seconds
1 emigrant
Every 10.9 minutes
1 person
Every 52.9 seconds
942K
1M
2.5M
5M
7.5M
9.8M
On the eastern tip of the Indochina peninsula in southeast Asia, Vietnam is one of the larger and more densely populated countries in the region.
The CIA World Factbook has also produced some interesting figures in relation to life expectancy and these stand at relatively healthy levels. The organization claims that in 2011, those figures stood at 71.33 years overall, which could be divided between males at 68.52 years and females at 74.33 years.
This is arguably one of the most diverse countries on earth when it comes to ethnicity splits and in fact, the Vietnamese government recognizes no less than 54 ethnic groups within the country. The World Factbook gives us a breakdown of Kinh (Viet) at 85.7%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.8%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.5%, Mong 1.2%, Nung 1.1%, Hoa 1%, other ethnicities 4.3%.
Kinh (Viet) (85.3%)
Tay (1.9%)
Thai (1.9%)
Muong (1.5%)
Khmer (1.4%)
Mong (1.4%)
Nung (1.1%)
Other (5.5%)
The main religion in Vietnam is None.
None
Catholic
Buddhist
Other
Protestant
Hoa Hao
Cao Dai
Muslim
In terms of religious preferences among the population of Vietnam in the World Factbook, we see Buddhists at 7.9%, Catholic 6.6%, Hoa Hao 1.7%, Cao Dai 0.9%, Protestant 0.9%, Muslim 0.1%, no preferred religion 81.8%.
The World Happiness Report shows a ranking of 95, with a rating of 5.1 in terms of overall happiness.
In terms of health care and access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation facilities, 7.1% of the GDP is spent in healthcare, resulting in .82 professional physicians available per 1,000 residents and 2.6 beds available in healthcare institutions per 1,000 individuals. When we examine the access to drinking water, 97.6% of the population has improved access, while only 78% have improved access to improved sanitation facilities. 94.5% of the population aged over 15 is literate.
In the absence of any confirmed figures from within the country itself, it is necessary to turn to UN estimates to gauge how the population of Vietnam has been developing over the years.
Back in 1950, the organization claimed that there were 28,264,000 people living here and just five years later in 1955, those numbers had swelled significantly to 31,329,000.