Welcome to Vietnam!
Vietnam is a country in the Southeast Asia region. It's famous for
its beautiful geography, food, and friendly people. The country
has a long history, with several instances of fighting for their
freedom. Vietnam was ruled by China, and later by France, but the
people always stayed true to their identity. Many countries tried
to take control of Vietnam, but the people never gave up.
Vietnam is known for its hardy culture and traditions. People
celebrate with many festivals and enjoying family time. The food
is tasty, and unique, like pho and banh mi. The country has many
interesting places to visit, such as old cities, temples, and
beautiful nature. It is a place where the past and present come
together, making it special and welcoming to everyone.
Vietnam has a nationally elected assembly, a president, a prime
minister, and a cabinet. The prime minister and the president also
have deputy ministers and a vice president respectively. The prime
minister handles different ministries that are similar to departments.
The current president is To Lam, and the current prime minister is Le
Minh Hung. The leading party has been the Vietnamese Communist Party
since they won the war in the 70’s. All power is held by the
government which is ruled by the Vietnamese Communist Party. They use
a communist based system with socialist ideas.
Culture
Most of Vietnam is centered around Confucianism. They respect
their family and elders over everything. Family is patrilineal in
structure, meaning that men carry the lineage. However, Woman
still play major roles in work, finances, and raising children.
While most Vietnamese people practice the idea of Confucianism,
they also practice ideas and rituals much like the Mexican “Day of
the Dead”. The similarities being their worship of the dead along
with the way they honor and respect them. A major holiday is Tet
Nguyen Dan, or more commonly known as Tet, which is a Lunar New
Year celebration. You can think of it like any holiday we have
here, people clean their houses, visit each other, and eat good
food. A special quirk, however, is that Vietnamese people do is
handing out red envelopes full of money for good luck. Food takes
a big role in Vietnamese Culture as in most. Fish products are a
popular inclusion, Vietnam being a mostly costal country. Overall
Culture is centered around hard work, food, and family.
Society Today
Society in Vietnam today is a mix of tradition and modernization.
Respect for elders and family still persists and community ties
are still highly valued. While these traditional beliefs are
highly valued, cities are becoming more advanced over time. Woman
can take roles in almost any position today, even presidency,
however they are still expected to hold some traditional
expectations as well. Education is extremely valued. Literacy
rates are around 95% or higher, meaning most regular adults can
read and write. Unemployment is really good at around 1.5%
Religion
Vietnam has a mainly unreligious population. They do, however,
have a sort of folk religion where they do certain ceremonies and
practices. There are also minorities of Catholicism, Buddhism, and
Hoahoaism, but the vast majority don’t have a deity or God.
Ethnicities wise they mainly have Viet, an Asian race unique to
Vietnam. The French spent a long time trying to invade and
colonize Vietnam, and as such they mixed the two cultures a bit.
Catholicism was never a religion within Vietnam before the French
conflict. There are other minorities within Vietnam but they’re
not large enough to take count of.
