N CHAPTER ONE VIETNAMIE THE COUNTERY ITS PEOPLE AND THE ROAD TO WAR ne of the world's most populous countries Vietnam occupies the easternmost part of mainland Southeast Asia It has a long coastline much of which fronts the South China Sea to the east and south The country is bor dered by the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest Cambodia and Laos to the west and China to the north Its capital is Hanoi As of 2013 the estimated population of this long narrow coun try was nearly 90 million LAND AND CLIMATE Mountains cover about two thirds of the land especially in the north The major lowland areas are two deltas which are plains that form around the mouth of a river In the northeast the Red River forms a delta at the Gulf of Tonkin The Mekong River forms an even larger delta in the south 10
Farmers at work in 2013 harvesting in the rice terraces of Yen Bai a small town in northern Vietnam
KEY FIGURES OF 12 THE VIETNAM WAR The climate of Vietnam is largely tropical with warm to hot temperatures plenty of rainfall and high humidity Differences in humidity rainfall and temperature are caused largely by changes in elevation Vietnam's climate is dominated by monsoons wind systems that change direction and bring rainfall seasonally The north has a hot and humid wet season from about May through October The remainder of the year is relatively warm and humid with only light rains A prolonged period of fog cloudiness and drizzle occurs from December through April in the central zone and coastal lowlands The south is generally warmer than the north Its temperatures vary little over the course of the year but it has a distinct rainy season from about June through November PLAN T S AND ANIMAL S Forests of oak beech chestnut pine teak and ebony trees cover about a third of the land Bamboo plants grow in many places Mangrove trees grow along the coast Much of the central highlands is thickly for ested Huge areas of the country s forests have been cleared however by loggers and for agriculture and resettlement During the Vietnam War the U S Army destroyed vast tracts of forest in the south To combat deforestation the government of Vietnam has begun programs to replant trees The forests are home to animals such as deer elephants tigers leopards bears and
Douc langurs also known simply as doucs are strikingly colored monkeys native to Vietnam Laos and Cambodia They were pushed to the brink of extinction by years of war in the region as well as by intensive
