The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, located in Southwest Asia west of the South China Sea, has an area of 127,300 sq. mi. (329,560 sq. km.) and a population of 80.55 million. Capital: Hanoi. Agriculture products, saltwater fish, shellfish, coal, mineral ores and electronic products are exported. ,The Vietnamese originated in North China, from where they were driven southward by the Han Chinese. They settled in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam. By 208 B.C., much of present-day southern China and northern Vietnam was incorporated into the independent kingdom of Nam Viet. China annexed Nam Viet in 111 B.C. and ruled it until 939, when independence was reestablished. The new state then expanded until it included much of Cambodia and southern Vietnam. Vietnam was reconquered by the Chinese in 1407; and although they were driven out, the country was divided into two, not to be reunited until 1802.,, ,During the later half of the 19th century, the French gradually overran Vietnam. Cochin-China fell to the French in 1862-67. In 1884, France established protectorates over Annam, the central region of Vietnam and Tonkin in the north. Cambodia, Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin were incorporated into the Indo-Chinese Union in 1887.,, ,At the start of World War II, many nationalists, communists and non-communists alike, fled to China and joined the League for the Independence of Vietnam (?Viet Minh?) to free Vietnam from French rule. The Japanese occupied Vietnam during World War II. As the end of the war drew near, the Vichy French administration and granted Vietnam independence under a government headed by Bao Dai, emperor of Annam. The Bao Dai government collapsed at the end of the war, and on September 2, 1945, the Viet Minh proclaimed the existence of an independent Vietnam consisting of Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin, and set up a provisional Communist government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France recognized the new government as a free state, but later reneged and in 1949 reinstalled Bao Dai as ruler of Vietnam and extended the regime within the French Union. The first Indochina War, against the state that raged onto the disastrous defeat of the French by the Viet Minh on May 7, 1954.,, ,An agreement of July 21, 1954, provided for a temporary division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel of latitude, with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to the north, and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) to the south. In October 1955, South Vietnam held a referendum and authorized the establishment of a republic. This Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on October 26, 1955, and was recognized immediately by the Western powers.,, ,The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, working through Viet Chong guerillas, instigated subversion on South Vietnam which led to the second Indochina War. This war, from the viewpoint of the north was merely a continuation of the first (anti-French) war, which came to a brief half in 1973 but did not end until April 30, 197 when South Vietnam surrendered. The National Liberation Front for South Vietnam, the political arm of the Viet Chong, assumed the governmental power in the south. On July 2, 1976, North and South Vietnam were united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with Hanoi as the capital.,, Monetary System:,,, ,1 Hao = 10 Xu,, ,1 Dong = 100 Xu,, ,1 Dong = 100 ?Old? Dong, 1951,,