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| Location | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia | | | Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 106 00 E | | | Zone | Asia | | | Area | total: 329,560 sq km
land: 325,360 sq km
water: 4,200 sq km | | | Land boundaries | total: 4,639 km
border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km | | | Coastline | 3,444 km (excludes islands) | | | Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin | | | Climate | tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March) | | | Terrain | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest | | | Elevation extremes | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m | | | Natural resources | phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower | | | Irrigated land | 3,444 km (excludes islands) | | | Natural hazards | occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta | | Environment -
current issues | logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City | | Environment -
international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | | | Geography - note | extending 1,650 km north to south, the country is only 50 km across at its narrowest point | |
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