Hanoi is located in the Red River Delta in the center of North Vietnam. It is surrounded by Thai Nguyen province from the north, Vinh Phuc and Ha Tay from the west and south, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh and Hung Yen province from the east and southeast. According to itypemba.com, Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam.
Hanoi is an interfluve. The city area is washed by the waters of the Red River (its waters hug Hanoi for about 40 km), and many small streams flow through the city itself, including Duong, Cau, Ca Lo, Day, Nhue, Tich, To Lich and Kim Nguu.
Vietnam – Climate
Hanoi is located in the tropical monsoon zone, the weather is divided into two main seasons. During the dry season, which lasts from late October to March 10, it is cold and rain is very rare, except from January to March, when it rains lightly and is even colder. The rainy season lasts from May to September. At this time, there are furious rains, and a strong storm in the sea. The average annual temperature is 23.2°C (73.7°F), the average rainfall is -1,800mm. The average winter temperature is 17.2°C (62.9°F), but can drop as low as 8°C (46.4°F). The average summer temperature is 29.2°C (84.6°F), but can rise to 39°C (102.2°F).
POPULATION
Currently, Vietnam has about 82 million inhabitants, the population includes representatives of more than 50 different nationalities. Approximately 64% of the population of them are actually Vietnamese aged 15 to 64 years. After the Vietnamese, the two largest ethnic groups can be distinguished – the Chinese and the Khmers (Cambodians). There are more than 1 million Chinese people. Most of the Chinese population of Vietnam is concentrated in the city of Cholon (which means “Big Market”), which was absorbed by Ho Chi Minh City and turned into one of its districts. Interestingly, a relatively small minority of Chinese controls more than 40% of all Vietnamese capital. Khmer, whose population reaches about 850 thousand people, also live mostly in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta region.
The rest of the peoples of Vietnam are classified by language groups. These are the peoples who speak:
- Thai languages - thai, nung, tai, lao, zey, santai (shantai), ly, bui;
- languages of the Meo-Zao group – Meo (Hmong), Zao;
- Mon-Khmer languages - Bahnars, Sedangs, Mnongs, Ma, Koho, Khre, Stiengs, Khmu (they live in the southwestern part of the country);
- Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Austronesian family – Jaray, Ede, Raglai, Tyuru, Ede-Bih, Tyamy (settled mainly on the Pleiku and Darlak plateaus);
- Languages of the Sino-Tibetan language family – Hani, Fula, Lahu, Lolo.
Languages of Vietnam
The official language of Vietnam is Vietnamese. In addition to the aforementioned exotic languages, French, English and Russian are also widely spoken in this country.
RELIGION
The territory of Vietnam has always been under the influence of three religious movements – Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism (Islam was not very widespread here). Along with this, a feature of the local religious consciousness is the extreme reverence for the ancestors and the belief that the spirits of the ancestors live in the same world with the living and are able to influence events. Most Vietnamese believe that ancestors are directly involved in all the affairs of their descendants – first of all, protecting them and warning them of imminent danger (usually during sleep). In general, keeping the memory of one’s ancestors and honoring them in every possible way is considered a moral duty of every person in this country.
In general, we can say that the Vietnamese mentality is prone to religious syncretism. It strangely combines Hindu, Confucian and Buddhist components. A specific national cult of ancestors also acts as an indispensable component of it. This finds its obvious expression in particular in the village temples, where there are usually several altars on which the local patron spirits are represented, as well as the obligatory Buddha, Bodhisattva, Confucius and other religious and historical figures. Such an eclectic neighborhood does not seem strange to the Vietnamese. Village houses usually have at least two altars – the first is dedicated to patron ancestors, the second to some deity.
“Supreme Palace” with “harmony and nobility”.
Separately, two interesting sects that arose in Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th century should be mentioned. In the Mekong Delta region, where there were active colonization processes, cultural exchange with Europeans was especially intense. The eternal desire of the Vietnamese for a syncretic comprehension of different religious movements then led to rather outstanding results – two sects arose that combined elements of European and Eastern religious philosophy. The first of them was called “Kaodai”, which means “supreme palace”. This trend was based on the teachings of Buddha, Christ, Confucius, Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy and other philosophical and religious figures. The “supreme palace” is run by his own “dad”, whose residence is located in the province of Tay Ninh, in the western part of the Mekong Delta. The second sect called hohao (“Harmony and nobility”) focused on the ideas of Taoism and Buddhism, however, in it one can also note some syncretic juxtaposition of different ideological currents, including those of a European nature. By the age of 40 these sects became so popular and influential that the government had to make major concessions, including those of a territorial nature. These religious organizations began to claim some secular functions – in particular, they clearly defined their territorial spheres of influence, organized their own militias and became more and more independent of the central government. Only in the mid-1950s, thanks to the active support of the Americans, the then ruler of Vietnam managed to undermine their military and political positions. And yet, a significant number of followers of religions still survive. Of these, about 1 million are followers of Caodaism and about 500,000 are followers of Hoahao.
