Most Americans are familiar with the country Vietnam due to our role in the Vietnam War. Vietnam is a country that has been full of war, rebellion, and unrest with the Vietnam War only marking one instance. This was one of the bloodiest encounters in its time, though, and as a result, two thirds of the population was born after 1975.

Because of Vietnam's political affiliation, it is known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The biggest weakness of the country has been the rebuilding process from its wars, causing it slower than usual reform and growth. It has been working diligently, though, and the recent milestones prove it. By the year 2000, Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with most countries and had one of the highest economic growth rates in the world. By 2007, they had joined the World Trade Organization, followed by becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2008. While these have been great strengths to the country, Vietnam still faces political issues in the human rights category. In a 2004 report by the Department of State, Vietnam ranked poorly due to imposing restrictions on things like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and freedom of association, a major weakness.

The Vietnam War was responsible for destroying most of the Vietnamese economy. It relied heavily on rice farming, which took a devastating toll during the fighting. Since, though, the government has enacted a planned economy to help reinstate and recover their lost economic status. These measures have helped foster incredible growth and have brought its citizens out of what is known as deep poverty. Deep poverty is the percentage of citizens living on less than $1US per day. Education has also grown dramatically.

One of the major strengths of Vietnam is its education. It boasts one of the highest enrollment percentages in the world and the number of school and universities available to its citizens continues to climb. Outside of all of these factors, Vietnam is working heavily to establish itself as a tourism hub. The number of international tourists continues to increase every year and money is being poured into the areas surrounding its beaches and boat tours. English is also being taught to help eliminate the language barrier, one of the many strengths for tourists and tourism overall. Vietnam has had the monumental task of recovering from the Vietnam War. Its successes are finally starting to become apparent and the country is growing rapidly, both as an economy and as a tourism hub.

Sebastian has been traveling around South East Asia for some time and has put together a number of articles on the subject. If your interested in Vietnam then visit http://www.vietnamcares.com