The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a sovereign and reunified independent country, has a high percentage of territorial waters. Looking at the map, Vietnam is located in the center of Southeast Asia, and is shaped like the letter "S" with 330,991 sq.km of land area and 1,000,000 sq.km of seawaters. Its mainland frontier amounts to 4,510Km, of which 1,306 km are adjacent to China to the North, 2,067 km to Laos to the west 1,137km to Cambodia. There are nearly 4,000 small and large islands, of which Truong Sa and Hoang Sa are the largest archipelagos. The country lies in the eastern part of the Indochina peninsula, bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the East Sea and Pacific Ocean to the southeast. Vietnam's coast line is 3,260 km long and its inland border measures 3,730 km. The country's total length, from the northernmost point to the southernmost point, is 1,650 km. Its width, stretching from east to west, is 600 km at the widest point in the north, 400 km in the south, and 50 km at the narrowest part in the Quang Binh province on the central coast. Vietnam is also a transport junction from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Vietnam’s topography is diversified with rivers, mountains, plains, highlands and islands. Three quarters of Vietnam's territory consists of mountains and hills. Vietnam is divided into 3 various regions. Typically, the northern region is divided into 3 large parts. The northern plain, formed by the Hong and Thai Binh rivers is situated in the middle. The northwest mountainous region with various mountains and highlands run from northwest to southwest ( from the border between Vietnam, China, Laos to Thanh-Nghe Tinh mountainous region) with Phansipan, (Hoang Lien Son range), the highest peak in Indochina with 3,143 km. The northern region and the north east region are covered with arrow-shaped limestone mountains, of which the Dong Trieu arrow being submerged into the sea, forms the mountain cliffs of Ha Long Bay, also called Bai Tu Long. The Center of Viet Nam is a narrow region, covered with a mixture of mountains, hills, rivers and coastal plains. The Truong Son range runs along the west coast, with a soil formed of granite and basalt lying till Highlands. The southern region is less complicated, with some low hills and mountains near Tay Nguyen (Highlands) and the western region of Kien Giang province. The rest is the Dong Nai river Delta and the Mekong River Delta, the latter is the largest delta in the whole country.
Vietnam’s coastline stretches from Mong Cai in the north to Ha Tien in the south with many spectacular beaches.
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