Vietnam is the homeland of many nationalities. According to legend, all are descendants of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, hatching out of a hundred eggs, half of them following their mother to the mountain, the other half accompanying their father to the sea. They joined hands to build the nation from "Three mountains, four seas and the land mass", with endless forests and mountains, delta plains stretching as far as the eyes can see and the Eastern Sea rippling its waves all the four seasons.
Vietnam, What images spring to mind? Conical hats emerging from lizard green rice paddies? Grainy black and white colonial era photographs of slender, dark-haired women in flowing white ao dai tunics? Stunning white-sand beaches fringed with coconut palms? Luxurious resorts and golf courses?
Vietnam borders with China in the north, Laos and Kampuchea in the West, and the Pacific Ocean in the east. Its lies in the centre of South-East Asia. Vietnam's territory stretches from Lung Cu village ( Ha Tuyen province ) in the north to Rach Tau hamlet ( Minh Hai province ) in the south. It is a S-shaped pennisula, with thousands of off-shore islands and archipelagoes; the biggest of which are the Hoang SA (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagoes. Vietnam's mainland covers 331,689 square kilometres .
