Vietnam geography and climate

Geography

Vietnam is a country located on the Indochinese peninsula, Southeast Asia, along the Pacific coast. Vietnam has 4,550 km of land border bordering China in the north, Laos, and Cambodia in the west; the East sea bordering the east. On the map, the land strip of Vietnam is shaped like an S, stretching from latitude 23o23 'north to 8o27' north, 1,650 km long in the north-south direction, the widest part on the mainland about 500 km; narrowest place nearly 50 km.

Vietnam's topography is very diverse: hills, plains, coastlines, and continental shelves reflecting the long history of geological development, topography in monsoon, hot, humid, and strongly weathered environment. The topography is lower in the Northwest - Southeast direction, clearly shown through the flow direction of big rivers.

Mountains and hills occupy 3/4 of the territory, but mainly low hills. The terrain is less than 1,000 m low, accounting for 85% of the territory. Over 2,000 m high mountains only account for 1%. Vietnam's hills and mountains run 1400 km along the East Sea, from the Northwest to the Southeast. Almost high mountain ranges are situated in the West and Northwest with the highest peak of Fansipan on the Indochinese peninsula (3,143m). Further east, the mountains are lower and often end with a coastal. The terrain is simpler from the central to the South with no long limestone mountains, but large masses of marble, occasionally rising to the top; the rest are the highlands consecutively forming the Central Highlands, the eastern edge is raised to the Truong Son range.

The plain occupies only a quarter of the land area and is separated by mountains and hills. There are two vast and fertile deltas, the Northern Delta (Red River basin, 16,700 km2 wide) and the Southern Delta (Mekong River basin, 40,000 km2 wide). Besides, there is a chain of small deltas, scattered along the Central Coast.

Vietnam has three faces overlooking the sea with a coastline of 3,260 km, starting from Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh province) to Ha Tien City (Kien Giang province). Vietnam's East Sea covers the east and south of the mainland, including 700,000 km2 of the continental shelf with many islands and archipelagos such as Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, Phu Quoc Island, Con Dao Island... The Gulf of Tonkin concentrates several about 3,000 islands mainly focused surrounding Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long, Cat Hai, Cat Ba, Bach Long Vi... The Hoang Sa and Truong archipelago are further away. The southwest and south gather some of the big islands such as Con Dao, Phu Quoc, and Tho Chu… which are very calm charming, and clear seawater and potential for tourism. Vietnam has a dense network of rivers (2,360 rivers over 10 km long), among them, the Red River and the Mekong River form two vast and fertile deltas that are important to not only agriculture and human life but also tourism. Vietnam has a rich and diverse fauna and flora system, many species listed in the Red Book of Vietnam as well as the world. Vietnam's national parks and biosphere reserves are not only places for research of scientists, but also attractive ecotourism sites.

Climate

Vietnam has a hot and humid climate, located in the tropical and subtropical regions, so there is always a lot of sunlight and a lot of rain. But in different localities in the country, there are different weather characteristics of each region. The average annual temperature throughout the whole territory of Vietnam is over 20 degrees Celsius, but the temperature each month is different and tends to increase gradually from north to south and from highlands to low areas. From the North to the North-Central region, the cold season lasts from November to March and the hot season from April to August. However, from the south-central to the South, there is no cold winter, but only rain season and dry season. The average annual rainfall is large relative to the humid tropical climate.

In general, Vietnam's climate is divided into four main climatic regions. The northern climatic zone includes the northern part of Hoang Lien Son range with a tropical monsoon climate with four distinct springs, summer, autumn, and winter. In the northern mountainous regions, such as Sapa, December and January can be very cold with occasional snow. From May to October is the rainy season, the weather is hot and humid with showers in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures are from 20 - 30 degrees Celcius. Months from November to April, the period is quite cool and dry, the average temperature is from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.

Central and South-Central climates including Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue are hot and dry from January to August with average temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius. In winter, rainfall also increases, but not as much as in the north. The rainy season takes place from September to November. The worst weather may occur in October and November with torrential rains. In this region, beach breaks take place all year round, although in Hue it will be a bit chilly in February with temperatures down to 23 degrees Celsius. An important feature is that the dry season in this region is summer, which is different from the other two regions.

Southern climate includes the territory of the Central Highlands and the South with a typical monsoon tropical climate. The rainy season is from April to around October or November and the dry season starts from November, ends in early May. This area has high temperatures and little change in the year, averaging 25-35 degrees Celcius. The hottest months are February and April. Peak rainy season falls in June, July, and August. Rain usually appears in the afternoon with torrential rains but only lasts for a short time.

Advise when coming to Vietnam:

In the summer, you should prepare items such as umbrellas, sunscreen, sunglasses. In winter, do not forget to bring a thick coat, scarf and winter shoes. Particularly in Saigon, the weather can be bright, sunny in the morning and rainy in the afternoon, so don't forget to bring an umbrella or a raincoat just in case of rain.