The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located in the heart of South East Asia. The country shares borders with China to the north, Cambodia and Laos to the west: to the east is the Pacific Ocean - its coastline stretching for 3,260 kms. Shaped like the letter "s", the length of the country is 1,650 kms.

Almost 75% of the land area consists of mountains and hills which are located in both temperate and tropical zones - which can be divided into four mountain regions: the northeastern zone (Viet Bac), from the Red River Valley to the Gulf of Tonkin;  the northwestern zone, which starts over the border in China and stretches to Thanh Hoa province; the North Truong Son zone, which runs from Than Hoa province to Quang Nam-Da Nang mountains; the South Truong Son zone, which is located close to the south central coastal region. All of the areas are full with many natural attractions and are criss-crossed with a number of rivers that snake their way to the coastline.

The coastline has some of the regions largest sea-ports, while offshore there are thousands of islands and archipelagos scattered around. The largest of which are the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly).