Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, still employs the majority of the Vietnamese workforce. The most important crop is rice, which is farmed mostly by hand; Vietnam also exports sugar, coffee, groundnuts, rubber, tea and cotton. The north produces anthracite, a type of coal and the country's main mineral resource. The forestry industry, which sells bamboo, quinine (a substance made from tree bark) and timber, has stripped the country to such a degree that the government has recently banned exports of logs and timber. Along the coast, many people fish for a living and export some seafood. Light manufacturing is increasingly important; exports include natural resources such as crude oil and products such as clothing and shoes.

Rural Vietnamese women have always been expected to work both inside and outside the home on family farms. Nowadays, due to severe economic pressures, employment outside the home has increasingly become the norm for urban Vietnamese women as well, and women have entered the ranks of professional workers.

Communism and years of war damaged Vietnam's economy, and many people live in poverty. In Hanoi alone, thousands of people earn a meager living by making shoes, tools and other items from materials thrown out as garbage. The difficulty of obtaining bank credit has led to a system called ho, where people meet to pool resources and bid for the right to take the money home on loan.

Under communism, the government owns most means of production. Since 1990, the government has been trying to move Vietnam to a market-based system that includes private enterprise and competition

Did you know?

The famous conical hat worn by farmers throughout Vietnam has a long history. Traditionally made of palm leaf, the non la hat has been worn since the 13th century to keep off the sun.