PEOPLE

Buddhist 52% 39.5 million (Mahayna Buddhism predominant)
Confucianism & Taoist.
Cao Dai 2.63% 2 million (mix of Buddhism & Catholicism)
Hoa Hoa 1.97% 1.5 million (offshoot of Buddhism)
Animism 3% 2.28 million
Islamic 0.2% 152,000
Non-religious 29.8% 22.6 million

Christian total 9.8% 7.5 million - growth 6.2%
Roman Catholic 8.9% 6.7 million - growth 5.7%
Protestant 0.8% 600,000 - growth 12.5%

Four great philosophies and religions have shaped the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. Over the centuries, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism have melded with popular Chinese beliefs and ancient Vietnamese animism to form what is known as Tam Giao or `Triple Religion'.
In 1974 there were 280 missionaries in Vietnam. All missionary work ceased in 1975. Since 1988 the church experienced a great move of the Holy Spirit which divided the church and caused a new underground church movement (over 1,000 churches) as the believers feared being registered with the government which meant regulation of their activities. A report by Amnesty International in December 1998 stated that individuals and churches that are not registered were still subject to harassment and even arrest and detention.

There is an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 Hmong believers in northern Vietnam (due mainly to the FEBC radio broadcasts). Approximately 30 Hmong church leaders had been jailed or detained in the past year.

Official documents seen by Reuters show that Communist Party units and local authorities in Ha Giang and one other province had launched campaigns from 1997 to stop people adopting Christianity, which is seen as an imperialist tool. There is a desperate need for Hmong bibles but these are illegal and in very short supply, the majority of believers have never seen one.

France first unified Vietnam in 1887, when a single governor-generalship was created. Communist leader Ho Chi Minh organised an independence movement known as the Vietminh. Ho Chi Minh's declaration of Vietnamese independence after WWII sparked violent confrontations with the French, culminating in the French military defeat in 1954. The Geneva Accords of 1954 temporarily divided Vietnam into the Communist north and the anti-Communist, US-supported south. Political and ideological opposition quickly turned to armed struggle, prompting the USA and other countries to commit combat troops in 1965. The Paris Peace Agreements in 1973, provided an immediate cease-fire and signalled the withdrawal of US troops. Saigon surrendered to the Communist forces on 30 April 1975.