- About VietNam:

Mainland Territory: 331,211.6 km ² 
Population: approximately 95,54 million 
National Capital: Hanoi

Lying on the eastern part of the Indochinese peninsula, Vietnam is a strip of land shaped like the letter “S”. China borders it to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, the East Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the east and south.
The country’s total length from north to south is 1,650km. Its width, stretching from east to west, is 600km at the widest point in the north, 400km in the south, and 50km at the narrowest part, in the centre, in Quang Binh Province. The coastline is 3,260km long and the inland border is 4,510km. 
Latitude: east
Longitude: 8º 02' - 23º 23' north 

Vietnam is also a transport junction from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. 

Climate: Vietnam lies in the tropics and monsoon 
Topography: Three quarters of Vietnam's territory consist of mountains and hills
Administrative Units: Vietnam is divided into 63 provinces and cities

 

- About Ho Chi Minh City:

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, once “The Pearl of the Far East” is the second largest city in Vietnam (the largest being Hanoi). It is the most crowded city in the country with the official population of over 8 million people on the total area of over 2,095 km2. The city now comprises 19 districts and 5 suburban districts. District 1, along the Saigon River, where downtown Saigon is located, is the commercial center and contains most of the city’s monuments and landmarks. 8 km away in district 5 resides a big market or Cho Lon where Chinese community lives. With favorable weather the whole year round and the convenient access from other countries by air, by road and by sea, Ho Chi Minh city is a busy and dynamic metropolitan.

Introduction of the city’s history
First established in 1698 and considered as an administrative unit under the Nguyen Dynasty, Saigon Gia Dinh attracted people from all over the country coming here to reclaim the land and settle. Later during the mid and late 19th century it became the principal city of Cochin China under the French rule. Then Saigon served as the capital city of South Vietnam from 1956 to 1975 till the unification of the country. Today, the city has emerged as the center of commerce, economy, education, science and technology, health care and tourism of Vietnam.

The cultural and social life of city dwellers
Traditionally, Vietnamese people follow the family structure of many generations in the same roof. The practice, however, becomes less popular in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City. Most families in Ho Chi Minh City are now nuclear ones with only parents living with the children. Both husbands and wives go to work, leaving their children either in kindergartens or at grandparents’ home so that grandparents can help look after their children. A lot of Vietnamese people are Buddhists or practice the philosophy of Buddhism in life. Public transport has been recently improved for people to use. However, the majority still prefers using their own vehicles, mostly motorbikes to get to work.

Economy of the city: light industry, handicraft industry, service industry, etc.
The economy of Ho Chi Minh City now contributes for one third of the country’s GDP. The city is fast in industrialization. The main light industries here include textiles and garments, footwear, plastics, food processing, electricity, automobiles, electronics, computers, rubber tires and mechanical products; handicrafts such as embroideries, bamboo and rattan wares, lacquer wares. Tourism also plays a very important role in the city economy. In 2017, Viet Nam received more than 3.5 million foreign tourists and more than half of that came to Ho Chi Minh City.

Education and medical care system of the city
Vietnam in general has a fairly complete education system ranging from kindergarten to tertiary schooling levels. Children aged from 3 to 6 are encouraged to join kindergartens; those aged from 6 to 15 must go to primary and junior secondary schools on the basic of the compulsory education. After finishing these levels, they can go either to vocational schools or to senior high schools and universities for further education. Ho Chi Minh City is one of the first to complete this compulsory education among the children. Besides, there are also many international schools that provide more opportunities for students to join either locally or abroad. As for medical care system, Vietnam has a nationwide network of health care from the central and provincial to commune levels. Medical insurance is compulsory for all those who work for organization and enterprises which can cover partly or all the hospitalizing cost. The self-employed pay for voluntary medical insurance to get the same benefits or go to private hospitals or clinics

City planning and well-known architectures
Saigon was designed during the French colonial time and built up a lot more during the American time and recently during the “doi moi” period, but quite a few French colonial-style public buildings are still there. At the intersection of Le Loi and Nguyen Hue Boulevard is the most famous Hotel de Ville (City Hall). Along Dong Khoi Street in District 1 stand such famous buildings as Notre Dame Cathedral, General Post Office, Opera House, Continental Hotel. At the waterfront, the banks, the customs houses line up looking out to the river. To preserve the old structures, the city has been planned and expanded with new modern urban areas in district 2 and district 7 to meet with the development and to house growing inhabitants. Alongside with the colonial structures, sky scrapers can be seen here and there marking the modern life of this city.

[Source: https://glosearch.org/introduction-ho-chi-minh-city/]