Vietnam’s 2001 population was 79,939,014, yielding a population density of 241 persons per sq km (624 per sq mi). However, most people live in or near the densely populated Red or Mekong deltas.

Vietnam has one of the most complex ethnolinguistic patterns in Asia. The Vietnamese were significantly Sinicized during a millennium of Chinese rule. Vietnamese, one of the Mon-Khmer languages of the Austro-Asiatic language family, exhibits strong Chinese influence. Indian influence is found among the Cham and Khmer minorities. The Cham, whose language belongs to the Austronesian language family, formed the majority population in the Indianized kingdom of Champa in what is now central Vietnam from the 2nd century to the late 15th century AD. Small numbers of Cham remain in the south-central coastal plain and in the Mekong delta near the Cambodian border. The Khmer (Cambodians), whose language is one of the Mon-Khmer languages, are scattered throughout the Mekong delta.