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Command & Conquer (C&C) is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game Dune II and introducing trademarks followed in the rest of the series. This includes full-motion video cutscenes with a notable ensemble cast to progress the story, as opposed to digitally in-game rendered cutscenes. Westwood Studios was taken over by Electronic Arts in 1998 and closed down in 2003. The studio and some of its members were absorbed into EA Los Angeles, which continued development on the series.
History
After Westwood Studios developed the critically acclaimed Dune II, Computer Gaming World reported in 1993 that the company would not use the Dune license for Westwood's next strategy game "mostly because the programmers are tired of sand". The magazine stated that it would have "new terrain and enemies", and that "the design team is serious about doing a multi-player version".[3]
Command & Conquer was released worldwide by Westwood in 1995. The plot is set sometime in the near future where the Earth becomes contaminated by a mysterious resource known as Tiberium. A global war ensues between the UN-formed Global Defense Initiative to contain it and the cult quasi-state revolutionary Brotherhood of Nod, led by the enigmatic Kane, which seeks to harness it. Highly successful, it was followed by Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996 which is set in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union wages war with the Allies. Developed as the prequel to the original, the Red Alert series was spun off into a separate, lighthearted and comic series, while the original game and its sequels became known as the "Tiberium" series, retaining its science fiction and serious tone. The first game is sometimes referred to as Tiberian Dawn as a result.
The original game was followed by Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun in 1999 and its expansion pack Tiberian Sun: Firestorm. In 2002, a first person-shooter set in the Tiberium universe, Command & Conquer: Renegade, was released and praised for its online features. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars was released in 2007 and followed by the expansion pack Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath. Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, released in 2010 as the conclusion to the Tiberium saga, received noticeably more mixed reviews because of its deviation from traditional gameplay and story. The Red Alert series was continued by the 2000 title Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, its expansion, Yuri's Revenge and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 in 2008, which introduced a third "Empire of the Rising Sun" faction. A spin-off game in 2003, Command & Conquer: Generals, set in a more realistic near-future and featuring the United States, China and the Global Liberation Army was followed by an expansion pack, Zero Hour.
The series was originally marketed to an Anglophone audience, though many of the games have been translated into other languages including German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, and Chinese. The series is primarily developed for personal computers running Microsoft Windows, although some titles have been ported to various video game consoles and the Apple Macintosh. Other games for platforms such as iOS and web-based have also been developed. As of July 2010, the Command & Conquer franchise consists of eleven games and eight expansion packs. The first three games of the series have been released as freeware to promote the successors.[4] A free-to-play game, entitled Command & Conquer, was in development with the studio Victory Games.  It was set to be the next game in the series and was expected to be released in 2013. However, after a short alpha period the game was cancelled, and Victory Games disbanded by EA.[5][6] The Command & Conquer series has been a commercial success with over 30 million Command & Conquer games sold as of 2009.
Gameplay
The Command & Conquer are real-time strategy games, with the exception of the first-person shooter Command & Conquer: Renegade. A staple of the series is the parallel campaigns of various different factions to one central storyline. Games in the series also offered multiplayer game options, via LAN and modem connection. All games in the series have also offered online play, as well as "skirmish" matches in which players can face AI enemies.
All Command & Conquer real-time strategy games except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansions have featured the "side bar" for navigation and control as opposed to many other similar games where the control bar is located on the bottom of the screen.
Command & Conquer gameplay typically requires the player to construct a base and acquire resources, in order to fund the ongoing production of various types of forces with which to assault and conquer the opponent's base. All available structures of the faction chosen by the player are constructed on-site at so-called "construction yard" - which typically begin as large-sized vehicles capable of deploying themselves into the aforementioned construction yards, called MCVs or Mobile Construction Vehicle. When a construction yard has finished building a new structure, the player can select a spot near to a preexisting structure in order to place it, where the prefabricated building will then rapidly unfold in a distinctive manner.
In all games in the series except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion, Zero Hour, funds are acquired by specialized "harvester" units which bring their cargo (Tiberium for the Tiberian series of games or ore or the more valuable gems for the Red Alert series) to a "refinery" structure. This in turn will convert the raw material into usable resources, expressed as credits. The raw materials themselves, in games released before Red Alert 2 as well as Command & Conquer 3 require storage space in the form of refineries and, in the case of excess, "storage silo" structures.  In Generals and Zero Hour, funds are collected by two methods: collection of supplies by specialized units and converted to money in "supply centers" or directly produced by specialized units, buildings, or tech buildings at a set interval of time.
All factions have structures and units with similar functions at their disposal. However, they are adjusted to fit each faction's theme and have somewhat varying properties. Units can be classified into infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, each with their own subdivisions (note: in the Red Alert series there is also naval craft available). Unit effectiveness against opponents follows the rock-paper-scissors (intransitivity) principle found in most real-time strategy games.
Virtually every type of structure in the series acts as a tech tree node, and additional units, structures and faction-specific abilities will become available as new structures are built and placed. Access to advanced units and abilities may be temporarily blocked if the required structures are destroyed or if they are not being provided with adequate power by the supporting "power plant" structures.
Multiplayer
Each Command & Conquer game has included the ability to play multiplayer games against other players. Each box of Command & Conquer contained two CD copies of the game, immediately making multiplayer gaming possible with a single purchase of the game. Westwood Studios advertised this on the packaging with the slogan "A second copy, so you and your friend can destroy each other." This resulted in Command & Conquer becoming the first RTS game title to feature competitive online play,[7] and this is considered the most pertinent outside factor in the success of Command & Conquer.[8] All games in the series up to Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 also featured two CDs that could be used for this reason. However, later games did not.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was noted for being the first RTS game to enable the campaigns to be played cooperatively online; others had only supported single player campaigns. However, it was only possible to connect to other computers through EA's servers and not with LAN play.
Games produced by Westwood use the proprietary Westwood Online system to facilitate multiplayer games over the Internet; Renegade also supported GameSpy. Games under EA's development continued to use GameSpy, but dropped support for Westwood Online in favor of using EA's own servers. The GameSpy master servers have shut down in 2013.[9] The community filled the gap with their services.[10]
Since the shutdown of EA's servers and removed support for the games, the fan base for the series has created their own way to play online. The well maintained CNC online website allows for players to still face off many years after the official server shutdowns. CNC online only supports Command And conquer games made by EA Los Angeles (2003 and later)
Games
Tiberium series

Command & Conquer, released on September 26, 1995,[11] is the first game in the series and is considered as the title which originally defined and popularized the real-time strategy genre.[7][8][12][13][14][15] Command & Conquer introduced the warring factions of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod. Command & Conquer was well received and was widely praised by critics: "Command & Conquer is one of the finest, most brilliantly-designed computer games I have ever seen" said GameSpot reviewer Chris Hudak.[16] Command & Conquer has attained 94% as an aggregate score from Metacritic[17] with the less well received Covert Operations expansion pack obtaining an aggregate score of 72% after its 1996 release.[18]
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, released on August 27, 1999, takes place approximately 30 years after the events in its predecessor. While the original Command & Conquer's plot was centered around an allegorical world politics setting, Tiberian Sun shifted this to a more science fiction-like setting against the apocalyptic background of Tiberium beginning to assimilate vast portions of the Earth's ecosystems. In 1998, Westwood Studios, the developers of Tiberian Sun, was acquired by Electronic Arts. However, EA had no direct part in the development of the title. Compared to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun relies heavily on science fiction technologies and introduces a new isometric game engine featuring varying level terrain to give the impression of a true 3D environment.
The full motion video is also scripted differently; while the cutscenes of Command & Conquer and Red Alert were filmed from a first-person perspective, Tiberian Sun used traditional cinematic shots for its FMVs featuring actors such as James Earl Jones and Michael Biehn.
Command & Conquer: Renegade, released February 26, 2002, takes place in the final days of the events of Command & Conquer and was the last Command & Conquer game to be created by Westwood Studios before their liquidation in 2003. Unlike any other games in the series, Renegade is a first-person shooter.[19] Although receiving average reviews, with an aggregate score of 75% on both GameRankings and Metacritic, Renegade was praised for its online features. GameSpy awarded Renegade its 2002 "Wish it had been better" award, condemning the single player but saying that "C&C: Renegade's multiplayer was innovative and fun".[20] Online play was praised for encouraging teamwork and coordinated assaults, unlike other contemporary first-person shooters.[21]
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released March 29, 2007, was a return to the real-time strategy roots of the Command & Conquer series. As a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun, Tiberium Wars is set approximately 17 years after the events of Tiberian Sun and features the introduction of a third faction, the Scrin. The sequel attained an aggregate score of 85% from both GameRankings and Metacritic. PC Gamer U.S. gave the game its "Editor's Choice" rating at 90%, stating that "one of the greatest RTS franchises of all time returns to glory", while PC Gamer UK gave it a more reserved rating of 82%, stating that it was "a welcome, but limited, return".
Shortly after the release of Tiberium Wars, the expansion pack Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath was announced. Released on March 24, 2008, Kane's Wrath limited the player to only the Brotherhood of Nod in the campaign mode, though the original factions and six new sub-factions are available for the new strategic mode and skirmish mode. Reception was mainly positive with the expansion attaining an aggregate score of 77%.
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, released on March 16, 2010, saw a big change in gameplay from the previous Command & Conquer by removing the resource gathering and base building elements in previous games as well as the removal of the third faction, the Scrin. It is a direct sequel to Kane's Wrath (however not directly following on from its storyline), and is set 10 years after the game's final events, a time when Tiberium has advanced to its next evolutionary stage, and is rapidly spreading across Earth making it soon to be uninhabitable.
Renegade X, is a free, fan-made remake of Command & Conquer: Renegade. The developers received approval from EA to release their game,[22] and it entered open beta on February 26, 2014. Renegade X includes a short single-player campaign called Black Dawn.
Red Alert series

Command & Conquer: Red Alert, released on November 22, 1996,[23] is set in an alternate universe 1950s and was originally made to be the prequel to Command & Conquer[24] establishing Red Alert as the prologue of the entire Tiberium series of games. Louis Castle has said that connecting Red Alert with the Tiberium series was a "failed experiment". Red Alert introduces the Allies and the Soviets as rival factions roughly analogous to NATO and the Warsaw Pact of the Cold War. The game was received well by critics and has the highest average score of any Command & Conquer game with an average of over 90% from GameRankings and Metacritic, unlike the title's two expansion packs, Red Alert: Counterstrike and Red Alert: The Aftermath of which both received below average reviews for the series with 63% and 70% average scores respectively. Both expansions gave the game more missions and more units. For PlayStation only, there was also a separate release to the original called Red Alert: Retaliation which included all the maps, missions and units of Red Alert: Counterstrike and Red Alert: The Aftermath as well as some newly filmed cut-scenes only available with Red Alert: Retaliation. Before being re-released as freeware on 31 August 2008 by Electronic Arts Command & Conquer: Red Alert had sold over three million copies.[25]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 was released on October 23, 2000. It featured a Soviet invasion of North America with tanks, conscripts, large airships, and psychically dominated anti-ship giant squid. Since that game lacked reference to the Tiberian series, the connection established in the first Red Alert game became unclear. However, it has been implied by the original creators of the series, now working at Petroglyph Games, that Red Alert 2 takes place in a parallel universe that came about as a result of time travel experiments taking place some time into the Tiberian series.[26] Red Alert 2 was received fairly positively with an aggregate score of 86% from GameRankings.
An expansion pack to Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge was released on October 10, 2001. In Yuri's Revenge, an ex-Soviet figure named Yuri, tries to conquer the world using psychic technology and his own private army. The expansion pack received mostly positive reviews. GameRankings reports an average score of 85% based on 31 reviews,[27] making Yuri's Revenge the best received expansion pack in the Command & Conquer series.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, released on October 28, 2008, followed up on the story of Red Alert 2 and continued the series' more "light-hearted" take on Command & Conquer. It introduced many new comical units and the Empire of the Rising Sun faction, an anime inspired version of the Empire of Japan. Executive producer Chris Corry stated in a pre-release interview that Red Alert 3 will further differentiate the playable factions from each other and "[play] up the silliness in their faction design whenever possible".[28] This approach was seen as popular with Red Alert 3 obtaining an aggregate score of 82% from Metacritic. A stand-alone expansion to Red Alert 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising was released on March 12, 2009 to fairly poor reviews for the series with an average score of 64% from Metacritic. Another downloadable standalone game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was released known as Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge which contained the Commander's Challenge mode of Uprising for consoles.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert was released on October 16, 2009 for iOS which was a continuation of the story of Red Alert 2 and takes place before Red Alert 3. It contained two factions, the Allies and Soviet Union with a third faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun, to be added in its expansion pack. However this is version of the game is not available in some regions (e.g. Uk).
On April 23, 2018, the Chinese developer Tencent announced a new iOS version of Red Alert would be made available, with a highly mixed reception from fans online.[29]
Generals series
Command & Conquer: Generals, released on February 10, 2003, has a plotline which is unrelated to the other games of the Command & Conquer series. Generals is set in the near future and features the United States, China and the fictional terrorist organization, the Global Liberation Army. Generals uses an engine dubbed SAGE (or Strategy Action Game Engine) and is the first fully three-dimensional Command & Conquer real-time strategy game. After its release, Generals received mostly positive reviews. Based on 34 reviews, Metacritic gives it a score of 84/100[30] which includes a score of 9.3/10 from IGN.[31] Generals has also received the E3 2002 Game Critics Awards Best Strategy Game award.[32] One review noted that Generals was the first Command & Conquer real-time strategy game that did not include full-motion video cutscenes to tell the story and that it departed from the unique interface and base-building mechanics that had characterized all of the previous C&C RTS titles.[33]
An expansion for Generals, Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour, was released on September 22, 2003 to further the Generals storyline.  Zero Hour added 9 new armies to the game, over a dozen new campaign missions, and a gameplay mode known as Generals Challenge.[34] Unlike Generals, Zero Hour featured the return of full motion videos to the series. Zero Hour obtained much the same reception as Generals with an aggregate score of 85% and 84% from GameRankings and Metacritic respectively.
After EA Los Angeles started up their new internal group Danger Close and switched its focus to the Medal of Honor series, EA launched a new studio named Victory Games to continue the Command & Conquer franchise.[35] On December 10, 2011, Electronic Arts posted that the next game in the series would be Command & Conquer: Generals 2.[36] On December 14, it was also announced that a new browser-based, free-to-play MMO Command & Conquer game is under development, under the name Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances.[37] On December 15, Tiberium Alliances began a closed beta.[38]
Future
On August 15, 2012, it was announced that Generals 2 would be repurposed to a free-to-play game known as simply Command & Conquer.[39] The new game would have been based around the Generals franchise. However, following feedback from players who were able to play the alpha trial, the game was cancelled in October 2013.[40] In 2013, EA has said that the franchise will continue, but has given no other information.[41] In 2014, EA was looking for a new developer for the reboot.[42]
On June 9, 2018, EA revealed Command & Conquer: Rivals, which is under development by the newly-formed EA Redwood Studios for Android and iOS mobile devices.[43]
EA announced in November 2018 its plans to remaster Command & Conquer, including expansions and Red Alert, for modern computer systems through Petroglyph Games. There is no current estimated release date.[44]
Chronology
Westwood Studios (1995–2002)
1995 – Command & Conquer
1996 – Command & Conquer – The Covert Operations
1996 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert
1997 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Counterstrike
1997 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – The Aftermath
1998 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Retaliation
1997 – Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor
1999 – Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
2000 – Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Firestorm
2000 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
2001 – Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge
2002 – Command & Conquer: Renegade
EA Los Angeles (2003—2010)
2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals
2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour
2007 – Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
2008 – Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
2008 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
2009 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising
2009 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge
2010 – Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
EA Phenomic (2011)
2012 – Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances
EA Redwood Studios (2018–)
2018 – Command & Conquer: Rivals
See also canceled Command & Conquer games.
Music

Much of the music for the series was composed and produced by Westwood Studios' former sound director and video game music composer Frank Klepacki for the early games, with composition duties being taken on by several others following the liquidation of Westwood Studios in 2003. Klepacki returned to the series in 2008 however to assist with the soundtrack for Red Alert 3.
The music has been received positively by critics, although praise was higher with earlier entries.
The original score for Command & Conquer: Red Alert was composed by Frank Klepacki and was voted the best video game soundtrack of 1996 by PC Gamer and Gameslice magazines.[45] Among his most famous songs from the series is the theme of Red Alert, titled "Hell March", which accents the style of the game with adrenalized riffs of electric guitar, the sounds of marching feet, and synthesizers to a dramatic chant. Originally intended to be the theme for the Brotherhood of Nod faction in the Covert Operations expansion to the original 1995 Command & Conquer game,[46] the track eventually ended up enlisting itself as a staple in the Red Alert series instead, and a second version of "Hell March" was specifically created for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.
After C&C came out we wasted no time kicking out Covert Ops. I wrote some more ambient style themes they asked me for, and then I began tinkering with this heavy metal song that I was trying to gear towards Nod for the next big C&C game. Brett Sperry came in my office and said "You got anything I can hear for the new C&C?" I played it for him. He said "What's the name of this one?" I said "Hell March." He said "That's the signature song for our next game."[47]—Frank Klepacki, Senior Composer

Reception
The Command & Conquer series have been a commercial success with over 30 million Command & Conquer games sold as of 2009.[48] Games in the series have nearly consistently scored highly on video game review aggregator websites GameRankings and Metacritic, which collect data from numerous review websites. As noted in the table below, the highest rated game is Command & Conquer with a score of 94% from Metacritic. The highest rated game averaged over both sites is Command & Conquer: Red Alert with an average of just over 90%. As a series, Command & Conquer games have averaged approximately 80% when including expansion packs and approximately 84% without.
Command & Conquer's long history resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series six world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Biggest Selling RTS Series", "Most Number of Platforms for an RTS", and "Longest Running Actor in Video Game Role" for Joe Kucan, who has played the part of Kane, the villainous mastermind of the series, for 15 years.

Notes

 at Curlie
 at MobyGames

Who created the video game Command & Conquer?


The Vandalic or Vandal War (Greek: Βανδηλικὸς Πόλεμος, Vandēlikòs Pólemos) was a conflict fought in North Africa (largely in modern Tunisia) between the forces of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire and the Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage, in 533–534. It was the first of Justinian I's wars of reconquest of the lost Western Roman Empire.
The Vandals had occupied Roman North Africa in the early 5th century, and established an independent kingdom there. Under their first king, Geiseric, the formidable Vandal navy carried out pirate attacks across the Mediterranean, sacked Rome and defeated a massive Roman invasion in 468. After Geiseric's death, relations with the surviving Eastern Roman Empire normalized, although tensions flared up occasionally due to the Vandals' militant adherence to Arianism and their persecution of the Chalcedonian native population. In 530, a palace coup in Carthage overthrew the pro-Roman Hilderic and replaced him with his cousin Gelimer. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian took this as a pretext to interfere in Vandal affairs, and after he secured his eastern frontier with Sassanid Persia in 532, he began preparing an expedition under general Belisarius, whose secretary Procopius wrote the main historical narrative of the war. Justinian took advantage of, or even instigated, rebellions in the remote Vandal provinces of Sardinia and Tripolitania. These not only distracted Gelimer from the Emperor's preparations, but also weakened Vandal defences through the dispatch of the bulk of the Vandal navy and a large portion of their army under Gelimer's brother Tzazon to Sardinia.
The Roman expeditionary force set sail from Constantinople in late June 533, and after a sea voyage along the coasts of Greece and southern Italy, landed on the African coast at Caputvada in early September, to Gelimer's complete surprise. The Vandal king gathered his forces and met the Roman army at the Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage, on 13 September. Gelimer's elaborate plan to encircle and destroy the Roman army came close to success, but Belisarius was able to drive the Vandal army to flight and occupy Carthage. Gelimer withdrew to Bulla Regia, where he gathered his remaining strength, including the army of Tzazon, which returned from Sardinia. In December, Gelimer advanced towards Carthage and met the Romans at the Battle of Tricamarum. The battle resulted in a Roman victory and the death of Tzazon. Gelimer fled to a remote mountain fortress, where he was blockaded until he surrendered in the spring.
Belisarius returned to Constantinople with the Vandals' royal treasure and the captive Gelimer to enjoy a triumph, while Africa was formally restored to imperial rule as the praetorian prefecture of Africa. Imperial control scarcely reached beyond the old Vandal kingdom, however, and the Moorish tribes of the interior proved unwilling to accept imperial rule and soon rose up in rebellion. The new province was shaken by the wars with the Moors and military rebellions, and it was not until 548 that peace was restored and Roman government firmly established.
Background
Establishment of the Vandalic Kingdom
In the course of the gradual decline and dissolution of the Western Roman Empire in the early 5th century, the Germanic tribe of the Vandals, allied with the Alans, had established themselves in the Iberian peninsula. In 429, the Roman governor of the Diocese of Africa, Bonifacius, who had rebelled against the West Roman emperor Valentinian III (r. 425–455) and was facing an invasion by imperial troops, called upon the Vandalic King Geiseric for aid. Thus, in May 429, Geiseric crossed the straits of Gibraltar with his entire people, reportedly 80,000 in total.[1][2] Geiseric's Vandals and Alans, however, had their own plans, and aimed to conquer the African provinces outright. Their possession of Mauretania Caesariensis, Mauretania Sitifensis and most of Numidia was recognized in 435 by the Western Roman court, but this was only a temporary expedient. Warfare soon recommenced, and in October 439, the capital of Africa, Carthage, fell to the Vandals. In 442, another treaty exchanged the provinces hitherto held by the Vandals with the core of the African diocese, the rich provinces of Zeugitana and Byzacena, which the Vandals received no longer as foederati of the Empire, but as their own possessions. These events marked the foundation of the Vandalic Kingdom, as the Vandals made Carthage their capital and settled around it.[3][4] Although the Vandals now gained control of the lucrative African grain trade with Italy, they also launched raids on the coasts of the Mediterranean that ranged as far as the Aegean Sea and culminated in their sack of Rome itself in 455, which allegedly lasted for two weeks. Taking advantage of the chaos that followed Valentinian's death in 455, Geiseric then regained control—albeit rather tenuous—of the Mauretanian provinces, and with his fleet took over Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Sicily barely escaped the same fate through the presence there of Ricimer.[5][6]
Throughout this period, the Vandals survived several Roman attempts at a counterstrike: the Eastern Roman general Aspar had led an unsuccessful expedition in 431, an expedition assembled by the Western emperor Majorian (r. 457–461) off the coast of Spain in 460 was scattered or captured by the Vandals before it could set sail, and finally, in 468, Geiseric defeated a huge joint expedition by both western and eastern empires under Basiliscus.[7][8] In the aftermath of this disaster, and following further Vandal raids against the shores of Greece, the eastern emperor Zeno (r. 474–491) concluded a "perpetual peace" with Geiseric (474/476).[9][10]
Roman–Vandal relations until 533
The Vandal state was unique in many respects among the Germanic kingdoms that succeeded the Western Roman Empire: instead of respecting and continuing the established Roman socio-political order, they completely replaced it with their own. Whereas the kings of Western Europe continued to pay deference to the emperors and minted coinage with their portraits, the Vandal kings portrayed themselves as fully independent rulers. The Vandals also consciously differentiated themselves from the native Romano-African population through their continued use of their native language and peculiar dress, which served to emphasize their distinct social position as the elite of the kingdom. In addition, the Vandals—like most Germanics, adherents of Arianism—persecuted the Chalcedonian majority of the local population, especially in the reigns of Huneric (r. 477–484) and Gunthamund (r. 484–496).[11][12] The emperors at Constantinople protested at this, but the peace held for almost sixty years, and relations were often friendly, especially between Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518) and Thrasamund (r. 496–523), who largely ceased the persecutions.[13]

In 523, Hilderic (r. 523–530), the son of Huneric, ascended the throne at Carthage. Himself a descendant of Valentinian III, Hilderic re-aligned his kingdom and brought it closer to the Roman Empire: according to the account of Procopius (The Vandalic War, I.9) he was an unwarlike, amiable person, who ceased the persecution of the Chalcedonians, exchanged gifts and embassies with Justinian I (r. 527–565) even before the latter's rise to the throne, and even replaced his image in his coins with that of the emperor. Justinian evidently hoped that this rapprochement would lead to the peaceful subordination of the Vandal state to his empire.[10][14] However, Hilderic's pro-Roman policies, coupled with a defeat suffered against the Moors in Byzacena, led to opposition among the Vandal nobility, which resulted in his overthrow and imprisonment in 530 by his cousin, Gelimer (r. 530–534). Justinian seized the opportunity, demanding Hilderic's restoration, with Gelimer predictably refusing to do so. Justinian then demanded Hilderic's release to Constantinople, threatening war otherwise. Geiseric was unwilling to surrender a rival claimant to Justinian, who could use him to stir up trouble in his kingdom, and probably expected war to come either way, according to J.B. Bury. He consequently refused Justinian's demand on the grounds that this was an internal matter among the Vandals.[15][16][17]
Justinian now had his pretext, and with peace restored on his eastern frontier with Sassanid Persia in 532, he started assembling an invasion force.[18] According to Procopius (The Vandalic War, I.10), the news of Justinian's decision to go to war with the Vandals caused great consternation among the capital's elites, in whose minds the disaster of 468 was still fresh. The financial officials resented the expenditure involved, while the military was weary from the Persian war and feared the Vandals' sea-power. The emperor's scheme received support mostly from the Church, reinforced by the arrival of victims of renewed persecutions from Africa. Only the powerful minister John the Cappadocian dared to openly voice his opposition to the expedition, however, and Justinian disregarded it and pressed on with his preparations.[19][20]
Diplomatic preparations and revolts in Tripolitania and Sardinia
Soon after his seizure of power, Gelimer's domestic position began to deteriorate, as he persecuted his political enemies among the Vandal nobility, confiscating their property and executing many of them.[21] These actions undermined his already doubtful legitimacy in the eyes of many, and contributed to the outbreak of two revolts in remote provinces of the Vandal kingdom: in Sardinia, where the local governor, Godas, declared himself an independent ruler, and shortly after in Tripolitania, where the native population, led by a certain Pudentius, rebelled against Vandal rule.[21][22] Although Procopius' narrative makes both uprisings seem coincidental, Ian Hughes points out the fact that both rebellions broke out shortly before the commencement of the Roman expedition against the Vandals, and that both Godas and Pudentius immediately asked for assistance from Justinian, as evidence of an active diplomatic involvement by the Emperor in their preparation.[23]
In response to Godas' emissaries, Justinian detailed Cyril, one of the officers of the foederati, with 400 men, to accompany the invasion fleet and then sail on to Sardinia.[24] Gelimer reacted to Godas' rebellion by sending the bulk of his fleet, 120 of his best vessels, and 5,000 men under his own brother Tzazon, to suppress it. The Vandal king's decision played a crucial role in the outcome of the war, for it removed from the scene the Vandal navy, the main obstacle to a Roman landing in Africa, as well as a large part of his army. Gelimer also chose to ignore the revolt in Tripolitania for the moment, as it was both a lesser threat and more remote, while his lack of manpower constrained him to await Tzazon's return from Sardinia before undertaking further campaigns.[22][25][26] At the same time, both rulers tried to win over allies: Gelimer contacted the Visigoth king Theudis (r. 531–548) and proposed an alliance,[26] while Justinian secured the benevolent neutrality and support of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy, which had strained relations with the Vandals over the ill treatment of the Ostrogoth princess Amalafrida, the wife of Thrasamund. The Ostrogoth court readily agreed to allow the Roman invasion fleet to use the harbour of Syracuse in Sicily and establish a market for the provisioning of the Roman troops there.[27][28][29]
Opposing forces

Justinian selected one of his most trusted and talented generals, Belisarius, who had recently distinguished himself against the Persians and in the suppression of the Nika riots, to lead the expedition. As Ian Hughes points out, Belisarius was also eminently suited for this appointment for two other reasons: he was a native Latin-speaker, and was solicitous of the welfare of the local population, keeping a tight leash on his troops. Both these qualities would be crucial in winning support from the Latin-speaking African population.[30] Belisarius was accompanied by his wife, Antonina, and by Procopius, his secretary, who wrote the history of the war.[27]
According to Procopius (The Vandalic War, I.11), the army consisted of 10,000 infantry, partly drawn from the field army (comitatenses) and partly from among the foederati, as well as 5,000 cavalry. There were also some 1,500–2,000 of Belisarius' own retainers (bucellarii), an elite corps (it is unclear if their number is included in the 5,000 cavalry mentioned as a total figure by Procopius). In addition, there were two additional bodies of allied troops, both mounted archers, 600 Huns and 400 Heruls. The army was led by an array of experienced officers, among whom the eunuch Solomon was chosen as Belisarius' chief of staff (domesticus) and the former praetorian prefect Archelaus was placed in charge of the army's provisioning. The whole force was transported on 500 vessels manned by 30,000 sailors under admiral Calonymus of Alexandria, guarded by ninety-two dromon warships.[31][32][33] The traditional view, as expressed by J.B. Bury, is that the expeditionary force was remarkably small for the task, especially given the military reputation of the Vandals, and that perhaps it reflects the limit of the fleet's carrying capacity, or perhaps it was an intentional move to limit the impact of any defeat.[31] Ian Hughes however comments that even in comparison with the armies of the early Roman Empire, Belisarius' army was a "large, well-balanced force capable of overcoming the Vandals and may have contained a higher proportion of high quality, reliable troops than the armies stationed in the east".[24]
On the Vandal side, the picture is less clear. The Vandal army was not a professional and mostly volunteer force like the East Roman army, but comprised every able-bodied male of the Vandal people. Hence modern estimates on the available forces vary along with estimates on the total Vandal population, from a high of between 30,000–40,000 men out of a total Vandal population of at most 200,000 people (Diehl and Bury), to as few as 25,000 men—or even 20,000, if their losses against the Moors are taken into account—for a population base of 100,000 (Hughes).[22][34][35] Despite their martial reputation, the Vandals had grown less warlike over time, having come to lead a luxurious life amidst the riches of Africa. In addition, their mode of fighting was ill-suited to confronting Belisarius' veterans: the Vandal army was composed exclusively of cavalry, lightly armoured and armed only for hand-to-hand combat, to the point of neglecting entirely the use of bows or javelins, in stark contrast to Belisarius' heavily armoured cataphracts and horse archers.[22][36][37]
The Vandals were also weakened by the hostility of their Roman subjects, the continued existence among the Vandals of a faction loyal to Hilderic, and by the ambivalent position of the Moorish tribes, who watched the oncoming conflict from the sidelines, ready to join the victor and seize the spoils.[22][38]
The war
Belisarius' army sails to Africa
Amidst much pomp and ceremony, with Justinian and the Patriarch of Constantinople in attendance, the Roman fleet set sail around 21 June 533. The initial progress was slow, as the fleet spent five days at Heraclea Perinthus waiting for horses and a further four days at Abydus due to lack of wind. The fleet left the Dardanelles on 1 July, and crossed the Aegean Sea to the port of Methone, where it was joined by the last contingents of troops. Belisarius took advantage of an enforced stay there due to a lull in the wind to train his troops and acquaint the disparate contingents with each other. It was at Methone, however, that 500 men died of dysentery caused by mouldy bread. According to Procopius, the responsibility fell on John the Cappadocian, who had cut costs by baking it only once, with the result that the bread went bad. Justinian was informed, but John does not appear to have been punished. Belisarius took steps to remedy the situation, and the army soon recovered.[27][39]
From Methone, the fleet sailed up the Ionian Sea to Zacynthus, from where they crossed over to Italy. The crossing took longer than expected due to lack of wind, and the army suffered from lack of fresh water when the supplies they had brought aboard went bad. Eventually, the fleet reached Catania in Sicily, from where Belisarius sent Procopius ahead to Syracuse to gather intelligence on the Vandals' activities. By chance, Procopius met a merchant friend of his there, whose servant had just arrived from Carthage. The latter informed Procopius that not only were the Vandals unaware of Belisarius' sailing, but that Gelimer, who had just dispatched Tzazon's expedition to Sardinia, was away from Carthage at the small inland town of Hermione. Procopius quickly informed Belisarius, who immediately ordered the army to re-embark and set sail for the African coast. After sailing by Malta, they reached Cape Caputvada on the eastern shore of modern Tunisia some 162 Roman miles (240km) south from Carthage.[40][41][42]
Advance on Carthage and the Battle of Ad Decimum
When the Roman fleet reached Africa, a council was held aboard Belisarius' flagship (The Vandalic War, I.15), where many of his officers advocated an immediate attack on Carthage itself, especially since it was the only fortified city in the Vandal realm, the walls of the other cities having been torn down to prevent a rebellion. Belisarius, however, mindful of the fate of the 468 expedition and wary of an encounter with the Vandal fleet, spoke against it. Thus the army disembarked and built a fortified camp to spend the night.[26][40][43]
Belisarius knew that success for his expedition relied on gaining the support of the local population, which had largely retained its Roman identity and to which he presented himself as a liberator. Thus on the next day of the landing, when some of his men stole some fruit from a local orchard, he severely punished them, and assembled the army and exhorted them to maintain discipline and restraint towards the native population, lest they abandon their Roman sympathies and go over to the Vandals. Belisarius' pleas bore results, for, as Procopius reports (The Vandalic War, I.17), "the soldiers behaved with moderation, and they neither began any unjust brawls nor did anything out of the way, and [Belisarius], by displaying great gentleness and kindness, won the Libyans to his side so completely that thereafter he made the journey as if in his own land".[44][45][46]
Then the Roman army began its march north, following the coastal road. 300 horse under John the Armenian were detached as an advance guard some 3 miles (4.5km) in front of the main army, while the 600 Huns covered the army's left flank. Belisarius himself with his bucellarii led up the rear, to guard against any attack from Gelimer, who was known to be in the vicinity. The fleet followed the army, sailing along the coast.[40][47] The first town they encountered was Syllectum, which was captured by a detachment under Boriades by a ruse. In an attempt to sow division among the Vandals, Belisarius gave a letter written by Justinian and addressed to the Vandal nobles to a captured Vandal messenger, in which the emperor claimed to be campaigning on behalf of the legitimate king Hilderic against the usurper Gelimer. As the messenger was too afraid to deliver the letter, this ploy came to nothing.[44][46]

Gelimer, in the meantime, upon learning of the Romans' arrival, immediately notified his brother Ammatas in Carthage to assemble the Vandal forces in the vicinity, as well as to execute Hilderic and his relatives, while his secretary Bonifatius was ordered to load the royal treasure on a ship and sail for Spain if the Romans won.[26][48] Deprived of his best troops, which were with Tzazon, Gelimer contented himself with shadowing the northward march of the Roman army, all the while preparing a decisive engagement before Carthage, at a place called Ad Decimum ("at the tenth [milepost]") where he had ordered Ammatas to bring his forces.[47][48][49] The Romans advanced through Thapsus, Leptis Parva and Hadrumetum to Grasse, where for the first time they engaged in a skirmish with the scouts of Gelimer's army. After exchanging blows, both parties retired to their camps.[47][48] From Grasse, Belisarius turned his army westwards, cutting across the neck of the Cape Bon peninsula. This was the most dangerous part of the route to Carthage, with the fleet out of sight.[50]
Thus, on the morning of 13 September, the tenth day of the march from Caputvada, the Roman army approached Ad Decimum. There Gelimer planned to ambush and encircle them, using a force under his brother Ammatas to block their advance and engage them, while 2,000 men under his nephew Gibamund would attack their left flank, and Gelimer himself with the main army would attack from the rear and completely annihilate the Roman army. In the event, the three forces failed to synchronize exactly: Ammatas arrived early and was killed as he attempted a reconnaissance with a small force by the Roman vanguard, while Gibamund's force was intercepted by the Hunnic flank guard and was utterly destroyed. Unaware of all this, Gelimer marched up with the main army and scattered the Roman advance forces present at Ad Decimum. Victory might have been his, but he then came upon his dead brother's body, and apparently forgot all about the battle. This gave Belisarius the time to rally his troops, come up with his main cavalry force and defeat the disorganized Vandals. Gelimer with the remainder of his forces fled westwards to Numidia. The Battle of Ad Decimum ended in a crushing Roman victory, and Carthage lay open and undefended before Belisarius.[51][52]
Belisarius' entry into Carthage and Gelimer's counterattack
It was only by nightfall, when John the Armenian with his men and the 600 Huns rejoined his army, that Belisarius realized the extent of his victory. The cavalry spent the night at the battlefield. In the next morning, as the infantry (and Antonina) caught up, the whole army made for Carthage, where it arrived as night was falling. The Carthaginians had thrown open the gates and illuminated the city in celebration, but Belisarius, fearing a possible ambush in the darkness and wishing to keep his soldiers under tight control, refrained from entering the city, and encamped before it.
[53][54] In the meantime, the fleet had rounded Cape Bon and, after learning of the Roman victory, had anchored at Stagnum, some 7.5km from the city. Ignoring Belisarius' instructions, Calonymus and his men proceeded to plunder the merchant settlement of Mandriacum nearby.[54]
On the morning of the next day, 15 September, Belisarius drew up the army for battle before the city walls, but as no enemy appeared, he led his army into the city, after again exhorting his troops to show discipline. The Roman army received a warm welcome from the populace, which was favourably impressed by its restraint. While Belisarius himself took possession of the royal palace, seated himself on the king's throne, and consumed the dinner which Gelimer had confidently ordered to be ready for his own victorious return, the fleet entered the Lake of Tunis and the army was billeted throughout the city. The remaining Vandals were rounded up and placed under guard to prevent them from causing trouble. Belisarius dispatched Solomon to Constantinople to bear the emperor news of the victory, but expecting an imminent re-appearance of Gelimer with his army, he lost no time in repairing the largely ruined walls of the city and rendering it capable of sustaining a siege.[53][55]

During the following weeks, while Belisarius remained in Carthage strengthening its walls, Gelimer established himself and the remnant of his army at Bulla Regia. By distributing money he had managed to cement the loyalty of the locals to his cause, and sent messages recalling Tzazon and his men from Sardinia, where they had been successful in re-establishing Vandal authority and killing Godas. While waiting for Tzazon's arrival, the Vandal king's army also increased by the arrival of more and more fugitives from the battle of Ad Decimum, as well as by a contingent of his Moorish allies.[56] Most of the Moorish tribes of Numidia and Byzacena, however, sent embassies to Belisarius, pledging allegiance to the Empire. Some even offered hostages and asked for the insignia of office traditionally awarded to them by the emperor: a gilded silver staff and a silver crown, a white cloak, a white tunic, and a gilded boot. Belisarius had been furnished by Justinian with these items in anticipation of this demand, and duly dispatched them along with sums of money. Nevertheless, it was clear that, as long as the outcome of the war remained undecided, neither side could count on the firm loyalty of the Moors.[53][56] During this period, messengers from Tzazon, sent to announce his recovery of Sardinia, sailed into Carthage unaware that the city had fallen and were taken captive, followed shortly after by Gelimer's envoys to Theudis, who had reached Spain after the news of the Roman successes had arrived there and hence failed to secure an alliance. Belisarius was also reinforced by the Roman general Cyril with his contingent, who had sailed to Sardinia only to find it once again in possession of the Vandals.[57]
As soon as Tzazon received his brother's message, he left Sardinia and landed in Africa, joining up with Gelimer at Bulla. The Vandal king now determined to advance on Carthage. His intentions were not clear; the traditional interpretation is that he hoped to reduce the city by blockading it, but Ian Hughes believes that, lacking the reserves for a protracted war of attrition, he hoped to force Belisarius into a "single, decisive confrontation". Approaching the city, the Vandal army cut the aqueduct supplying it with water, and attempted to prevent provisions from arriving in the city. Gelimer also dispatched agents to the city to undermine the loyalty of the inhabitants and the imperial army. Belisarius, who was alert to the possibility of treachery, set an example by impaling a citizen of Carthage who intended to join the Vandals. The greatest danger of defection came from the Huns, who were disgruntled because they had been ferried to Africa against their will and feared being left there as a garrison. Indeed, Vandal agents had already made contact with them, but Belisarius managed to maintain their allegiance—at least for the moment—by making a solemn promise that after the final victory they would be richly rewarded and allowed to return to their homes. Their loyalty, however, remained suspect, and, like the Moors, the Huns probably waited to see who would emerge as the victor and rally to him.[58][59]
Tricamarum and the surrender of Gelimer
After securing the loyalty of the populace and the army, and completing the repairs to the walls, Belisarius resolved to meet Gelimer in battle, and in mid-December marched out of Carthage in the direction of the fortified Vandal camp at Tricamarum, some 28km from Carthage. As at Ad Decimum, the Roman cavalry proceeded in advance of the infantry, and the ensuing Battle of Tricamarum was a purely cavalry affair, with Belisarius' army considerably outnumbered. Both armies kept their most untrustworthy elements—the Moors and Huns—in reserve. John the Armenian played the most important role on the Roman side, and Tzazon on the Vandal. John led repeated charges at the Vandal centre, culminating in the death of Tzazon. This was followed by a general Roman attack across the front and the collapse of the Vandal army, which retreated to its camp. Gelimer, seeing that all was lost, fled with a few attendants into the wilds of Numidia, whereupon the remaining Vandals gave up all thoughts of resistance and abandoned their camp to be plundered by the Romans.[60][61] Like the previous battle at Ad Decimum, it is again notable that Belisarius failed to keep his forces together, and was forced to fight with a considerable numerical disadvantage. The dispersal of his army after the battle, looting heedlessly and leaving themselves vulnerable to a potential Vandal counter-attack, was also an indication of the poor discipline in the Roman army and the command difficulties Belisarius faced.[62] As Bury comments, the expedition's fate might have been quite different "if Belisarius had been opposed to a commander of some ability and experience in warfare", and points out that Procopius himself "expresses amazement at the issue of the war, and does not hesitate to regard it not as a feat of superior strategy but as a paradox of fortune".[63]

A Roman detachment under John the Armenian pursued the fleeing Vandal king for five days and nights, and was almost upon him when he was killed in an accident. The Romans halted to mourn their leader, allowing Gelimer to escape, first to Hippo Regius and from there to the city of Medeus on Mount Papua, on whose Moorish inhabitants he could rely. Belisarius sent 400 men under the Herul Pharas to blockade him there.[64][65] Belisarius himself made for Hippo Regius, where the Vandals, who had fled to various sanctuaries, surrendered to the Roman general, who promised that they would be well treated and sent to Constantinople in spring. Belisarius was also fortunate in recovering the Vandal royal treasure, which had been loaded on a ship at Hippo. Bonifatius, Gelimer's secretary, was supposed to sail with it to Spain, where Gelimer too would later follow, but adverse winds kept the ship in harbour and in the end, Bonifatius handed it over to the Romans in exchange for his own safety (as well as a considerable share of the treasure, if Procopius is to be believed).[63][66] Belisarius also began to extend his authority over the more distant provinces and outposts of the Vandal kingdom: Cyril was dispatched to Sardinia and Corsica with Tzazon's head as proof of his victory, John was sent to Caesarea on the coast of Mauretania Caesariensis, another John was sent to the twin fortresses of Septem and Gadira, which controlled the Straits of Gibraltar, and Apollinarius to take possession of the Balearic Islands. Aid was also sent to the provincials in Tripolitania, who had been subject to attacks by the local Moorish tribes.[67][68] Belisarius also demanded the return of the port of Lilybaeum in western Sicily from the Ostrogoths, who had captured it during the war, as it too had been part of the Vandal kingdom. An exchange of letters followed between Justinian and the Ostrogoth court, through which Justinian was drawn into the intrigues of the latter, leading to the Roman invasion of Italy a year later.[69]
Meanwhile, Gelimer remained blockaded by Pharas at the mountain stronghold of Medeus, but, as the blockade dragged through the winter, Pharas grew impatient. He attacked the mountain stronghold, only to be beaten back with the loss of a quarter of his men. While a success for Gelimer, it did not alter his hopeless situation, as he and his followers remained tightly blockaded and began to suffer from lack of food. Pharas sent him messages calling upon him to surrender and spare his followers the misery, but it was not until March that the Vandal king agreed to surrender after receiving guarantees for his safety. Gelimer was then escorted to Carthage.[64][68]
Aftermath
Belisarius' triumph

Belisarius would not remain long in Africa to consolidate his success, as a number of officers in his army, in hopes of their own advancement, sent messengers to Justinian claiming that Belisarius intended to establish his own kingdom in Africa. Justinian then gave his general two choices as a test of his intentions: he could return to Constantinople or remain in Africa. Belisarius, who had captured one of the messengers and was aware of the slanders against him, chose to return.[70][71] He left Africa in the summer, accompanied by Gelimer, large numbers of captured Vandals—who were enrolled in five regiments of the Vandali Iustiniani ("Vandals of Justinian") by the emperor—and the Vandal treasure, which included many objects looted from Rome 80 years earlier, including the imperial regalia and the menorah of the Second Temple.[72] In Constantinople, Belisarius was given the honour of celebrating a triumph—the first to be celebrated in Constantinople since its foundation and the first granted to a private citizen in over five and a half centuries[73]—and described by Procopius:

“And there was booty—first of all, whatever articles are wont to be set apart for the royal service—thrones of gold and carriages in which it is customary for a king's consort to ride, and much jewelry made of precious stones, and golden drinking cups, and all the other things which are useful for the royal table. And there was also silver weighing many thousands of talents and all the royal treasure amounting to an exceedingly great sum, and among these were the treasures of the Jews, which Titus, the son of Vespasian, together with certain others, had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem. [...] And there were slaves in the triumph, among whom was Gelimer himself, wearing some sort of a purple garment upon his shoulders, and all his family, and as many of the Vandals as were very tall and fair of body. And when Gelimer reached the hippodrome and saw the emperor sitting upon a lofty seat and the people standing on either side and realized as he looked about in what an evil plight he was, he neither wept nor cried out, but ceased not saying over in the words of the Hebrew scripture: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." And when he came before the emperor's seat, they stripped off the purple garment, and compelled him to fall prone on the ground and do obeisance to the Emperor Justinian. This also Belisarius did, as being a suppliant of the emperor along with him.”—Procopius, The Vandalic War, II.9
Gelimer was given an ample estate in Galatia, and would have been raised to patrician rank if he had not steadfastly refused to renounce his Arian faith.[64] Belisarius was also named consul ordinarius for the year 535, allowing him to celebrate a second triumphal procession, being carried through the streets seated on his consular curule chair, held aloft by Vandal warriors, distributing largesse to the populace from his share of the war booty.[74]
Re-establishment of Roman rule in Africa and the Moorish Wars

Immediately after Tricamarum, Justinian hastened to proclaim the recovery of Africa:

“Our predecessors did not deserve this favor of God, as they were not only not permitted to liberate Africa, but even saw Rome itself captured by the Vandals, and all the Imperial insignia taken from thence to Africa. Now, however, God, in his mercy, has not only delivered Africa and all her provinces into Our hands, but the Imperial insignia as well, which, having been removed at the capture of Rome, He has restored to us.”—Codex Iustinianus, I.XXVII
The emperor was determined to restore the province to its former extent and prosperity—indeed, in the words of J.B. Bury, he intended "to wipe out all traces of the Vandal conquest, as if it had never been, and to restore the conditions which had existed before the coming of Geiseric". To this end, the Vandals were barred from holding office or even property, which was returned to its former owners; most Vandal males became slaves, while the victorious Roman soldiers took their wives; and the Chalcedonian Church was restored to its former position while the Arian Church was dispossessed and persecuted. As a result of these measures, the Vandal population was diminished and emasculated. It gradually disappeared entirely, becoming absorbed into the broader provincial population.[72][75] Already in April 534, before the surrender of Gelimer, the old Roman provincial division along with the full apparatus of Roman administration was restored, under a praetorian prefect rather than under a diocesan vicarius, since the original parent prefecture of Africa, Italy, was still under Ostrogothic rule. The army of Belisarius was left behind to form the garrison of the new prefecture, under the overall command of a magister militum and several regional duces.[76] Almost from the start, an extensive fortification programme was also initiated, including the construction of city walls as well as smaller forts to protect the countryside, whose remnants are still among the most prominent archaeological remains in the region.[77][78]
Despite Justinian's intentions and proclamations, however, Roman control over Africa was not yet secure. During his campaign, Belisarius had secured most of the provinces of Byzacena, Zeugitana and Tripolitania. Further west, on the other hand, imperial control extended in a series of strongholds captured by the fleet along the coast as far as Constantine, while most of the inland areas of Numidia and Mauretania remained under the control of the local Moorish tribes, as indeed had been the case under the Vandal kings.[79] The Moors initially acknowledged the Emperor's suzerainty and gave hostages to the imperial authorities, but they soon became restive and rose in revolt. The first imperial governor, Belisarius' former domesticus Solomon, who combined the offices of both magister militum and praetorian prefect, was able to score successes against them and strengthen Roman rule in Africa, but his work was interrupted by a widespread military mutiny in 536. The mutiny was eventually subdued by Germanus, a cousin of Justinian, and Solomon returned in 539. He fell, however, in the Battle of Cillium in 544 against the united Moorish tribes, and Roman Africa was again in jeopardy. It would not be until 548 that the resistance of the Moorish tribes would be finally broken by the talented general John Troglita.[80][81]

Sources
Primary

Secondary


The socialist-oriented market economy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the 47th-largest economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and 35th-largest in the world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country is a member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the World Trade Organization.
Since the mid-1980s, through the Doi Moi reform period Vietnam has made a shift from a highly centralized command economy to a mixed economy that uses both directive and indicative planning through five-year plans. Over that period, the economy has experienced rapid growth. In the 21st century, Vietnam is in a period of being integrated into the global economy. Almost all Vietnamese enterprises are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Vietnam has become a leading agricultural exporter and served as an attractive destination for foreign investment in Southeast Asia. In a similar fashion to other Communist countries after the end of the Cold War, the planned economy of Vietnam lost the momentum for productivity and sustainable growth. In the current period, Vietnam's economy relies largely on foreign direct investment to attract the capital from overseas to support its continual economic rigor.[12] Foreign investment on the luxury hotel and sector and resorts will rise to support high-end tourist industry.[13]
According to a forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers in February 2017, Vietnam may be the fastest-growing of the world's economies, with a potential annual GDP growth rate of about 5.1%, which would make its economy the 20th-largest in the world by 2050.[14] Vietnam has also been named among the Next Eleven and CIVETS countries. Despite economic achievement following Doi Moi, there exist issues that cause many analysts and researchers to remain worried about the economic slowdown in the country in recent years.[15][16]
History

Until 1858
Civilization in Vietnam had been built on agriculture. The feudal dynasties always considered agriculture as the main economic base, and their economic thoughts have been predicated on physiocracy. Land ownership was regulated, and such large-scale works as dykes were constructed in the Red River Delta to facilitate wet rice cultivation. In peaceful times, soldiers were sent home to do farm work. Furthermore, the court prohibited slaughtering water buffalo and cattle and held many agriculture-related ceremonies. Handicrafts and art were valued, but commerce was deprecated, and businessmen were called by the derogatory term con buôn. The national economy was self-sufficient.
From the 16th century, Confucianism was losing its influence on Vietnamese society and a monetary economy began to develop. Early commercial ports, such as Hội An, were constrained, and foreign countries with their different cultures and their invasion ambitions were seen as a threat. This policy of closure led to a degree of stagnation in the Vietnamese economy, and contributed to Vietnam becoming a French colony.
1858–1975
Until the French colonization in the mid-19th century, Vietnam's economy had been mostly agrarian, subsistence-based and village-oriented. French colonizers, however, deliberately developed the regions differently as the French needed raw materials and a market for French manufactured goods, designating the South for agricultural production as it was better suited for agriculture, and the North for manufacturing as it was naturally wealthy in mineral resources. Though the plan exaggerated regional divisions, the development of exports—coal from the North, rice from the South—and the importation of French manufactured goods stimulated domestic commerce.[17]
The separation distorted the basic Vietnamese economy by overly stressing regional economic differences. In the South, while irrigated rice remained the principal subsistence crop, the French introduced plantation agriculture with products such as tea, cotton, and tobacco. The colonial government also developed some extractive industries, such as the mining of coal, iron, and nonferrous metals. A shipbuilding industry was begun in Hanoi; railroads, roads, power stations, and hydraulics works were constructed. In the South, agricultural development concentrated on rice cultivation, and, nationally, rice and rubber were the main items of export. Domestic and foreign trade were centered around the Saigon-Cholon area. Industry in the South consisted mostly of food-processing plants and factories producing consumer goods.[18]
When the North and South were divided politically in 1954, they also adopted different economic ideologies: communism in the North and capitalism in the South. Destruction caused by the Second Indochina War from 1954 to 1975 seriously strained the economy. The situation was worsened by the country's 1.5 million military and civilian deaths, and the subsequent exodus of 1 million refugees, including tens of thousands of professionals, intellectuals, technicians and skilled workers.[17]

1976–1997
The government's Second Five-Year Plan (1976–1981) aimed for extraordinarily high annual growth rates in industrial and agricultural sectors and national income and sought to integrate the North and the South, but the goals were not attained. The economy remained dominated by small-scale production, low labor productivity, unemployment, material and technological shortfalls, and insufficient food and consumer goods.[17] The more modest goals of the Third Five-Year Plan (1981–85) were a compromise between ideological and pragmatic factions; they emphasized the development of agriculture and industry. Efforts were also made to decentralize planning and improve the managerial skills of government officials.[17]
After reunification in 1975, the economy of Vietnam was plagued by enormous difficulties in production, imbalances in supply and demand, inefficiencies in distribution and circulation, soaring inflation rates, and rising debt problems. Vietnam is one of the few countries in modern history to experience a sharp economic deterioration in a postwar reconstruction period. Its peacetime economy was one of the poorest in the world and had shown a negative to very slow growth in total national output as well as in agricultural and industrial production. Vietnam's gross domestic product ( GDP) in 1984 was valued at US$18.1 billion with a per capita income estimated to be between US$200 and US$300 per year. Reasons for this mediocre economic performance have included severe climatic conditions that afflicted agricultural crops, bureaucratic mismanagement, elimination of private ownership, extinction of entrepreneurial classes in the South, and military occupation of Cambodia (which resulted in a cutoff of much-needed international aid for reconstruction).[19]
From the late 1970s until the early 1990s, Vietnam was a member of the Comecon, and therefore was heavily dependent on trade with the Soviet Union and its allies. Following the dissolution of the Comecon and the loss of its traditional trading partners, Vietnam was forced to liberalize trade, devalue its exchange rate to increase exports, and embark on a policy of economic development.[20]
In 1986, Vietnam launched a political and economic renewal campaign (Đổi Mới) that introduced reforms to facilitate the transition from a centralized economy to a "socialist-oriented market economy". Đổi Mới combined government planning with free-market incentives and encouraged the establishment of private businesses and foreign investment, including foreign-owned enterprises. Furthermore, the Vietnam government stressed the necessity to lower birth rates when developing the economic and social rights of the population by implementing a policy that restricted the number of children per household to two, called the two-child policy.[21] By the late 1990s, the success of the business and agricultural reforms ushered in under Đổi Mới was evident. More than 30,000 private businesses had been created, the economy was growing at an annual rate of more than 7%, and poverty was nearly halved.[20]
Throughout the 1990s, exports increased by as much as 20% to 30% in some years. In 1999, exports accounted for 40% of GDP, an impressive performance in the midst of the economic crisis that hit other countries in Asia. Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, which freed Vietnam from textile quotas enacted worldwide as part of the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 1974.[22] The MFA placed restrictions on the import by industrialized countries of textiles from developing countries. For China and other WTO members, however, textile quotas under the MFA expired at the end of 2004 as agreed in the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1994.[20]
Development since 1997

Vietnam's economic policy following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis has been a cautious one, emphasizing macroeconomic stability rather than growth. While the country shifted toward a more market-oriented economy, the Vietnamese government still continues to hold a tight reign over major state sectors, such as the banking system, state-owned enterprises and foreign trade.[23] GDP growth fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999.
The signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the United States and Vietnam on July 13, 2000, was a significant milestone. The BTA provided for "normal trade relations" (NTR) status of Vietnamese goods in the U.S. market. It was expected that access to the U.S. market would allow Vietnam to hasten its transformation into a manufacturing-based, export-oriented economy. Furthermore, it would attract foreign investment, not only from the U.S., but also from Europe, Asia and other regions.
In 2001, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam approved a 10-year economic plan that enhanced the role of the private sector, while reaffirming the primacy of the state.[20] Growth then rose to 6% to 7% between 2000 and 2002 even in the midst of the global recession, making it the world's second fastest-growing economy. At the same time, investment grew threefold and domestic savings quintupled.
In 2003, the private sector accounted for more than one-quarter of all industrial output.[20] However, between 2003 and 2005, Vietnam fell dramatically in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness report rankings, largely due to negative perceptions of the effectiveness of government institutions.[20] Official corruption is endemic, and Vietnam lags in property rights, efficient regulation of markets, and labor and financial market reforms.[20]
Vietnam had an average GDP growth of 7.1% a year from 2000 to 2004. The GDP growth was 8.4% in 2005, the second-largest in Asia, trailing only China's. The government estimated that GDP grew in 2006 by 8.17%. According to the Minister of Planning and Investment, the government targeted a GDP growth of around 8.5% in 2007.[24]
On November 7, 2006, the General Council at the World Trade Organization (WTO) approved Vietnam's accession package. On January 11, 2007, Vietnam officially became the WTO's 149th member, after 11 years of preparation, including eight years of negotiation.[22] The country's access to the WTO was intended to provide an important boost to the economy, as it ensured that the liberalizing reforms continue and created options for trade expansion. However, the WTO accession also brought serious challenges, requiring the economy to open up to increasing foreign competition.
Vietnam's economy continues to expand at an annual rate in excess of 7%, one of the fastest-growing in the world, but it grew from an extremely low base, as it suffered the crippling effect of the Vietnam War from the 1950s to the 1970s, as well as the austerity measures introduced in its aftermath.[20] In 2012, the communist party was forced to apologise about the mismanagement of the economy after large numbers of SOEs went bankrupt and inflation rose. The main danger has been over the bad debt in the banks totalling to 15% and forecast growth is 5.2% for 2012 but this is also due to the global economic crisis.[25] The government has launched schemes to reform the economy, however, such as lifting foreign ownership cap from 49% and partially privatizing the country's state-owned companies that have been responsible for the recent economic downturn. By the end of 2013, the government is expected to privatize 25–50% of SOEs, only maintaining control on public services and military. The recent reforms have created a major boom in the Vietnamese stock market as confidence in the Vietnamese economy is returning.
Over the last 2 decades, Vietnam has experienced a rapid construction booming that contributed to economic growth but also caused "bubble" to the economy. Skyscrapers ballooned in big cities. According to Skyscrapercity, in 2013, the top three tallest buildings in Vietnam were the Hanoi Landmark 72 (336m), the Hanoi Lotte Center (267m), and the Saigon Bitexco Financial Tower (263m).
Vietnam's current economic turmoil has given rise to question of a new period of changing political economy, however.[26] Poverty remains to be the main concern on the national performance index as of 2018. The Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) found that 28% of survey respondents cited poverty as their main problem.[27] Most respondents agreed with the statement that "[P]overty reduction is imperative to ensuring that Vietnam becomes an advanced, developed country. The percentage of the poorest Vietnamese respondents who believed that their economic situation would worsen increased from 13% in 2016 to 26% in 2017.[28] The percentage of respondents with health insurance increased from 74% in 2016 to 81% in 2017, with strongest gains in the rural population groups.[28]
In 2017, Transparency International, a non-profit that tracks graft ranked Vietnam as 113th worst out of 176 countries and regions for perceptions of corruption.[27] Several graft cases found in 2016 and 2017 led to the corruption crackdown which prosecuted many bankers, businesspeople, and government officials under charges of corruption. PAPI found that bribery at public district hospital services decreased from 17% in 2016 to 9% in 2017.[28] Reports of land seizures went down from an average of about 9% before 2013, to less than 7% in 2017. The number of respondents who believed that their land was sold at a fair market value decreased from 26% in 2014 to 21% in 2017.[28] Land-use graft and petty graft, such as police officers accepting bribes, are common. Vietnam has been privatizing many of its state-owned operations to reduce corruption and increase efficiency.[29]
As March, 2018 Vietnam's economy continued to grow, achieving the best annual growth rate in over a decade; which has led media outlets to speculate if in the near future it could be one of the asian tigers.[30][31]
Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. Inflation below 5 % is in green.[32]

Economic sectors

Agriculture, fishery and forestry
In 2003, Vietnam produced an estimated 30.7 million cubic meters of wood. Production of sawn wood was a more modest 2,950 cubic meters. In 1992, in response to dwindling forests, Vietnam imposed a ban on the export of logs and raw timber. In 1997, the ban was extended to all timber products except wooden artifacts. During the 1990s, Vietnam began to reclaim land for forests with a tree-planting program.[20]
Vietnam's fishing industry, which has abundant resources given the country's long coastline and extensive network of rivers and lakes, has generally experienced moderate growth. In 2003, the total catch was about 2.6 million tons. However, seafood exports increased fourfold between 1990 and 2002 to more than US$2 billion, driven in part by shrimp farms in the South and "catfish", which are a different species from their American counterparts, but are marketed in the United States under the same name. By selling vast quantities of shrimp and catfish to the U.S., Vietnam triggered antidumping complaints by the U.S., which imposed tariffs in the case of catfish and was considering doing the same for shrimp. In 2005, the seafood industry began to focus on domestic demand to compensate for declining exports.[20]
Vietnam is one of the top rice exporting countries in the world, but the limited sophistication of small-scale Vietnamese farmers causes quality to suffer.[33]
Vietnam is the world's second largest exporter of coffee.[34]
Energy, mining and minerals

Petroleum is the main source of energy, followed by coal, which contributes about 25% of the country's energy (excluding biomass). Vietnam's oil reserves are in the range of 270–500 million tons. Oil production rose rapidly to 403,300 barrels per day (64,120m3/d) in 2004, but output is believed to have peaked and is expected to decline gradually.
In 2003, mining and quarrying accounted for 9.4% of GDP, and the sector employed 0.7% of the workforce. Petroleum and coal are the main mineral exports. Also mined are antimony, bauxite, chromium, gold, iron, natural phosphates, tin, and zinc.[20]
Crude oil was Vietnam's leading export until the late 2000s, when high-tech electrical manufactures emerged to become the biggest export market (by 2014, crude oil comprised only 5% of Vietnamese exports, compared to 20% of all exports in 1996). This is in part because Vietnam crude oil peaked in 2004, when crude oil represented 22% of all export earnings.[35] Petroleum exports are in the form of crude petroleum because Vietnam has a very limited refining capacity. Vietnam's only operational refinery, a facility at Cat Hai near Ho Chi Minh City, has a capacity of only 800 barrels per day (130m3/d). Refined petroleum accounted for 10.2% of total imports in 2002. As of 2012, Vietnam had only one refinery, the Dung Quat refinery, but a second one, the Nghi Son Refinery was planned and was scheduled for construction in May 2013.[20][36]
Vietnam's anthracite coal reserves are estimated at 3.7 billion tons. Coal production was almost 19 million tons in 2003, compared with 9.6 million tons in 1999. Vietnam's potential natural gas reserves are 1.3 trillion cubic meters. In 2002, Vietnam brought ashore 2.26 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Hydroelectric power is another source of energy. In 2004, Vietnam confirmed plans to build a nuclear power plant  with Russian assistance,[20] and a second by a Japanese group.
Industry and manufacturing

Although the industrial sector contributed 40.1% of GDP in 2004, it employed only 12.9% of the workforce. In 2000, 22.4% of industrial production was attributable to non-state activities. From 1994 to 2004, the industrial sector grew at an average annual rate of 10.3%. Manufacturing contributed 20.3% of GDP in 2004, while employing 10.2% of the workforce. From 1994 to 2004, manufacturing GDP grew at an average annual rate of 11.2%. The top manufacturing sectors — food processing, cigarettes and tobacco, textiles, chemicals, and electrical goods — experienced rapid growth. Benefits from its proximity to China with lower labor cost, Vietnam is becoming a new manufacturing hub in Asia, especially for Korean and Japanese firms. For instance, Samsung produces about 40% of its phones in Vietnam.[37]
Services and tourism

In 2004, services accounted for 38.2% of gross domestic product (GDP). From 1994 to 2004, GDP attributable to the service sector grew at an average annual rate of 6.0%.[20]
In 2012, Vietnam welcomed 6.8 million international visitors and the number is expected to reach over 7 million in 2013. Vietnam keeps emerging as an attractive destination. In Tripadvisor's list of top 25 destinations Asia 2013 by travellers' choice, there are four cities of Vietnam, namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Ha Long.
2016 was the first year ever which Vietnam welcomed over 10 million international visitors.[38]
Banking and finance
Banking

Most efficient and reliable banks are the largest (also state-owned) ones: VietinBank, BIDV, and Vietcombank. The banking sector is dominated by the three institutions. There is also a trend of foreign investment into profitable banks. For example, VietinBank is currently owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (20%) and International Finance Corporation (10%) while Vietcombank is owned by Mizuho (15%).

(NOTE: Exchange rates as of 30 December 2016. Source: tradingeconomics.com. 1 USD = 22,769 VND)
Finance

Vietnam has two stock trading centers, the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center and the Hanoi Securities Trading Center, which run the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), respectively.
Currency, exchange rate and inflation
Currency

Vietnam's currency is the Vietnamese đồng.
Exchange rate
The exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Vietnamese đồng is important because the dong, although not freely convertible, is loosely pegged to the dollar through an arrangement known as a "crawling peg". This mechanism allows the dollar–dong exchange rate to adjust gradually to changing market conditions.[20] As of December 5, 2018, a US dollar is worth 23,256 Vietnamese đồng.
Gold still maintains its position as a physical currency to a certain extent, although it has seen its economic role declining in recent years.[39]
Inflation
Vietnam's economy experienced a hyperinflation period in its early years of the extensive reform program, especially from 1987 to 1992.[40]
In 2008, inflation was tracking at 20.3% for the first half of the year,[41] higher than the 3.4% in 2000, but down significantly from 160% in 1988.[20]
In 2010, inflation stood at 11.5%, and 18.58% in 2011.[42]
At the end of 2012, inflation stood at 7.5%, a substantial decrease from 2011.[43]
In 2013, inflation stood at 6%,[44] and 4.09% in 2014.[45] In 2016, it was only 2%
Mergers and acquisitions
With 1,120 inbound deals with a cumulated value of almost 15 bil. USD,  there is a tremendous interest by foreign companies to get access to the Vietnamese market or continue the expansion using mergers and acquisitions. From 1991 to February 2018, Vietnamese companies were involved as either an acquiror or an acquired company in 4,000 mergers and acquisitions with a total value of 40.6 bil. USD. The mergers and acquisitions activities faced many obstacles, lowering the rate of success of the transaction. Common obstacles come from culture, transparency and legal aspects.[46] The Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances that has been active in Vietnam since 2006 and its M&A expert Christopher Kummer think that after the peak in 2016 and 2017 the trend will decrease in 2018.[47][48][49] Among the largest and most prominent transactions since 2000 are:

All of the top 10 deals are inbound into Vietnam and none outbound.[50]
Trade

Economic relations with the United States are improving, but are not without challenges. Although the United States and Vietnam reached a landmark bilateral agreement in December 2001, which helped increase Vietnam's exports to the United States, disagreements over textile and catfish exports are hindering full implementation of the agreement. Further disrupting the economic relations between the two countries were efforts in Congress to link non-humanitarian aid to Vietnam's human rights record. Barriers to trade and intellectual property are also within the purview of bilateral discussions.[20]
Given neighboring China's rapid economic ascendancy, Vietnam highly values its economic relationship with China. Following the resolution of most territorial disputes, trade with China is growing rapidly, and in 2004, Vietnam imported more products from China than from any other country. In November 2004, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Vietnam is a member, and China announced plans to establish the world's largest free-trade area by 2010.[20]
Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 11, 2007.[20]
In December 2015, Vietnam joined the ASEAN Economic Community along with the 9 other ASEAN members. The community's goal is to integrate the 10 members of ASEAN and bring a freer flow of labor, investment and trade to the region.[51]
Foreign trade

Trades and balance of trade
Since Đổi Mới in 1986, Vietnam has increased trading, growing both exports and imports in double digits ever since. More recently, alarms on trade account deficits have been raised domestically, especially after joining the WTO in 2007. Throughout the next five years after 2007, Vietnam ran a trade deficit with the rest of the world in the tens of billions of dollars, with the record trade deficit in 2008 of US$18 billion.[41]
The account deficit has since decreased. In 2012, Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$780 million, the first trade surplus since 1993. Total trade reached US$228.13 billion, an increase of 12.1% from 2011.[52] In 2013, Vietnam recorded the second year of trade surplus of US$863 million. In 2014, Vietnam recorded the third year of trade surplus of US$2.14 billion, the largest trade surplus ever in history.[53] Three years later, in 2017, it surpassed itself with a record of $2.92 billion.

Exports

In 2004, Vietnam's exports of merchandise were valued at US$26.5 billion, and, were growing rapidly along with imports. Vietnam's principal exports were crude oil (22.1%), textiles and garments (17.1%), footwear (10.5%), fisheries products (9.4%) and electronics (4.1%). The main destinations of Vietnam's exports were the United States (18.8%), Japan (13.2%), China (10.3%), Australia (6.9%), Singapore (5.2%), Germany (4.0%), and the United Kingdom (3.8%).[20]
In 2012, export rose 18.2%, valued at US$114.57 billion.[52] Vietnam's main export market included the EU with US$20 billion, United States with US$19 billion, ASEAN with $US 17.8 billion, Japan with US$13.9 billion, China with US$14.2 billion, and South Korea with US$7 billion.[58]
In 2013, exports rose 15.4%, valued at US$132.17 billion, of which export of electronics now comprised 24.5% of total export, compared with a 4.4% in 2008. Textiles and garments are still an important part in Vietnam's export, valued about US$17.9 billion in 2013.
In 2014, exports rose 13.6%, reaching US$150.1 billion. Electronics and electronics parts, textiles and garments, computers and computer parts are the three main export groups of Vietnam. The United States continued to be Vietnam's largest export market, with US$28.5 billion. The EU is second with US$27.9 billion, ASEAN is third, China is fourth and Japan is the fifth largest export market of Vietnam.
Imports
In 2004 Vietnam's merchandise imports were valued at US$31.5 billion, and growing rapidly. Vietnam's principal imports were machinery (17.5%), refined petroleum (11.5%), steel (8.3%), material for the textile industry (7.2%), and cloth (6.0%). The main origins of Vietnam's imports were China (13.9%), Taiwan (11.6%), Singapore (11.3%), Japan (11.1%), South Korea (10.4%), Thailand (5.8%), and Malaysia (3.8%).[20]
Vietnam import rose 6.6% in 2012, valued at US$113.79 billion.[52]  Major import countries were China US$29.2 billion, ASEAN with US$22.3 billion, South Korea with US$16.2 billion, Japan with US$13.7 billion, EU with US$10 billion, and United States with US$6.3 billion.[58]
In 2014, imports rose 12.1%, reaching US$148 billion, most of which are materials and machinery needed for export. China continued to be Vietnam's largest import partner, with US$43.7 billion. The ASEAN is second with US$23.1 billion, South Korea is third, Japan is fourth and the EU is the fifth largest import partner of Vietnam.
External debt, foreign aid and foreign investment

In 2004, external debt amounted to US$16.6 billion, or 37% of GDP.[59][20]
From 1988 to December 2004, cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments totaled US$46 billion. By December 2004, about 58% had been dispersed. About half of FDI has been directed at the two major cities (and environs) of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. In 2003 new foreign direct investment commitments were US$1.5 billion. The largest sector by far for licensed FDI is industry and construction. Other sectors attracting FDI are oil and gas, fisheries, construction, agriculture and forestry, transportation and communications, and hotels and tourism. From 2006 to 2010, Vietnam hoped to receive US$18 billion of FDI to support a targeted growth rate in excess of 7%. Despite rising investments, foreign investors still regard Vietnam as a risky destination, as confirmed by recent survey by the Japan External Trade Organization of Japanese companies operating in Vietnam. Many of the respondents complained about high costs of utilities, office rentals and skilled labor. Corruption, bureaucracy, lack of transparent regulations and the failure to enforce investor rights are additional obstacles to investment, according to the U.S. State Department. Vietnam tied with several nations for the 102nd place in Transparencies International's Corruption Perceptions Index in 2004.[20]
The World Bank's assistance program for Vietnam has three objectives: to support Vietnam's transition to a market economy, to enhance equitable and sustainable development and to promote good governance. From 1993 through 2004, Vietnam received pledges of US$29 billion of official development assistance (ODA), of which about US$14 billion, or 49%, has been disbursed. In 2004, international donors pledged ODA of US$2.25 billion, of which US$1.65 billion actually was disbursed. Three donors accounted for 80% of disbursements in 2004: Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. From 2006 to 2010, Vietnam hopes to receive US$14 billion to US$15 billion of ODA.[20]
Pledged foreign direct investment US$21.3 billion for 2007 and a record US$31.6 billion for the first half of 2008.[41] Mergers and acquisitions have gradually become an important channel of investments in the economy, especially after 2005.
Free trade agreements
ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)
ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) is a free trade area between ASEAN and ANZCERTA, signed on 27 February 2009[60] and coming into effect on 1 January 2010.[61] Details of the AANZFTA agreement are available online.[62]
ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), in effect as of 1 January 2010[63]
ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA), in effect as of 1 January 2010[63]
ASEAN–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP)
ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA), in effect as of 1 January 2010[63]
Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
On 29 May 2015, Vietnam signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Eurasian Economic Union.[64]
On 2 December 2015, the EU and Vietnam announced the conclusion of the negotiations for an EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA).[65]
Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement (VCFTA) came into effect on 1 January 2014.[66]
Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) came into effect on 20 December 2015.[67]
Japan-Vietnam Economic Partnership Agreement came into effect on 1 October 2009.[68]
Economic indicators and international rankings

Literature

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Tariffs applied by Vietnam as provided by ITC's , an online database of customs tariffs and market requirements

What is the unemployment rate in Vietnam?