Vietnamese people in Russia

Infobox ethnic group
group=Vietnamese people in Russia
population=26,205cite web|language=Russian|url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/TOM_04_03.xls|accessdate=2006-12-01|title=Население по национальности и владению русским языком по субъектам Российской Федерации|format=Microsoft Excel|publisher=Федеральная служба государственной статистики]
regions=Moscow, Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, and other large citiescite conference|last=Mazirin|first=V.M.|title=Вьетнамцы в России: образ жизни, проблемы, перспективы (Vietnamese in Russia: ways of living, problems, perspectives)|booktitle=Индокитай: тенденции развития (Indochina: Trends in development)|language=Russian|pages=159-179|url=http://www.iaas.msu.ru/pub_on/indochina/indochina2004.pdf|filetype=PDF|date=2004|publisher=Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University|location=Moscow, Russia]
languages=Vietnamese, Russiancite news|url=http://english.vietnamnet.vn/lifestyle/2006/12/645222/|date=2006-12-18|accessdate=2007-02-22|title=Vietnamese in Russia waiting to be examined|publisher=VietnamNet Bridge]
rels=Mahayana Buddhism [ [http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/country.php?country_id=72 List of notable Buddhist temples in Russia] ]
related=Vietnamese people

Vietnamese people in Russia form the 72nd-largest ethnic minority community in Russia according to the 2002 census. With only 26,205 individuals, they are one of the smaller groups of Việt Kiều. [cite news|language=Vietnamese|url=http://www.quehuong.org.vn/vi/nr041215095635/nr050107191630/ns050111144902|date=2005-03-09|accessdate=2007-02-22|title=Cộng đồng người Việt Nam ở nước ngoài|publisher=Quê Hương] However, unofficial estimates put their population as high as 100,000 to 150,000. [cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/BB08Ag01.html|title=Russian rhetoric fails to boost business|publisher=Asia Times|last=Blagov|first=Sergei|date=2000-02-08|accessdate=2007-02-22] Almost two-thirds reside in Moscow, concentrated in the southern part of the city, near the Akademicheskaya Metro station, where authorities have erected a statue of Ho Chi Minh. [cite news|url=http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/tet2007/life_f.htm|date=2007-02-22|accessdate=2007-02-22|title=Feeling warm by Uncle Ho's statue in Moscow|author=Vo Hoai Nam] Other large communities can be found in Vladivostok and St. Petersburg, though the community in Moscow is the most well-established and has the highest proportion of long-term residents (those who have been living there for more than 5 years). Assessments of their proficiency in the Russian language vary as well; the Census recorded that roughly 80% could speak Russian, while one article in Vietnamese state-run media claimed that "many Vietnamese find it unnecessary to learn Russian. In fact, many hardly speak the language at all." The Census also recorded that virtually all can speak Vietnamese.cite web|language=Russian|url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/TOM_04_06.xls|title=Владение языками (кроме русского) населением отдельных национальностей по республикам, автономной области и автономным округам Российской Федерации|format=Microsoft Excel|accessdate=2006-12-01|publisher=Федеральная служба государственной статистики]

Most Vietnamese people in Russia are enterpreneurs in the retail industry; with Russia's 2007 reform of rules for retail markets, which put restrictions on the proportion of immigrant-owned shops and require Russian-language proficiency examinations as a condition of being granted a work permit and a business licence, many Vietnamese will have to close their businesses and find other lines of work, probably as manual labourers. Students also form another important group; Ho Chi Minh himself studied in Moscow in the 1920s, along with other senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam. [cite book|title=Ho Chi Minh: The Missing Years: 1919-1941|last=Quinn-Judge|first=Sophie|date=2002|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|id=ISBN 1850656584 (Page 125)] They were followed by an estimated total of 50,000 Vietnamese who studied in Russia during the Cold War. [cite journal|url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=24&&issue_id=1973|journal=The Jamestown Foundation Monitor|accessdate=2007-02-22|volume=7|issue=44|date=2001-03-05|title=Visit to Vietnam pays dividends for Putin] Academic exchange between the two countries continued even after the collapse of the Soviet Union; as of 2006, roughly 4,000 Vietnamese students were studying in Russian universities; the Russian government provides scholarships to 160 of them. [cite news|url=http://www.cpv.org.vn/details_e.asp?topic=82&subtopic=188&ID=BT960662165|date=2006-06-09|accessdate=2007-02-22|publisher=Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper|title=Russia and Vietnam relations to become more steady] Notable Vietnamese students who have studied in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union include Quynh Nguyen, a pianist from Hanoi who received a scholarshop to Moscow's Gnessin State Musical College. [cite news|url=http://www.nguoivienxu.vietnamnet.vn/vanngheviet/hoatdongvhnt/2006/09/612630/|date=2006-09-17|title=Pianist Quynh Nguyen: Hãy nhớ tên cô|publisher=VietNamNet|accessdate=2007-03-04|language=Vietnamese]

See also

* Japanese people in Russia
* Koryo-saram
* Sakhalin Koreans

References

External links

* [http://www.hoinguoiviet.ru Association of Vietnamese in Russia]