In the northern uplands and the Central Highlands, people clear and burn jungle patches as a method of farming in the pre-industry age. With a sub-tropical climate, cultivation is chiefly carried out in summer and autumn. For acclimatization and the raising of land utility rate, the highlanders from time immemorial have developed multi-cropping to generate further income and prevent soil erosion. With their dexterity and sense of aesthetics, the young women have made skirts and vests with beautiful and colourful decorations and in a style convenient to farming work in terraced fields and to traved on hill slopes and mountain gorges. The generous forests and mountains and backward farming methods give rise to mythical rituals with propitious conditions for their development. Almost all regions in the Central Highlands hold buffalo-stabbing ceremonies in honour of Giang (Heaven) to pray for health, for the good of livestock breeding and for bumper crops. These regions harbour innumerable legendary stories and gallant chronicles, the value of which is comparable to those of China and India but their collection and study are still inadequate. These ethnic minorities are the creators of stone xylophones, T'rung and Krongput musical instruments, sets of gongs and group dances, rich of community colours.

Along the coastline from north to south, people live on fishing. In the morning fishing boats sail out to the open sea and in the evening return to the shore. The life here is bustling with activity as is in farming areas at harvest time.

Everywhere, man lives in harmony with nature and nature does not betray human efforts.

Lying in the Indochinese peninsula, the gateway to main-land and offshore Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the location of cultural intercourse in this region, with three major language families, i.e. Austro-Asian Language Family, Austronesian Language Family and Sino-Tibetan Language Family. The Vietnamese speak the languages of eight different groups. Of which the Viet-Muong Group includes four ethnic groups: the Chut, Kinh, Muong and Tho, the Tay-Thai Group includes eight ethnic groups: the Bo Y, Giay, Lao, Lu, Nung, San Chay, Tay and Thai, the Mon-Khmer Group includes 21 ethnic groups such as the Ba Na, Brau, Bru-Van Kieu, Cho-ro, Co, Co-ho, Co-tu, Gie-trieng, Hre, Khang, Khmer, Kho Mu, Ma, Mang, M'Nong, O-du, Ro-mam, Ta-oi, Xinh-mun, Xo-dang and Xtieng, the Mong-Dao Group includes the Dao, Mong and Pa Then, the Kadai Group includes the Co Lao, La Chi, La Ha and Pu Peo, the Malayo-Polynesian Group includes the Cham, Chu-ru, Ede, Gia-rai and Ra-glai, the Han Group includes the Hoa, Ngai and San Diu, the Tibeto-Burman Group includes the Cong, Ha Nhi, La Hu, Lo Lo, Phu La and Si-la.

Although they speak different languages, the ethnic groups live close to one another and so one group can know the language of others through everyday relations, and although they are involved in cultural exchange, they keep retaining the identity of their own culture. The diversity of the retaining the identity of their own culture. The diversity of the cultures of ethnic groups does not take them off the track of the common development of the nation, just as the peculiarity is in tune with the generality in the dual category of philosophy.

The Ho Chi Minh Era which started with the triumph of the 1945 August Revolution has brought about a great change in the life of the national community. The consistent policy put forth by the Party and State on nationalities boils down to equality, unity, mutual assistance and alliance in the building of the country for the prosperity of the people, for the might of the country, and for a just and a civilized society imbued with national identity.

The promulgation of this correct and innovative policy in the socio-economic field has yielded successes, very big, very new and very modern. The infrastructure, especially land communication, water resource and telecommunication, has reached the districts and gradually the villages and hamlets at a pace depending on the specific conditions of each region. As masters of the country, the ethnic groups are talking part in State organs of authority at an increasing rate. The Party and the State pay concern to the training of scientific and technical workers. The number of cadres of ethnic groups having graduated from  university or higher degree is on the increase. The treasure of traditional culture and art of various ethnic groups has been collected, preserved, studied and promoted.

 The Vietnamese government has worked out specific policies and special treatments in order to help mountainous people catching up with lowland people, and made great efforts to develop and preserve traditional cultural identities of each ethnic minority group. At present, the programs of providing iodized salt for remote villages, equipping village’s health care and hygienic station, fighting malaria, building free schools for ethnic minority children, settled agriculture and fixed residence, and projects of creating new writing scripts for minority peoples and studying and developing traditional culture of each ethnic minority group... have obtained satisfactory results.