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The Vietnamese people are essentially polytheistic in their religious beliefs. Mahayana Buddhism is practised widely throughout the country, and Therevada Buddhism may also be found in isolated pockets. Underlying and co-existing with the Buddhist religion are the deeply ingrained practices of ancestor worship and animism and the moral and philosophical principles of Confucianism, both of which continue to dictate everyday personal conduct.
There is a sizeable Catholic population, concentrated mainly in the south of the country but with isolated communities in other regions such as Ninh Binh, 130 kilometres south of Ha Noi. Both Islam and Hinduism are practised by the Ch?m communities of the central coastal plain and the Mekong Delta and by Indian communities in Ho Chi Minh City. The relatively new indigenous religions of Cao Dai Chieu Minh and Hoa Hao are also firmly rooted in southern Vi?t Nam. Most of the ethnic minority communities practise a combination of animism and ancestor worship, but some of the Central Highland groups (Xtieng, Ba-na, E-de, Co-ho) and one or two H'mong and Dao communities in the north west hold Christian beliefs.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Viet Nam’s constitution. In 2004 the government introduced a new State Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions which sets out procedures for the registration of religious organisations, activities and festivals.
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