| Background: |
In 1975 the
communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending
a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam
and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to
private enterprise, an easing of foreign investment laws,
and the admission into ASEAN in 1997. |
| Location: |
Southeastern
Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
18 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Map
references: |
Southeast Asia |
| Area: |
total:
236,800 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly larger
than Utah |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
5,083 km
border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541
km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
tropical monsoon;
rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to
April) |
| Terrain: |
mostly rugged
mountains; some plains and plateaus |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Mekong River 70 m
highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m |
| Natural
resources: |
timber,
hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 3%
forests and woodland: 54%
other: 40% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
1,250 sq km (1993
est.)
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km;
dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
floods, droughts,
and blight |
| Environment
- current issues: |
unexploded
ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; a majority of the
population does not have access to potable water |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental
Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements |
| Geography
- note: |
landlocked |
| Population: |
5,635,967 (July
2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
42.75% (male 1,212,577; female 1,196,795)
15-64 years: 53.94% (male 1,494,927; female
1,544,851)
65 years and over: 3.31% (male 85,632; female
101,185) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
2.48% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
37.84
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
13.02
deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
92.89
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 53.48 years
male: 51.58 years
female: 55.44 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
5.12 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.05% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
1,400 (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
130 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Lao Loum
(lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland)
including the Hmong ("Meo") and the Yao (Mien) 9%,
ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1% |
| Religions: |
Buddhist 60%,
animist and other 40% |
| Languages: |
Lao (official),
French, English, and various ethnic languages |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57%
male: 70%
female: 44% (1999 est.) |
| Country
name: |
conventional
long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
conventional short form: Laos
local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai
Paxaxon Lao
local short form: none |
| Government
type: |
Communist state |
| Administrative
divisions: |
16 provinces (khoueng,
singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon,
singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset,
singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak,
Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai,
Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan*, Viangchan,
Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong, Xiangkhoang |
| Independence: |
19 July 1949
(from France) |
| National
holiday: |
Republic Day, 2
December (1975) |
| Constitution: |
promulgated 14
August 1991 |
| Legal
system: |
based on
traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and
Socialist practice |
| Suffrage: |
18 years of age;
universal |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of
state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphandon (since 26
February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI
Saignason (since NA March 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG
Volachit (since NA March 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers
THONGLOUN Sisolit (since NA March 2001), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat
(since 26 February 1998)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the
president, approved by the National Assembly
elections: president elected by the National
Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 21
December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); prime minister
appointed by the president with the approval of the National
Assembly for a five-year term
election results: KHAMTAI Siphandon elected
president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
National Assembly (99 seats; members elected by popular vote
to serve five-year terms; note - by presidential decree, on
27 October 1997, the number of seats increased from 85 to
99)
elections: last held 21 December 1997 (next to
be held NA 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party -
NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent,
non-party members) 99 |
| Judicial
branch: |
People's Supreme
Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is
elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of
the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president
of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed
by the National Assembly Standing Committee) |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Lao People's
Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party
president]; other parties proscribed |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
noncommunist
political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled
the country in 1975 |
| International
organization participation: |
ACCT, ARF, AsDB,
ASEAN, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador VANG Rattanavong
chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC
20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416
FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affairs
Karen Brevard STEWART
embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, B. P. 114,
Vientiane
mailing address: American Embassy, Box V, APO
AP 96546
telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585
FAX: [856] (21) 212584 |
| Flag
description: |
three horizontal
bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a
large white disk centered in the blue band |
| Economy
- overview: |
The government of
Laos - one of the few remaining official communist states -
began decentralizing control and encouraging private
enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely
low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% during 1988-97.
Reform efforts subsequently slowed, and GDP growth dropped
an average of 3 percentage points. Because Laos depends
heavily on its trade with Thailand, it was damaged by the
regional financial crisis beginning in 1997. Government
mismanagement deepened the crisis, and from June 1997 to
June 1999 the Lao kip lost 87% of its value. Laos' foreign
exchange problems peaked in September 1999 when the kip fell
from 3,500 kip to the dollar to 9,000 kip to the dollar in a
matter of weeks. Now that the currency has stabilized,
however, the government seems content to let the current
situation persist, despite limited government revenue and
foreign exchange reserves. A landlocked country with a
primitive infrastructure, Laos has no railroads, a
rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal
telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few
urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of
GDP and provides 80% of total employment. For the
foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend on
aid from the IMF and other international sources; Japan is
currently the largest bilateral aid donor; aid from the
former USSR/Eastern Europe has been cut sharply. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $9 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
4% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $1,700 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
51%
industry: 22%
services: 27% (1999 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
46.1% (1993 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
4.2%
highest 10%: 26.4% (1992) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
33% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
1 million - 1.5
million |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 80%
(1997 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
5.7% (1997 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$211 million
expenditures: $462 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
| Industries: |
tin and gypsum
mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing,
construction, garments, tourism |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
7.5% (1999 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
792 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
2.78%
hydro: 97.22%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
173.6 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
705 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
142 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
sweet potatoes,
vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea,
peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry |
| Exports: |
$323 million
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
wood products,
garments, electricity, coffee, tin |
| Exports
- partners: |
Vietnam,
Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium |
| Imports: |
$540 million
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and
equipment, vehicles, fuel |
| Imports
- partners: |
Thailand, Japan,
Vietnam, China, Singapore, Hong Kong |
| Debt
- external: |
$2.46 billion
(1998 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$345 million
(1999 est.) |
| Exchange
rates: |
kips per US
dollar - 7,578.00 (December 2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33
(1998), 1,259.98 (1997), 921.02 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 October - 30
September |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
25,000 (1997) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
4,915 (1997) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: service to general public is poor but
improving, with over 20,000 telephones currently in service
and an additional 48,000 expected by 2001; the government
relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with
remote areas
domestic: radiotelephone communications
international: satellite earth station - 1
Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 12, FM 1,
shortwave 4 (1998) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
4 (1999) |
| Televisions: |
52,000 (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.la |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
2,000 (2000) |
| Highways: |
total:
14,000 km
paved: 3,360 km
unpaved: 10,640 km (1991) |
| Waterways: |
4,587 km
approximately
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897
additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing
less than 0.5 m |
| Pipelines: |
petroleum
products 136 km |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
43
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 17
under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Lao People's Army
(LPA; includes riverine element), Air Force, National Police
Department |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 1,319,537 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 710,627 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
64,437 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$55 million
(FY98) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
4.2% (FY96/97) |
| Disputes
- international: |
parts of the
border with Thailand are indefinite |
| Illicit
drugs: |
world's
third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation
in 1999 - 21,800 hectares, a 16% decrease over 1998;
estimated potential production in 1999 - 140 metric tons,
about the same as in 1998); potential heroin producer;
transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced
in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis |
|
