LAOS
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
LAOS
@Laos:Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand
Map references: Southeast Asia
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LAOS - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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VIENTIANE 377,000 17.59N,102.38E 856- GMT+7
Savannakhet 51,000 16.34N,104.45E 856- GMT+7
Pakse 45,000 15.07N,105.50E 856- GMT+7
Luang Prabang 44,000 19.53N,102.10E 856- GMT+7
Sayaboury 14,000 19.18N,101.46E 856- GMT+7
Khammouane 13,000 17.23N,104.48E 856- GMT+7
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Area:
total area: 236,800 sq km
land area: 230,800 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Utah
Land boundaries: total 5,083 km, 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
International disputes: boundary dispute with Thailand
Climate: tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season
(December to April)
Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Land use:
arable land: 4%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 3%
forest and woodland: 58%
other: 35%
Irrigated land: 1,554 sq km (1992 est.)
Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; a majority of the
population does not have access to potable water
natural hazards: floods, droughts, and blight
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Environmental
Modification, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified - Law of the
Sea
Note: landlocked
@Laos:People
Population: 4,837,237 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (female 1,084,615; male 1,111,928)
15-64 years: 51% (female 1,280,142; male 1,199,149)
65 years and over: 4% (female 86,390; male 75,013) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.84% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 42.64 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 14.28 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 99.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.2 years
male: 50.66 years
female: 53.81 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.98 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian
Ethnic divisions: 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: age 15 and over can read and write (1992)
total population: 50%
male: 65%
female: 35%
Labor force: 1 million-1.5 million
by occupation: agriculture 80% (1992 est.)
@Laos:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
conventional short form: Laos
local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao
local short form: none
Digraph: LA
Type: Communist state
Capital: Vientiane
Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural)
and 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu,
Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha,
Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan*,
Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xekong, Xiangkhoang
Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
National holiday: National Day, 2 December (1975) (proclamation of the
Lao People's Democratic Republic)
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 NOUHAK PHOUMSAVAN (since 25 November 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15
August 1991)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president, approved by
the Assembly
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly: elections last held on 20 December 1992 (next to be
held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (85 total)
number of seats by party NA
Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court
Political parties and leaders: Lao People's Revolutionary Party
(LPRP), KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president; other parties proscribed
Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups
proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975
Member of: ACCT, AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD,
ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory
user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador HIEM PHOMMACHANH
chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416, 6417
FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Victor L. TOMSETH
embassy: Rue Bartholonie, Vientiane
mailing address: B. P. 114, Vientiane; American Embassy, Box V, APO AP
96546
telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585
FAX: [856] (21) 212584
Flag: 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 - has been decentralizing control and encouraging
private enterprise since 1986. The results, starting from an extremely
low base, have been striking - growth has averaged 7.5% annually since
1988. Even so, Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive
infrastructure. It 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. The predominant
crop is rice. In non-drought years, Laos is self-sufficient overall in
food, but each year flood, pests, and localized drought cause
shortages in various parts of the country. For the foreseeable future
the economy will continue to depend on aid from the IMF and other
international sources; aid from the former USSR and Eastern Europe has
been cut sharply. As in many developing countries, deforestation and
soil erosion will hamper efforts to maintain the high rate of GDP
growth.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $4 billion (1994
est.)
National product real growth rate: 8.4% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $850 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 21% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA
Exports: $277 million (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: electricity, wood products, coffee, tin, garments
partners: Thailand 57%, Germany 10%, France 10%, Japan 5% (1991)
Imports: $528 million (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities: food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures
partners: Thailand 55%, Japan 16%, China 8%, Italy 4% (1991)
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate 7.5% (1992 est.); accounts for 18%
of GDP (1992 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 260,000 kW
production: 870 million kWh
consumption per capita: 44 kWh (1993)
Industries: tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power,
agricultural processing, construction
Agriculture: principal crops - rice (80% of cultivated land), sweet
potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton; livestock -
buffaloes, hogs, cattle, poultry
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the
international drug trade, fourth largest opium producer (85 metric
tons in 1994); heroin producer; increasingly used as transshipment
point for heroin produced in Burma
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-89), $605 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million;
international assistance in loans and grant aid (1993/94) $217.7
million
Currency: 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
Exchange rates: new kips (NK) per US$1 - 717 (1994 est.), 720 (July
1993). 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September 1990), 576
(1989)
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September
@Laos:Transportation
Railroads: 0 km
Highways:
total: 14,130 km
paved: 2,260 km
unpaved: 11,870 km (1992 est.)
Inland waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries;
2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing
less than 0.5 m
Pipelines: petroleum products 136 km
Ports: none
Merchant marine:
total: 1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT
Airports:
total: 52
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3
with paved runways under 914 m: 25
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 17
@Laos:Communications
Telephone system: 7,390 telephones (1986); service to general public
very poor; radio communications network provides generally erratic
service to government users
local: 16 telephone lines per 1,000 people
intercity: radio communications
international: 1 earth station
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 0, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 2
televisions: NA
@Laos:Defense Forces
Branches: Lao People's Army (LPA; includes riverine naval and militia
elements), Air Force, National Police Department
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 1,051,105; males fit for
military service 567,017; males reach military age (18) annually
51,437 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $105 million, 8.1% of
GDP (FY92/93)
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