Introduction

Background: Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. 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, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.

Geography

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: 3.8%; permanent crops: 0.35%; other: 95.85% (2001)

Irrigated land: 1,640 sq km; note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: floods, droughts

Environment - current issues: unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand

People

Population: 6,217,141 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.6% (male 1,300,094/female 1,289,227); 15-64 years: 55.2% (male 1,693,494/female 1,737,196); 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 88,744/female 108,386) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 18.74 years; male: 18.42 years; female: 19.08 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.42% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 35.99 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 11.83 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female; total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 85.22 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 95.04 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 75.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 55.08 years; male: 53.07 years; female: 57.17 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.77 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1,700 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 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 and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%

Religions: Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%)

Languages: Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 66.4%; male: 77.4%; female: 55.5% (2002)

Government

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

Capital: Vientiane

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, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong, Xiangkhoang

Independence19 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 Siphadon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 27 March 2001); head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since 27 March 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone BOUPHAVANH (since 3 October 2003) Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Deputy Prime Minister THONGLOUN Sisolit (since 27 March 2001), and Deputy Prime Minister 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 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); prime minister appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term; election results: KHAMTAI Siphadon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (109 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2002 election); elections: last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109

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)

Economy

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 6% in 1988-2004 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. The government has sponsored major improvements in the road system. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to face lower tariffs on their exports; this may help spur growth.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $11.28 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 49.5%; industry: 27.5%; services: 23% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 2.6 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5.7% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 40% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.2%; highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 37 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.3% (2004 est.)

Budget: revenues: $284.3 million; expenditures: $416.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products: sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

Industries: tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 9.7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 3.56 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption: 3.036 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 400 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports: 125 million kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption: 2,750 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports: NA

Oil - imports: NA

Current account balance: $-80.76 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $365.5 million (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities: garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin

Exports - partners: Thailand 19%, Vietnam 16.4%, France 7.9%, Germany 5.6%, UK 4.9% (2004)

Imports: $579.5 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods

Imports - partners: Thailand 60.5%, China 9.2%, Vietnam 8.7% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $193.1 million (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $2.49 billion (2001)

Economic aid - recipient: $243 million (2001 est.)

Currency (code): kip (LAK)

Exchange rates: kips per US dollar - 10,820 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.6 (2001), 7,887.6 (2000)

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 61,900 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 55,200 (2002)

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: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (1999)

Internet country code: .la

Internet hosts: 937 (2003)

Internet users: 15,000 (2002)

Transportation

Highways: total: 21,716 km; paved: 9,664 km; unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)

Waterways: 4,600 km; note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)

Pipelines: refined products 540 km (2004)

Merchant marine: total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT; by type: cargo 1 (2005)