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The World Factbook 2002
| Laos |

Introduction | Laos

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.

Geography | Laos

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 water: 6,000 sq km land: 230,800 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: 4% permanent crops: 0% other: 96% (1998 est.)
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; 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; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand

People | Laos

Population: | 5,777,180 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 42.5% (male 1,233,659; female 1,219,872) 15-64 years: 54.2% (male 1,543,246; female 1,591,419) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 86,375; female 102,609) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: | 2.47% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: | 37.39 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: | 12.71 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | 90.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 53.88 years female: 55.87 years (2002 est.) male: 51.95 years
Total fertility rate: | 5.03 children born/woman (2002 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% (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: 57% male: 70% female: 44% (1999 est.)

Government | Laos

Country name: | conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos local short form: none local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao
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, 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 27 March 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since 27 March 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since NA 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 NA 2007); 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 (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 NA 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)
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, 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 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Douglas A. HARTWICK 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 | Laos

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% in 1988-2001 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. 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.

GDP: | purchasing power parity - $9.2 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $1,630 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 53% industry: 22% services: 25% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 40% (2001 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): | 10% (2001 est.)
Labor force: | 2.4 million (1999)
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: | 1.02 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 1.96% hydro: 98.04% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: | 690.6 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: | 400 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: | 142 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: | sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
Exports: | $325 million (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: | wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin
Exports - partners: | Thailand 20%, France 7.5%, Germany 5.9%, UK 4.1%, Belgium 4% (2000)
Imports: | $540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel
Imports - partners: | Thailand 52%, Singapore 3.9%, Japan 1.6%, Hong Kong 1.5%, China 0.8% (2000)
Debt - external: | $2.53 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient: | $345 million (1999 est.)
Currency: | kip (LAK)
Currency code: | LAK
Exchange rates: | kips per US dollar - 9,467.00 (December 2001), 8,954.58 (2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998), 1,259.98 (1997)
Fiscal year: | 1 October - 30 September

Communications | Laos

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)
Radios: | 730,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 4 (1999)
Televisions: | 52,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .la
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 1 (2000)
Internet users: | 6,000 (2001)

Transportation | Laos

Railways: | 0 km (2001)
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
Ports and harbors: | none
Merchant marine: | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: | 51 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 42 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 26 (2001)

Military | Laos

Military branches: | Lao People's Army (LPA; including Riverine Force), Air Force, National Police Department
Military manpower - military age: | 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 1,365,027 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 734,945 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 64,437 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $55 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.2% (FY96/97)

Transnational Issues | Laos

Disputes - international: | demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam is nearing completion, but with Thailand, several areas including Mekong River islets, remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and Vietnam over squatters
Illicit drugs: | world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 2001 - 22,000 hectares, a 5% decrease over 2000; estimated potential production in 2001 - 200 metric tons, about the same as in 2000); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis; growing methamphetamine abuse problem

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002