:Laos Geography

Total area:
    236,800 km2
Land area:
    230,800 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly larger than Utah
Land boundaries:
    5,083 km; Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km,
    Vietnam 2,130 km
Coastline:
    none - landlocked
Maritime claims:
    none - landlocked
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 NEGL%; meadows and pastures 3%; forest and
    woodland 58%; other 35%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
    deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods
Note:
    landlocked

:Laos People

Population:
    4,440,213 (July 1992), growth rate 2.9% (1992)
Birth rate:
    44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    16 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    107 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    49 years male, 52 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    6.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Lao(s) or Laotian(s); adjective - Lao or Laotian
Ethnic divisions:
    Lao 50%, Phoutheung (Kha) 15%, tribal Thai 20%, Meo, Hmong, Yao, and other
    15%
Religions:
    Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%
Languages:
    Lao (official), French, and English
Literacy:
    84% (male 92%, female 76%) age 15 to 45 can read and write (1985 est.)
Labor force:
    1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)
Organized labor:
    Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to the Communist party

:Laos Government

Long-form name:
    Lao People's Democratic Republic
Type:
    Communist state
Capital:
    Vientiane
Administrative divisions:
    16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural) and 1 municipality* (kampheng
    nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champasak,
    Houaphan, Khammouan, Louang Namtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali,
    Saravan, Savannakhet, Sekong, Vientiane, Vientiane*, Xaignabouri,
    Xiangkhoang
Independence:
    19 July 1949 (from France)
Constitution:
    promulgated August 1991
Legal system:
    based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
    National Day (proclamation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic), 2
    December (1975)
Executive branch:
    president, chairman and two vice chairmen of the Council of Ministers,
    Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
    Supreme People's Assembly
Judicial branch:
    People's Supreme Court
Leaders:
  Chief of State:
    President KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 15 August 1991)
  Head of Government:
    Chairman of the Council of Ministers Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15 August
    1991)
Political parties and leaders:
    Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, party chairman;
    includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist
    Forces; other parties moribund
Suffrage:
    universal at age 18
Elections:
  Supreme People's Assembly:
    last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote
    by party NA; seats - (79 total) number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups:
    non-Communist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Member of:
    ACCT (associate), AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO,
    IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
    WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
    Charge d'Affaires LINTHONG PHETSAVAN; Chancery at 2222 S Street NW,
    Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417
  US:
    Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON, Jr.; Embassy at Rue Bartholonie,
    Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or AMEMB, Box V, APO AP
    96546); telephone (856) 2220, 2357, 2384; FAX (856) 4675

:Laos Government

Flag:
    three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a
    large white disk centered in the blue band

:Laos Economy

Overview:
    One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist centrally
    planned economy with government ownership and control of productive
    enterprises of any size. In recent years, however, the government has been
    decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a
    landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure; that is, it has no
    railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and internal
    telecommunications, and electricity available in only a limited area.
    Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation, accounting for over 60% of
    GDP and providing about 85-90% of total employment. The predominant crop is
    rice. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend for its
    survival on foreign aid from the IMF and other international sources; aid
    from the former USSR and Eastern Europe has been cut sharply.
GDP:
    exchange rate conversion - $800 million, per capita $200; real growth rate
    4% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    10.4% (December 1991)
Unemployment rate:
    21% (1989 est.)
Budget:
    revenues $83 million; expenditures $188.5 million, including capital
    expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)
Exports:
    $72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    electricity, wood products, coffee, tin
  partners:
    Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US, China
Imports:
    $238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures
  partners:
    Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam, China
External debt:
    $1.1 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
    growth rate 12% (1991 est.); accounts for about 18% of GDP (1991 est.)
Electricity:
    226,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
    tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing,
    construction
Agriculture:
    accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the work force; subsistence
    farming predominates; normally self-sufficient in nondrought years;
    principal crops - rice (80% of cultivated land), sweet potatoes, vegetables,
    corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton; livestock - buffaloes, hogs, cattle,
    chicken
Illicit drugs:
    illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the international drug trade,
    third-largest opium producer
Economic aid:
    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
Currency:
    new kip (plural - kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at

:Laos Economy

Exchange rates:
    new kips (NK) per US$1 - 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September
    1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987)
Fiscal year:
    1 July - 30 June

:Laos Communications

Railroads:
    none
Highways:
    about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous treated; 7,451 km
    gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km unimproved earth and
    often impassable during rainy season mid-May to mid-September
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
Airports:
    57 total, 47 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
    over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 14 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    service to general public considered poor; radio communications network
    provides generally erratic service to government users; 7,390 telephones
    (1986); broadcast stations - 10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station

:Laos Defense Forces

Branches:
    Lao People's Army (LPA; including naval, aviation, and militia elements),
    Air Force, National Police Department
Manpower availability:
    males 15-49, 946,289; 509,931 fit for military service; 45,232 reach
    military age (18) annually; conscription age NA
Defense expenditures:
    exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP