Laos

Airports

total: 53 usable: 41 with permanent-surface runways: 8 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 15

Highways

total: 27,527 km paved: bituminous 1,856 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, improved earth 7,451 km; unimproved earth 18,220 km (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

Merchant marine

1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT

Pipelines

petroleum products 136 km

Ports

none

Railroads

none

Telecommunications

service to general public practically non-existant; 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

Branches

Lao People's Army (LPA; including naval, aviation, and militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 1,015,357; fit for military service 547,566; reach military age (18) annually 49,348 (1994 est.)

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, poultry

Budget

revenues: $83 million expenditures: $188.5 million, including capital expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)

Currency

1 new kip (NK) = 100 at

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

Electricity

capacity: 226,000 kW production: 990 million kWh consumption per capita: 220 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

new kips (NK) per US$1 - 720 (July 1993). 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September 1990), 576 (1989)

Exports

$133 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: electricity, wood products, coffee, tin partners: Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, FSU, US, China

External debt

$1.1 billion (1990 est.)

Fiscal year

1 July - 30 June

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the international drug trade, third-largest opium producer (180 metric tons in 1993)

Imports

$266 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures partners: Thailand, FSU, Japan, France, Vietnam, China

Industrial production

growth rate 12% (1991 est.); accounts for about 18% of GDP (1991 est.)

Industries

tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

9.8% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $4.1 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$900 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

7% (1992 est.)

Overview

Laos has had a Communist centrally planned economy with government ownership and control of major productive enterprises. Since 1986, however, the government has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure; 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.

Unemployment rate

21% (1989 est.)

Area

total area: 236,800 sq km land area: 230,800 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Utah

Climate

tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion natural hazards: subject to floods, drought, and blight international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea

International disputes

boundary dispute with Thailand

Irrigated land

1,200 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 5,083 km, Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km

Land use

arable land: 4% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 3% forest and woodland: 58% other: 35%

Location

Southeastern Asia, between Vietnam and Thailand

Map references

Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones

Note

landlocked

Terrain

mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus

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, Xekong, Vientiane, Viangchan*, Xaignabouri, Xiangkhoang

Capital

Vientiane

Constitution

promulgated 14 August 1991

Digraph

LA

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador HIEM PHOMMACHANH chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 332-6416 or 6417

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

FAX

(202) 332-4923

FAX

[851] 4675

Flag

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

Independence

19 July 1949 (from France)

Judicial branch

Supreme People's Court

Legal system

based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ACCT, AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none

National holiday

National Day, 2 December (1975) (proclamation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic)

Other political or pressure groups

non-Communist political groups moribund; most leaders fled the country in 1975

Political parties and leaders

Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president; includes Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC); other parties moribund

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Third 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

Type

Communist state

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Victor TOMSETH embassy: Rue Bartholonie, Vientiane mailing address: B. P. 114, Vientiane, or American Embassy, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [851] 2220, 2357, or 3570, 16-9581

Birth rate

43.23 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

14.74 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Lao 50%, Phoutheung (Kha) 15%, tribal Thai 20%, Meo, Hmong, Yao, and other 15%

Infant mortality rate

101.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

1-1.5 million by occupation: agriculture 85-90% (est.)

Languages

Lao (official), French, English

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 51.68 years male: 50.16 years female: 53.28 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15-45 can read and write (1993) total population: 64% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

4,701,654 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.85% (1994 est.)

Religions

Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%

Total fertility rate

6.07 children born/woman (1994 est.)