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Communications

Airports [time series]

65 total, 51 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m

Pipelines [time series]

136 km, refined products

Ports [time series]

none

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

service to general public considered poor; radio network provides generally erratic service to government users; 7,390 telephones (1986); stations--10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

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

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$NA, 3.8% of GDP (1987)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 991,864; 531,084 fit for military service; 45,548 reach military age (18) annually; conscription age NA

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the work force; subsistence farming predominates; normally self-sufficient in non-drought years; principal crops--rice (80% of cultivated land), sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton; livestock--buffaloes, hogs, cattle, chicken

Budget [time series]

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

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

new kip (plural--kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $546 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million

Electricity [time series]

176,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates [time series]

new kips (NK) per US$1--695 (April 1991), 700 (September 1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987), 108 (1986), 95 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--electricity, wood products, coffee, tin; partners--Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$1.1 billion (1990 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 July-30 June

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$600 million, per capita $150; real growth rate 5% (1990 est.)

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of cannabis and opium poppy for the international drug trade

Imports [time series]

$238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures; partners--Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 8% (1989 est.); accounts for about 20% of GDP

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

22% (1990 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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. Recently, 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; foreign aid from the USSR and Eastern Europe is being cut sharply.

Unemployment rate [time series]

21% (1989 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

none--landlocked

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Utah

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

boundary dispute with Thailand

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

arable land 4%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 3%; forest and woodland 58%; other 35%; includes irrigated 1%

Maritime claims [time series]

none--landlocked

Natural resources [time series]

timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones

Note [time series]

landlocked

Terrain [time series]

mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus

Area (Total area) [time series]

236,800 km2; land area: 230,800 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Vientiane

Constitution [time series]

draft constitution under discussion since 1976

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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 Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384

Executive branch [time series]

president, chairman and four vice chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

19 July 1949 (from France)

Judicial branch [time series]

People's Supreme Court Chief of State--President KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 15 August 1991); Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers General Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15 August 1991) Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, party chairman; includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; other parties moribund

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

Supreme People's Assembly

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Lao People's Democratic Republic

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

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

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

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

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 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

Government type (Type) [time series]

Communist state

People

Birth rate [time series]

37 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

124 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Lao (official), French, and English

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

49 years male, 52 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

84% (male 92%, female 76%) age 15 to 45 can read and write (1985 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun--Lao (sing., Lao or Laotian); adjective--Lao or Laotian

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to the Communist party

Population [time series]

4,113,223 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%

Total fertility rate [time series]

5.0 children born/woman (1991)