View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1992 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

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

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]

petroleum products 136 km

Ports [time series]

none

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

none

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

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]

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 946,289; 509,931 fit for military service; 45,232 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 nondrought 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 (1970-89), $605 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million

Electricity [time series]

226,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates [time series]

new kips (NK) per US$1 - 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September 1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987)

Exports [time series]

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

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]

exchange rate conversion - $800 million, per capita $200; real growth rate 4% (1991)

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the international drug trade, third-largest opium producer

Imports [time series]

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

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

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

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

10.4% (December 1991)

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. 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.

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

Area (Land area) [time series]

230,800 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

5,083 km; 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

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]

promulgated August 1991

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 AMEMB, Box V, APO AP 96546); telephone (856) 2220, 2357, 2384; FAX (856) 4675

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

president, chairman and two 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

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

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)

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

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

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 [time series]

universal at age 18

Government type (Type) [time series]

Communist state

People

Birth rate [time series]

44 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

16 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

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]

107 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages [time series]

Lao (official), French, and English

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

49 years male, 52 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun - Lao(s) or Laotian(s); adjective - Lao or Laotian

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to the Communist party

Population [time series]

4,440,213 (July 1992), growth rate 2.9% (1992)

Religions [time series]

Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.3 children born/woman (1992)