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.

Map reference: Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 236,800 km²
Land: 230,800 km²

Land boundaries: total 5,083 km, 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

Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones

Land use
Arable land: 4%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 3%
Forest and woodland: 58%
Other: 35%

Irrigated land: 1,200 km² (1989 est.)

Population: 4,569,327 (July 1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
Adjective: Lao or Laotian

Ethnic groups:

Languages: Lao (official), French, English

Religions: Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%

Birth rate: 43.82 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 15.22 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods
Current issues note: landlocked

Infant mortality rate: 104.4 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 51.18 years
Male: 49.67 years
Female: 52.77 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.16 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Literacy: age 15-45 can read and write (1985)
Total population: 84%
Male: 92%
Female: 76%

Country name
Conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
Conventional short form: Laos
Local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao
Local short form: none

Government type: Communist state

Administrative divisions:

Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)

National holiday:

Constitution: promulgated August 1991

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: president, prime minister and two deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: National Assembly

Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador HIEM Phommachanh
In the us chancery: 2,222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: (202) 332-6,416 or 6,417
From the us embassy: Rue Bartholonie, Vientiane
From the us mailing address: B. P. 114, Vientiane, or AMEMB, Box V, APO AP 96,546
From the us telephone: (856) 2,220, 2,357, 2,384
From the us fax: (856) 4,675

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

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.

Real gdp growth rate: 4% (1991)

Real gdp per capita: $200 (1991)

Agriculture products: 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

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 12% (1991 est.), accounts for about 18% of GDP (1991 est.)

Labor force: 1-1.5 million
By occupation: agriculture 85-90% (est.)

Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)

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

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

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

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

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

Electricity
Production: 226,000 kW capacity; 990 million kWh produced, 220 kWh per capita (1992) processing, construction

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Airports: 54
Usable: 41
With permanentsurface runways: 8
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 1
With runways 1220-2439 m: 15

Pipelines: petroleum products 136 km

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

Disputes international: boundary dispute with Thailand

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