Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th Century under King FA NGUM. For three hundred years Lan Xang included large parts of present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government ending a six-century-old monarchy and instituting a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1986. Laos became a member of ASEAN in 1997.

Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam
18 00 N, 105 00 E
Southeast Asia
total: 236,800 sq km ; land: 230,800 sq km ; water: 6,000 sq km
slightly larger than Utah
total: 5,083 km ; border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km
0 km (landlocked)
none (landlocked)
tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)
mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
lowest point: Mekong River 70 m ; highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m
timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
arable land: 4.01% ; permanent crops: 0.34% ; other: 95.65% (2005)
1,750 sq km (2003)
333.6 cu km (2003)
Total: 3 cu km/yr (4%/6%/90%) ; Per capita: 507 cu m/yr (2000)
floods, droughts
unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand
6,521,998 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 41.2% (male 1,349,352/female 1,338,252) ; 15-64 years: 55.7% (male 1,795,029/female 1,835,168) ; 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 90,188/female 114,009) (2007 est.)
total: 19 years ; male: 18.7 years ; female: 19.3 years (2007 est.)
2.37% (2007 est.)
34.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
11.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.978 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.791 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.984 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 81.44 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 90.91 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 71.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 55.89 years ; male: 53.82 years ; female: 58.04 years (2007 est.)
4.59 children born/woman (2007 est.)
0.1% (2003 est.)
1,700 (2003 est.)
less than 200 (2003 est.)
noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) ; adjective: Lao or Laotian
Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%
Buddhist 65%, animist 32.9%, Christian 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.8% (1995 census)
Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 68.7% ; male: 77% ; female: 60.9% (2001 est.)


conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic ; conventional short form: Laos ; local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao ; local short form: none
Communist state
name: Vientiane ; geographic coordinates: 17 58 N, 102 36 E ; time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xekong, Xiangkhoang

19 July 1949 (from France)
Republic Day, 2 December (1975)
promulgated 14 August 1991
based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 8 June 2006); Vice President BOUN-GNANG Volachit (since 8 June 2006) ; head of government: Prime Minister BOUASONE Bouphavanh (since 8 June 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Maj. Gen. DOUANGCHAI Phichit (since 8 June 2006), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998), and THONGLOUN Sisoulit (since 27 March 2001) ; cabinet: Ministers appointed by president, approved by National Assembly ; elections: president and vice president elected by National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 8 June 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister nominated by president and elected by National Assembly for five-year term ; election results: CHOUMMALI Saignason elected president; BOUN-GNANG Volachit elected vice president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100%; BOUASONE Bouphavanh elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - 97%
unicameral National Assembly (115 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held 30 April 2006 (next to be held in 2011) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LPRP 113, independents 2
People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee)
Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [CHOUMMALI Saignason]; other parties proscribed
noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975
ACCT, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
chief of mission: Ambassador PHIANE Philakone ; chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 ; telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 ; FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923
chief of mission: Ambassador Ravic R. HUSO ; embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, That Dam Road, Vientiane ; mailing address: American Embassy Vientiane, APO AP 96546 ; telephone: [856] 21-26-7000 ; FAX: [856] 21-26-7190





The government of Laos, one of the few remaining official Communist states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 6% per year in 1988-2007 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure. It has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications, though the government is sponsoring major improvements in the road system with possible support from Japan. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice, accounts for about half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid by the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in hydropower and mining. Construction will be another strong economic driver, especially as hydroelectric dam and road projects gain steam. Several policy changes since 2004 may help spur growth. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to benefit from lower tariffs on exports. Laos is taking steps to join the World Trade Organization in the next few years; the resulting trade policy reforms will improve the business environment. On the fiscal side, a value-added tax (VAT) regime, slated to begin in 2008, would streamline the government's inefficient tax system.
$12.61 billion (2007 est.)
$3.061 billion (2007 est.)
7% (2007 est.)
$1,900 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 41.2% ; industry: 32.5% ; services: 26.3% (2007 est.)
2.1 million (2006 est.)
agriculture: 80% ; industry and services: 20% (2005 est.)
2.4% (2005 est.)
30.7% (2005 est.)
lowest 10%: 3.4% ; highest 10%: 28.5% (2002)
34.6 (2002)
5% (2007 est.)

revenues: $470.4 million ; expenditures: $643.5 million (2007 est.)

sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
copper, tin, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism, cement
12% (2007 est.)
1.715 billion kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 1.4% ; hydro: 98.6% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
1.193 billion kWh (2005)
728 million kWh (2005)
326 million kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
2,950 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
2,898 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$355 million (2007 est.)
$720.9 million (2007 est.)
garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin
Thailand 41%, Vietnam 9.7%, China 4.1%, Malaysia 4% (2006)
$1.199 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Thailand 68.8%, China 11.3%, Vietnam 5.5% (2006)

$513.5 million (31 December 2007 est.)
$3.179 billion (2006)



kip (LAK)
LAK
kips per US dollar - 9,658 (2007), 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004), 10,569 (2003)
1 October - 30 September
$379 million (2006 est.)
90,067 (2006)
638,200 (2006)
general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas ; domestic: multiple service providers; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership about 10 per 100 persons ; international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)
AM 7, FM 14, shortwave 2 (2006)
730,000 (1997)
7 (includes 1 station relaying Vietnam Television from Hanoi) (2006)
52,000 (1997)
.la
935 (2007)
1 (2000)
25,000 (2005)

42 (2007)
total: 9 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2007)
total: 33 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 9 ; under 914 m: 23 (2007)

refined products 540 km (2006)

total: 31,210 km ; paved: 4,494 km ; unpaved: 26,716 km (2003)
4,600 km ; note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,900 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2007)
total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT ; by type: cargo 1 (2007)


Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force
15 years of age for compulsory military service; minimum 18-month conscript service obligation (2006)
males age 15-49: 1,500,625 ; females age 15-49: 1,521,116 (2005 est.)
males age 15-49: 954,816 ; females age 15-49: 1,006,082 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 73,167 ; females age 15-49: 71,432 (2005 est.)
0.5% (2006)
Laos is one of the world's least developed countries; the Lao People's Armed Forces are small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; there is little political will to allocate sparse funding to the military, and the armed forces' gradual degradation is likely to continue; the massive drug production and trafficking industry centered in the Golden Triangle makes Laos an important narcotics transit country, and armed Wa and Chinese smugglers are active on the Lao-Burma border (2005)
Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on completion of demarcation with Thailand but disputes remain over islands in the Mekong River; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels

estimated opium poppy cultivation in 2005 was 5,600 hectares, about a 45% decrease from 2004; estimated potential opium production in 2005 was 28 metric tons, a significant decrease from 200 metric tons in 2003; unsubstantiated reports of domestic methamphetamine production; growing domestic methamphetamine problem

