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INTRODUCTION
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, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.
GEOGRAPHY
Location: South-eastern Asia, northeast of
Thailand, west of Vietnam
Geographic coordinates: 18 00 N, 105 00 E
Area: total: 236,800 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 5,083 km
border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand
1754 km, Vietnam 2130 km.
Climate: tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season
(December to April)
Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, and gemstones
Geography - note: landlocked; most of the country is mountainous
and thickly
forested; the Mekong forms a large part of the western boundary
with Thailand.
PEOPLE
Population: 5,635,967 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.75% (male 1 212 577; female 1 196
795)
15-64 years: 53.94% (male 1 494 927; female 1 544 851)
65 years and over: 3.31% (male 85 632; female 101 185) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.48% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 37.84 births/1 000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 53.48 years
male: 51.58 years
female: 55.44 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%,
Lao Soung
(highland) including the Hmong ("Meo") and the Yao (Mien)
9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%.
Religions: Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40%
Languages: Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write.
total population: 57%
male: 70%
female: 44% (1999 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Government type: Communist state
Capital: Vientiane
Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural),
1 municipality*
(kampheng nakhon, singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset,
singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan,
Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan,
Savannakhet, Viangchan*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong,
Xiangkhoang
Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
National holiday: Republic Day, 2 December (1975)
Legal system: based on traditional customs, French legal norms and
procedures, and Socialist practice.
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphandon (since 26 February
1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since NA
March 2001).
head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit
(since NA March 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers THONGLOUN Sisolit
(since NA March 2001), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998).
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president,
approved by the National Assembly.
Elections: president elected by the National
Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 21 December 1997
(next to be held NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president
with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term.
election results: KHAMTAI Siphandon elected president;
percent of National Assembly vote - NA%
ECONOMY
Economy - overview: 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
7% during 1988-97. Reform efforts subsequently slowed, and GDP growth
dropped an average of 3 percentage points. Because Laos depends
heavily on its trade with Thailand, it was damaged by the regional
financial crisis beginning in 1997. Government mismanagement deepened
the crisis, and from June 1997 to June 1999 the Lao kip lost 87%
of its value. Laos' foreign exchange problems peaked in September
1999 when the kip fell from 3,500 kip to the dollar to 9,000 kip
to the dollar in a matter of weeks. Now that the currency has stabilized,
however, the government seems content to let the current situation
persist, despite limited government revenue and foreign exchange
reserves. A landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure,
Laos has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external
and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only
a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of
GDP and provides 80% of total employment. For the foreseeable future
the economy will continue to depend on aid from the IMF and other
international sources; Japan is currently the largest bilateral
aid donor; aid from the former USSR/Eastern Europe has been cut
sharply.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $9 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1 700 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 51%
industry: 22%
services: 27% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 46.1% (1993 est.)
Household income or Consumption
by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2%
highest 10%: 26.4% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 33% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 1 million - 1.5 million
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.7% (1997 est.)
Budget: revenues: $211 million
expenditures: $462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY98/99 est.)
Industries: tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural
processing, construction, garments and tourism.
Industrial production growth rate: 7.5% (1999 est.)
Agriculture - products: sweet potatoes, vegetables,
corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco,
cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry.
Exports: $323 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: wood products, garments, electricity, coffee,
tin
Exports - partners: Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium.
Imports: $540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel.
Imports - partners: Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, Singapore,
Hong Kong.
Debt - external: $2.46 billion (1998 est.)
Currency: kip (LAK)
Currency code: LAK
Exchange rates: kips per US dollar - 7578.00 (December 2000), 7102.03
(1999), 3298.33 (1998), 1259.98 (1997), 921.02 (1996)
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September
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