Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th Century under King FA NGUM. For 300 years Lan Xang had influence reaching into present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as over all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the domination 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, limited return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1988. Laos became a member of ASEAN in 1997.

Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam

18 00 N, 105 00 E

Southeast Asia

slightly larger than Utah

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

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

mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus

timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones

3,000 sq km (2003)

333.6 cu km (2003)

floods, droughts

unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water

landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand

Lao 55%, Khmou 11%, Hmong 8%, other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26% (2005 census)

Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages

Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (2005 census)

6,586,266 (July 2012 est.)

1.655% (2012 est.)

25.68 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

7.99 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-1.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

VIENTIANE (capital) 799,000 (2009)

470 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

3.06 children born/woman (2012 est.)

6.5% of GDP (2009)

0.272 physicians/1,000 population (2005)

1.2 beds/1,000 population (2005)

urban: 86% of population

rural: 38% of population

total: 53% of population

urban: 14% of population

rural: 62% of population

total: 47% of population

0.2% (2009 est.)

8,500 (2009 est.)

fewer than 200 (2009 est.)

1.2% (2000)

31.6% (2006)

2.3% of GDP (2008)

Communist state

16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural) and 1 capital city* (nakhon luang, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xekong, Xiangkhouang

19 July 1949 (from France)

Republic Day, 2 December (1975)

promulgated 14 August 1991; amended in 2003

civil law system similar in form to the French system

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly (132 seats; members elected by popular vote from a list of candidates selected by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party to serve five-year terms)

People's Supreme Court, People's Provincial and Municipal Courts, People's District Courts, and Military Courts

Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [CHOUMMALI Saignason]; other parties proscribed

NA

ADB, ARF, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), 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; the red bands recall the blood shed for liberation; the blue band represents the Mekong River and prosperity; the white disk symbolizes the full moon against the Mekong River, but also signifies the unity of the people under the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, as well as the country's bright future

elephant

The government of Laos, one of the few remaining one-party 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 from 1988-2008 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis that began in 1997. Laos' growth exceeded 7% per year during 2008-12. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with an underdeveloped infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. It has a basic, but improving, road system, and limited external and internal land-line telecommunications. Electricity is available in urban areas and in many rural districts. Laos' economy continues to rely on subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice cultivation in lowland areas, which accounts for about 30% of GDP and 75% of total employment. Economic growth has reduced official poverty rates from 46% in 1992 to 26% in 2010. The economy also has benefited from high-profile foreign direct investment in hydropower, copper and gold mining, and construction though some projects have drawn criticism for their environmental impacts. Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US in 2004. On the fiscal side, Laos initiated a VAT tax system in 2010. Simplified investment procedures and expanded bank credits for small farmers and small entrepreneurs will improve Laos' economic prospects. The government appears committed to raising the country's profile among investors, opening the country's first stock exchange in 2011 and participating in regional economic cooperation initiatives. Laos was admitted to the WTO in 2012. The World Bank has declared that Laos' goal of graduating from the UN Development Program's list of least-developed countries by 2020 is achievable.

$19.16 billion (2012 est.)

$17.69 billion (2011 est.)

$16.37 billion (2010 est.)

$9.269 billion (2012 est.)

8.3% (2012 est.)

8% (2011 est.)

8.1% (2010 est.)

$3,000 (2012 est.)

$2,800 (2011 est.)

$2,600 (2010 est.)

3.69 million (2010 est.)

2.5% (2009 est.)

2.4% (2005 est.)

26% (2010 est.)

36.7 (2008)

34.6 (2002)

28.6% of GDP (2012 est.)

22.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

-2.1% of GDP (2012 est.)

48% of GDP (2012 est.)

49.1% of GDP (2011 est.)

4.9% (2012 est.)

7.6% (2011 est.)

4.3% (31 December 2010)

4% (31 December 2009)

22.3% (31 December 2012 est.)

21.9% (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.159 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$967.6 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.556 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$3.155 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.916 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$2.477 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; cassava (manioc), water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

17.7% (2010 est.)

$30.5 million (2012 est.)

$90.2 million (2011 est.)

$2.28 billion (2012 est.)

$2.131 billion (2011 est.)

wood products, coffee, electricity, tin, copper, gold

Thailand 33%, China 23.4%, Vietnam 13.4% (2011)

$2.645 billion (2012 est.)

$2.336 billion (2011 est.)

machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods

Thailand 65.2%, China 11.1%, Vietnam 6.5% (2011)

$821.7 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$773.5 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$5.599 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$5.955 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

kips (LAK) per US dollar -

8,017.7 (2012 est.)

8,035.1 (2011 est.)

8,258.8 (2010 est.)

8,516.04 (2009)

8,760.69 (2008)

1 October - 30 September

1.553 billion kWh (2010 est.)

2.23 billion kWh (2010 est.)

341 million kWh (2010 est.)

999 million kWh (2010 est.)

1.855 million kW (2009 est.)

2.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

97.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

3,391 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2010 est.)

1,918 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

1.189 million Mt (2010 est.)

107,600 (2011)

5.481 million (2011)

3 TV stations operating out of Vientiane - 2 government-operated and the other jointly-owned by the government and a Thai company; 22 provincial stations operating with nearly all programming relayed via satellite from the government-operated stations in Vientiane; relays from Hanoi provide access to a Vietnamese TV station; broadcasts available from stations in Thailand and Vietnam in border areas; multi-channel satellite and cable TV systems provide access to a wide range of foreign stations; state-controlled radio with state-operated Lao National Radio (LNR) broadcasting on 5 frequencies - 1 AM, 2 SW, and 2 FM; LNR's AM and FM programs are relayed via satellite constituting a large part of the programming schedules of the provincial radio stations; Thai radio broadcasts available in border areas and transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are also accessible (2011)

.la

1,532 (2012)

300,000 (2009)

42 (2012)

refined products 540 km (2010)

4,600 km (primarily on the Mekong River and its tributaries; 2,900 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m) (2012)

Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF): Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force (2011)

18 years of age for compulsory military service; minimum 18-month service obligation (2010)

0.5% of GDP (2006)

serving one of the world's least developed countries, the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) is small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; its mission focus is border and internal security, primarily in countering ethnic Hmong insurgent groups; together with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the government, the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the third pillar of state machinery, and as such is expected to suppress political and civil unrest and similar national emergencies, but the LPA also has upgraded skills to respond to avian influenza outbreaks; there is no perceived external threat to the state and the LPA maintains strong ties with the neighboring Vietnamese military (2008)

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 River Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries will affect water levels; Cambodia and Vietnam are concerned about Laos' extensive upstream dam construction

estimated opium poppy cultivation in 2008 was 1,900 hectares, about a 73% increase from 2007; estimated potential opium production in 2008 more than tripled to 17 metric tons; unsubstantiated reports of domestic methamphetamine production; growing domestic methamphetamine problem (2007)