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 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

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

1,750 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

6,834,942 (July 2009 est.)

2.316% (2009 est.)

33.94 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

10.78 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

NA (2009 est.)

4.41 children born/woman (2009 est.)

0.2% (2007 est.)

5,500 (2007 est.)

fewer than 100 (2007 est.)

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

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

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

3% of GDP (2006)

Communist state

16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural) and 1 capital city* (nakhon luang, 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

unicameral National Assembly (115 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 (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

NA

ADB, APT, ARF, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, 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, 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 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. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with an underdeveloped infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. 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 support from Japan and China. Electricity is available in urban areas and in many rural districts. Subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice, accounts for about 40% of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The government depends upon aid from international donors for over 80% of its capital investment. The economy has until recently benefited from high foreign investment in hydropower, mining, and construction. The fiscal crisis of late 2008, and the rapid drop in commodity prices - especially copper - has slowed these investments. Several policy changes since 2004 may help spur growth. Laos, which gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US in 2004, is taking steps to join the World Trade Organization. Related trade policy reforms will improve the business environment. On the fiscal side, a value-added tax (VAT) regime, which began with a few large businesses in early 2009, should slowly help streamline the government's inefficient tax system. Economic prospects will improve gradually as the administration continues to simplify investment procedures and as a more competitive banking sector extends credit to small farmers and small entrepreneurs. The government appears committed to raising the country's profile among investors. Foreign donors have praised the Lao government for its efforts to improve the investment regime. The World Bank has declared that Laos' goal of graduating from the UN Development Program's list of least-developed countries by 2020 could be achievable.

$13.99 billion (2008 est.)

$13.01 billion (2007)

$12.1 billion (2006)

$5.187 billion (2008 est.)

7.5% (2008 est.)

7.5% (2007 est.)

8.3% (2006 est.)

$2,100 (2008 est.)

$2,000 (2007 est.)

$1,900 (2006 est.)

2.1 million (2006 est.)

2.4% (2005 est.)

30.7% (2005 est.)

34.6 (2002)

8.5% (2008 est.)

4.5% (2007 est.)

NA% (31 December 2008)

12.67% (31 December 2007)

NA% (31 December 2008)

28.5% (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$327.9 million (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$717.9 million (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$285.8 million (31 December 2007)

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

copper, tin, gold, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, cement, tourism

11% (2008 est.)

1.639 billion kWh (2006 est.)

1.344 billion kWh (2006 est.)

547 million kWh (2006 est.)

367 million kWh (2006 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

2,996 bbl/day (2006 est.)

0 bbl/day (2005)

3,036 bbl/day (2005)

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (2007 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$-37 million (2008 est.)

$1.033 billion (2008 est.)

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

Thailand 32.7%, Vietnam 14.3%, China 5.9%, South Korea 4.8% (2007)

$1.278 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods

Thailand 68.5%, China 9.3%, Vietnam 5.5% (2007)

$765 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$3.179 billion (2006)

kips (LAK) per US dollar - 8,760.69 (2008 est.), 9,658 (2007), 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004)

94,800 (2007)

1.478 million (2007)

AM 7, FM 14, shortwave 2 (2006)

7 (includes 1 station relaying Vietnam Television from Hanoi) (2006)

.la

1,015 (2008)

100,000 (2007)

42 (2008)

refined products 540 km (2008)

4,600 km

Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF): Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force (2009)

15 years of age for compulsory military service; minimum 18-month conscript service obligation (2006)

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 Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels

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)