| Basic Facts |
| Official name |
Lao People’s
Democratic Republic |
| |
| Capital |
Vientiane |
| |
| Area |
236,800 sq km |
| |
91,430 sq mi |
| |
| |
| |
| People |
| Population |
5,777,180 (2002
estimate) |
| |
| Population growth |
| Population growth rate |
2.47 percent (2002
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Projected population in 2025 |
9,447,703 (2000
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Projected population in 2050 |
13,170,523 (2000
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Population density |
24 persons per sq
km (2002 estimate) |
| |
63 persons per sq
mi (2002 estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Urban/rural
distribution |
| Share urban |
23 percent (2000
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Share rural |
77 percent (2000
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Largest cities, with
population |
| Vientiane |
528,109 (1995) |
| |
| |
| Savannakhét |
97,000 (1995
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Louangphrabang |
68,000 (1995
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Pakxé |
47,000 (1995
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Ethnic groups |
| Lao Lum (lowland Lao),
including Lao and Tai |
66 percent |
| |
| |
| Lao Thoeng (Lao of the
mountain slopes), including Khamu, Lamet, Laven, Sedang, and Nyaheun |
24 percent |
| |
| |
| Lao Sung (Lao of the
mountaintops), including Hmong and Yao (Mien) |
10 percent |
| |
| |
| |
| Languages |
| Lao (official), numerous
indigenous languages and dialects, French, English |
| |
| |
| Religious
affiliations |
| Buddhist |
60 percent |
| |
| |
| Animist, Christian, Muslim |
40 percent |
| |
| |
| |
| Health and Education |
| Life expectancy |
| Total |
53.9 years (2002
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Female |
55.9 years (2002
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Male |
52 years (2002
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Infant mortality rate |
91 deaths per
1,000 live births (2002 estimate) |
| |
| Population per physician |
5,393 people
(1999) |
| |
| Population per hospital bed |
389 people (1990) |
| |
| Literacy rate |
| Total |
71.9 percent (2001
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Female |
60.3 percent (2001
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Male |
83.3 percent (2001
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Education expenditure as a share
of gross national product (GNP) |
2.5 percent (1998) |
| |
| Number of years of compulsory
schooling |
5 years (1998) |
| |
| Number of students per teacher,
primary school |
31 students per
teacher (1998) |
| |
| Government |
| Form of government |
Communist state |
| |
| Voting qualifications |
Universal at age
18 |
| |
| Constitution |
14 August 1991 |
| |
| Armed forces |
| Total number of military
personnel |
29,100 (2001) |
| |
| |
| Military expenditures as a
share of gross domestic product (GDP) |
1.1 percent (2000) |
| |
| |
| |
| Economy |
| Gross domestic product (GDP, in
U.S.$) |
$1.7 billion
(2000) |
| |
| GDP per capita (U.S.$) |
$320 (2000) |
| |
| GDP by economic
sector |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing |
52.9 percent
(2000) |
| |
| |
| Industry |
22.8 percent
(2000) |
| |
| |
| Services |
24.3 percent
(2000) |
| |
| |
| |
| Employment |
| Number of workers |
2,512,276 (2000) |
| |
| |
| Workforce share of
economic sector |
| Agriculture, forestry,
fishing |
78 percent (1990) |
| |
| |
| Industry |
6 percent (1990) |
| |
| |
| Services |
16 percent (1990) |
| |
| |
| |
| Unemployment rate |
Not available |
| |
| |
| |
| National budget
(U.S.$) |
| Total revenue |
Not available |
| |
| |
| Total expenditure |
Not available |
| |
| |
| |
| Monetary unit |
| 1 new kip (NK), or Ngeun Kip Mai,
consisting of 100 at |
| |
| |
| Major trade partners
for exports |
| Vietnam, Thailand, France, United
Kingdom, Germany |
| |
| |
| Major trade partners
for imports |
| Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam,
Singapore, Hong Kong S.A.R. |
| |
| |
| Energy, Communications, and
Transportation |
| Electricity
production |
| Electricity from thermal
sources |
2.78 percent (1999
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Electricity from hydroelectric
sources |
97.22 percent
(1999 estimate) |
| |
| |
| Electricity from nuclear
sources |
0 percent (1999
estimate) |
| |
| |
| Electricity from geothermal,
solar, and wind sources |
0 percent (1999
estimate) |
| |
| |
| |
| Number of radios per 1,000 people |
145 (1997) |
| |
| Number of telephones per 1,000
people |
8 (2000) |
| |
| Number of televisions per 1,000
people |
10 (1997 estimate) |
| |
| Number of Internet hosts per
10,000 people |
0 (2000) |
| |
| Daily newspaper circulation per
1,000 people |
4 (1996) |
| |
| Number of motor vehicles per
1,000 people |
4.4 (1997) |
| |
| Paved road as a share of total
roads |
14 percent (1998) |
| |
| Sources |
| Basic Facts and
People sections |
| Area data are from the
statistical bureaus of individual countries. Population, population
growth rate, and population projections are from the United States
Census Bureau, International Programs Center, International Data
Base (IDB) (www.census.gov). Urban and rural population data are
from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations (UN), FAOSTAT database (www.fao.org). Largest cities
population data and political divisions data are from the
statistical bureaus of individual countries. Ethnic divisions and
religion data are largely from the latest Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) World Factbook and from various country censuses
and reports. Language data are largely from the Ethnologue,
Languages of the World, Summer Institute of Linguistics
International (www.sil.org). |
| |
| |
| Health and Education
section |
| Life expectancy and infant
mortality data are from the United States Census Bureau,
International Programs Center, International database (IDB) (www.census.gov).
Population per physician and population per hospital bed data are
from the World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int). Education
data are from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). |
| |
| |
| Government section |
| Government, independence,
legislature, constitution, highest court, and voting qualifications
data are largely from various government Web sites, the latest
Europa World Yearbook, and the latest Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) World Factbook. The armed forces data is from
Military Balance. |
| |
| |
| Economy section |
| Gross domestic product (GDP), GDP
per capita, GDP by economic sectors, employment, and national budget
data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org). Monetary
unit, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, exports, imports, and
major trade partner information is from the latest Europa World
Yearbook and various International Monetary Fund (IMF)
publications. |
| |
| |
| Energy,
Communication, and Transportation section |
| Electricity information is from
the Energy Information Administration (EIA) database (www.eia.doe.gov).
Radio, telephone, television, and newspaper information is from the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). Internet hosts, motor vehicles,
and road data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org).
|
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| Note |
| Figures may not total 100 percent
due to rounding. |
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General Knowledge :: Laos Facts and Figures