1987 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1987 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Climate
tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to October); dry season (February to May)
Comparative area
slightly larger than Utah
Environment
deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods
Land boundaries
5,053 km total
Land use
4% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures; 58% forest and woodland; 35% other; includes 1% irrigated
Special notes
landlocked
Terrain
mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
Total area
236,800 km?: land area: 230,800 km?
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
48% Lao; 25% Phoutheung (Kha); 14% Tribal Tai; 13% Meo, Yao, and other
Infant mortality rate
159/1,000 (1983)
Labor force
about I-1.5 million; 80-90% agriculture
Language
Lao (official), French, and English
Life expectancy
men 42, women 45
Literacy
85%
Nationality
noun—Lao (sing., Lao or Laotian); adjective—Lao or Laotian
Organized labor
only labor organization is subordinate to the Communist Party
Population
3,765,887 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.17%
Religion
50% Buddhist, 50% animist and other
Government
Administrative divisions
16 provinces subdivided into districts, cantons, and villages
Branches
President; 37-member Supreme People’s Council; Cabinet; Cabinet is totally Communist but Council contains a few nominal neutralists and non-Communists; National Congress of People’s Representatives established the current government structure in December
Elections
elections for National Assembly, originally scheduled for I April 1976, have not yet been held Political parties and leaders: Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (Communist), Kaysone Phomvihan, party chairman; includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; other parties moribund
Government leaders
PHOUMI VONGVICHIT, Acting President (since October 1986); KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, Chairman (since December 1975)
Legal system
based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Member of
ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
2 December
Official name
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Other political or pressure groups
nonCommunist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
Communist state Capital; Vientiane
Economy
Agriculture
rice (overwhelmingly dominant), corn, vegetables, tobacco, coffee, cotton; formerly self-sufficient; food shortages (due in part to distribution deficiencies) include rice; an illegal producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade
Aid
Western (non-US) countries ODA and OOF (1970-84), $409 million; US (FY7079), $276 million
Budget
receipts, $100 million; expenditures, $19] million; deficit, $91 million (1979 est.)
Electric power
175,000 kW capacity; 900 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$36 million (f.0.b., 1984 est.); electric power, forest products, tin concentrates; coffee, undeclared exports of opium and tobacco
Fiscal year
] July-30 June
GNP
$765 million, $220 per capita (1984 est.)
Imports
$98 million (c.i.f., 1984 est.); rice and other foodstuffs, petroleum products, machinery, transportation equipment
Major industries
tin mining, timber, green coffee, electric power
Major trade partners
imports—Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam; exports— Thailand, Malaysia
Monetary conversion rate
official—10 kips=US$]; commercial—35 kips=US$1, inward remittances—108 kips=US$1 (December 1985)
Natural resources
tin, timber, gypsum, hydroelectric power
Shortages
capital equipment, petroleum, transportation system, trained personnel
Communications
Airfields
64 total, 49 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 11 with runways 1,220-2,4389 m
Highways
about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous treated; 7,451 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km unimproved earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to mid-September
Inland waterways
about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m
Pipelines
136 km, refined products
Ports (river)
5 major, 4 minor
Telecommunications
service to general public considered poor; radio network provides generally erratic service to government users; about 10 AM stations; 1 TV station; over 5,000 telephones; 1 satellite ground station
Military and Security
Branches
Lao People’s Army (LPA, which consists of an army with naval, aviation, and militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department
Military manpower
males 15-49, 900,000; 482,000 fit for military service; 41,000 reach military age (18) annually; no conscription age specified