:Laos People
Population:
4,440,213 (July 1992), growth rate 2.9% (1992)
Birth rate:
44 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
16 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
107 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
49 years male, 52 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Lao(s) or Laotian(s); adjective - Lao or Laotian
Ethnic divisions:
Lao 50%, Phoutheung (Kha) 15%, tribal Thai 20%, Meo, Hmong, Yao, and other
15%
Religions:
Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%
Languages:
Lao (official), French, and English
Literacy:
84% (male 92%, female 76%) age 15 to 45 can read and write (1985 est.)
Labor force:
1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)
Organized labor:
Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to the Communist party
:Laos Government
Long-form name:
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Type:
Communist state
Capital:
Vientiane
Administrative divisions:
16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural) and 1 municipality* (kampheng
nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champasak,
Houaphan, Khammouan, Louang Namtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali,
Saravan, Savannakhet, Sekong, Vientiane, Vientiane*, Xaignabouri,
Xiangkhoang
Independence:
19 July 1949 (from France)
Constitution:
promulgated August 1991
Legal system:
based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
National Day (proclamation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic), 2
December (1975)
Executive branch:
president, chairman and two vice chairmen of the Council of Ministers,
Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
Supreme People's Assembly
Judicial branch:
People's Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 15 August 1991)
Head of Government:
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15 August
1991)
Political parties and leaders:
Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, party chairman;
includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist
Forces; other parties moribund
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
Supreme People's Assembly:
last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote
by party NA; seats - (79 total) number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups:
non-Communist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Member of:
ACCT (associate), AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO,
IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Charge d'Affaires LINTHONG PHETSAVAN; Chancery at 2222 S Street NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417
US:
Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON, Jr.; Embassy at Rue Bartholonie,
Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or AMEMB, Box V, APO AP
96546); telephone (856) 2220, 2357, 2384; FAX (856) 4675
:Laos Government
Flag:
three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a
large white disk centered in the blue band
:Laos Economy
Overview:
One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist centrally
planned economy with government ownership and control of productive
enterprises of any size. In recent years, however, the government has been
decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise. Laos is a
landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure; that is, it has no
railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and internal
telecommunications, and electricity available in only a limited area.
Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation, accounting for over 60% of
GDP and providing about 85-90% of total employment. The predominant crop is
rice. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend for its
survival on foreign aid from the IMF and other international sources; aid
from the former USSR and Eastern Europe has been cut sharply.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $800 million, per capita $200; real growth rate
4% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10.4% (December 1991)
Unemployment rate:
21% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues $83 million; expenditures $188.5 million, including capital
expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)
Exports:
$72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
electricity, wood products, coffee, tin
partners:
Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US, China
Imports:
$238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
commodities:
food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures
partners:
Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam, China
External debt:
$1.1 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 12% (1991 est.); accounts for about 18% of GDP (1991 est.)
Electricity:
226,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing,
construction
Agriculture:
accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the work force; subsistence
farming predominates; normally self-sufficient in nondrought years;
principal crops - rice (80% of cultivated land), sweet potatoes, vegetables,
corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton; livestock - buffaloes, hogs, cattle,
chicken
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the international drug trade,
third-largest opium producer
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $605 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million
Currency:
new kip (plural - kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
:Laos Economy
Exchange rates:
new kips (NK) per US$1 - 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September
1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June