Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand
People Laos
Population: 5,777,180 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.5% (male 1,233,659; female 1,219,872) 15-64 years: 54.2% (male 1,543,246; female 1,591,419) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 86,375; female 102,609) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.47% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 37.39 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 12.71 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.)