Environment - current issues: unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, 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 River forms a large part of the western
boundary with Thailand
People Laos
Population:
6,368,481 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.4% (male 1,324,207/female 1,313,454)
15-64 years: 55.4% (male 1,744,206/female 1,786,139)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 89,451/female 111,024) (2006 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.9 years
male: 18.6 years
female: 19.2 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.39% (2006 est.)
Birth rate:
35.49 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate:
11.55 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)