235 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
235 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
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LAOS
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 236,800 km2; land area: 230,800 km2
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Comparative area: slightly larger than Utah
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Land boundaries: 5,083 km total; Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km,
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China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km
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Coastline: none--landlocked
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Maritime claims: none--landlocked
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Disputes: boundary dispute with Thailand
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Climate: tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry
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season (December to April)
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Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
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Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold,
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gemstones
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Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
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pastures 3%; forest and woodland 58%; other 35%; includes irrigated 1%
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Environment: deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods
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Note: landlocked
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PEOPLE
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Population: 4,113,223 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)
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Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 124 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 52 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Lao (sing., Lao or Laotian); adjective--Lao
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or Laotian
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Ethnic divisions: Lao 50%, Phoutheung (Kha) 15%, tribal Thai 20%,
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Meo, Hmong, Yao, and other 15%
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Religion: Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%
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Language: Lao (official), French, and English
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Literacy: 84% (male 92%, female 76%) age 15 to 45 can
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read and write (1985 est.)
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Labor force: 1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)
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Organized labor: Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to
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the Communist party
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Lao People's Democratic Republic
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Type: Communist state
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Capital: Vientiane
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Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and
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plural) and 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural);
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Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louang
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Namtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Saravan, Savannakhet,
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Sekong, Vientiane, Vientiane*, Xaignabouri, Xiangkhoang
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Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
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Constitution: draft constitution under discussion since 1976
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Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted
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compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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National holiday: National Day (proclamation of the Lao People's
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Democratic Republic), 2 December (1975)
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Executive branch: president, chairman and four vice chairmen of the
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Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
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Legislative branch: Supreme People's Assembly
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Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--President KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 15
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August 1991);
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Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers General
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Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15 August 1991)
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Political parties and leaders:
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Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, party
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chairman;
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includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic
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Neutralist Forces;
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other parties moribund
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Suffrage: universal at age 18
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Elections:
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Supreme People's Assembly--last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be
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held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;
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seats--(79 total) number of seats by party NA
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Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups
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moribund; most leaders have fled the country
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Member of: ACCT (associate), AsDB, CP, ESCAP,
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FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
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LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Charge d'Affaires LINTHONG PHETSAVAN;
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Chancery at 2222 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
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telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417;
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US--Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON, Jr.; Embassy at Rue
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Bartholonie, Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or
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Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384
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Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and
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red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
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ECONOMY
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Overview: One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a
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Communist centrally planned economy with government ownership and control
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of productive enterprises of any size. Recently, however, the government
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has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise.
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Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, that is,
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it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and
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internal telecommunications, and electricity available in only a
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limited area. Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation,
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accounting for over 60% of GDP and providing about 85-90% of
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total employment. The predominant crop is rice. For the foreseeable
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future the economy will continue to depend for its survival on foreign
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aid from the IMF and other international sources; foreign aid from the
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USSR and Eastern Europe is being cut sharply.
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GDP: $600 million, per capita $150; real growth rate 5% (1990 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (1990 est.)
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Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)
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Budget: revenues $83 million; expenditures $188.5 million,
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including capital expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)
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Exports: $72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
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commodities--electricity, wood products, coffee, tin;
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partners--Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US
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Imports: $238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
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commodities--food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures;
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partners--Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam
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External debt: $1.1 billion (1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate 8% (1989 est.); accounts
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for about 20% of GDP
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Electricity: 176,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced,
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270 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: tin mining, timber, electric power, agricultural
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processing, construction
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Agriculture: accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the
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work force; subsistence farming predominates; normally self-sufficient
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in non-drought years; principal crops--rice (80% of cultivated land),
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sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton;
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livestock--buffaloes, hogs, cattle, chicken
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Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and opium poppy for the
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international drug trade
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Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276
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million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
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(1970-88), $546 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million
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Currency: new kip (plural--kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
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Exchange rates: new kips (NK) per US$1--695 (April 1991),
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700 (September 1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987), 108 (1986),
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95 (1985)
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Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Highways: about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous
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treated; 7,451 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km
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unimproved earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to
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mid-September
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Inland waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries;
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2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing
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less than 0.5 m
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Pipelines: 136 km, refined products
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Ports: none
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Airports: 65 total, 51 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
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none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
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13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: service to general public considered poor;
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radio network provides generally erratic service to government users;
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7,390 telephones (1986); stations--10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth
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station
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Lao People's Army (LPA; including naval, aviation, and
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militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 991,864; 531,084 fit for
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military service; 45,548 reach military age (18) annually;
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conscription age NA
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Defense expenditures: $NA, 3.8% of GDP (1987)
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