Laos 
Facts
Population:
5,635,967 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
42.75% (male 1,212,577; female 1,196,795)
15-64 years:
53.94% (male 1,494,927; female 1,544,851)
65 years and over:
3.31% (male 85,632; female 101,185) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.48% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
37.84 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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:
0.85 male(s)/female
total population:
0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
92.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
53.48 years
male:
51.58 years
female:
55.44 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.05% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
1,400 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
130 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective:
Lao or Laotian
Ethnic groups:
Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong ("Meo") and the Yao (Mien) 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%
Religions:
Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40%
Languages:
Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
57%
male:
70%
female:
44% (1999 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $9 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
51%
industry:
22%
services:
27% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
46.1% (1993 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
4.2%
highest 10%:
26.4% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
33% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
1 million - 1.5 million
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 80% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.7% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$211 million
expenditures:
$462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.)
Industries:
tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
7.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:
792 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
2.78%
hydro:
97.22%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
173.6 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
705 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
142 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
Exports:
$323 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin
Exports - partners:
Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium
Imports:
$540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel
Imports - partners:
Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Hong Kong
Debt - external:
$2.46 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$345 million (1999 est.)
Currency:
kip (LAK)
Currency code:
LAK
Exchange rates:
kips per US dollar - 7,578.00 (December 2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998), 1,259.98 (1997), 921.02 (1996)
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Xat Lao
(Pro-government), Vientiane
Laos in the News
1 2
Displaying 5 to 6 of 6 items.
World Press Review - Though the script has not yet been written, a film currently in production in Thailand is threatening the country's relations with Laos
Thailand’s border troubles have dominated the local press as tensions with Laos grow. Most dramatically, a cross-border raid into southern Laos from Thailand brought fragile relations between the impoverished communist nation and its increasingly democratic, economically revived neighbor to the fore, though recent flare-ups also occurred over other incidents.
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