Laos - MC Grecof

Introduction

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Card:

Background:

In 1975 the communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, an easing of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.

Geography

Location:

Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam

Coordinates:

18° 00' N, 105° 00' E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 236,800 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km

Landesgrenzen:

Gesamtmenge: 5.083 Kilometer

Land boundaries:

total: 5,083 km

Border countries:

Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)

Terrain:

mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Mekong River 70 m
highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m

Geography - note:

Landlocked

People

Population:

5.635.967 (Juliy 2001 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

Government

Country name:

conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
conventional short form: Laos
local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao
local short form: none

Government type:

Communist state

Capital:

Vientiane

Independence:

19 July 1949 (from France)

Flag description:

three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band

Economy

Economy - overview:

The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% during 1988-97. Reform efforts subsequently slowed, and GDP growth dropped an average of 3 percentage points. Because Laos depends heavily on its trade with Thailand, it was damaged by the regional financial crisis beginning in 1997. Government mismanagement deepened the crisis, and from June 1997 to June 1999 the Lao kip lost 87% of its value. Laos' foreign exchange problems peaked in September 1999 when the kip fell from 3,500 kip to the dollar to 9,000 kip to the dollar in a matter of weeks. Now that the currency has stabilized, however, the government seems content to let the current situation persist, despite limited government revenue and foreign exchange reserves. A landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, Laos has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend on aid from the IMF and other international sources; Japan is currently the largest bilateral aid donor; aid from the former USSR/Eastern Europe has been cut sharply.

Agriculture - products:

sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry

Currency:

Kip (LAK)

Currency code:

LAK

Transportation

Railways:

0 km

Highways:

total: 14,000 km
paved: 3,360 km
unpaved: 10,640 km (1991)

Waterways:

4,587 km approximately
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m

Ports and harbors:

None

Coffee

Growing-areas:

alongside the border of Cambodia and Vietnam

Qualities:

mainly Robusta unwashed

Altitude:

abt. 1000 meter

Harvest:

December - February

Shippingperiod:

January - May/June

Port of Export:

via Bangkok

Shipments:

In container in bags (300 of abt 60,- kos net)

Production:

not announced in ICO statistics

Export figures:

not announced in ICO statistics

Special remarks:

belongs to the "underdeveloped countries"