# The World Factbook (1982)/Laos
## LAOSLAOS

* (See reference map IX)

### LANDLAND

236,804 km$^2$; 8% agricultural, 60% forests, 32% urban, waste, and other; except in very limited areas, soil is very poor; most of forested area is not exploitable
Land boundaries: 5,053 km

### PEOPLEPEOPLE

Population: 3,577,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.7%
Nationality: noun—Lao or Laotian (sing.); Laotians (pl.); adjective—Lao or Laotian
Ethnic divisions: 48% Lao; 25% Phoutheung (Kha); 14% Tribal Tai; 13% Meo, Yao, and other
Religion: 50% Buddhist, 50% animist and other
Language: Lao official, French predominant foreign language
Literacy: about 15%
Labor force: about 1-1.5 million; 80%-90% agriculture
Organized labor: only labor organization is subordinate to the Communist Party

### GOVERNMENTGOVERNMENT

Official name: Lao People's Democratic Republic
Type: Communist state
Capital: Vientiane
Political subdivisions: 13 provinces subdivided into districts, cantons, and villages
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 2 December
Branches: President; 40-member Supreme People's Council; Cabinet; Cabinet is totally Communist but Council contains a few nominal neutralists and non-Communists; National Congress of People's Representatives established the current government structure in December 1975
Government leaders: President SOUPHANOUVONG; Prime Minister KAYSON PHOMVIHAN; Deputy Prime ​Ministers NOUHAK PHOUMSAVAN, PHOUMI VONGVICHIT, PHOUN SIPASEUT, KHAMTAI SIPHANDON, and SALI VONGKHAMSAO
Suffrage: universal over age 18
Elections: elections for National Assembly, originally scheduled for 1 April 1976, have not yet been held
Political parties and leaders: Lao People's Revolutionary Party (Communist), party chairman Kayson Phomvihan, includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; third congress of Lao People's Revolutionary Party scheduled for first half of 1982; other parties are moribund
Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups are moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Member of: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IPU, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, SEAMES, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

### ECONOMYECONOMY

GNP: $290 million, $90 per capita (1977 est.)
Agriculture: main crops—rice (overwhelmingly dominant), corn, vegetables, tobacco, coffee, cotton; formerly self-sufficient; food shortages (due in part to distribution deficiencies), including rice
Major industries: tin mining, timber, tobacco, textiles, electric power
Shortages: capital equipment, petroleum, transportation system, trained personnel
Electric power: 141,000 kW capacity (1980); 887 million kWh produced (1980), 253 kWh per capita
Exports: $15 million (f.o.b., 1979 est.); electric power, forest products, tin concentrates; coffee, undeclared exports of opium and tobacco
Imports: $80 million (c.i.f., 1979 est.); rice and other foodstuffs, petroleum products, machinery, transportation equipment
Major trade partners: imports from Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, China, Vietnam; exports to Thailand and Malaysia; trade with Communist countries insignificant; Laos was once a major transit point in world gold trade, value of 1973 gold reexports $55 million
Aid: economic commitments—Western (non-US) countries ODA and OOF (1970-79), $235 million; US (FY70-80), $276 million; military— US assistance $1,119.5 million (1970-75)
Budget: (1979 est.) receipts, $54.7 million; expenditures, $174.2 million; deficit $119.5 million
Monetary conversion rate: US$1=400 kip (since June 1978)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

### COMMUNICATIONSCOMMUNICATIONS

Highways: about 21,300 km total; 1,300 km bituminous or bituminous treated; 5,900 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 14,100 km unimproved earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to mid-September
Inland waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m
Ports (river): 5 major, 4 minor
Airfields: 88 total, 76 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: service to general public considered poor; radio network provides generally erratic service to government users; approx. 10 AM stations; over 2,000 est. telephones; 1 ground satellite station

### DEFENSE FORCESDEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 845,000; 453,000 fit for military service; 40,000 reach military age (18) annually; no conscription age specified
Lao People's Liberation Army (LPLA): the LPLA consists of an army with naval, aviation, and militia elements