Laos: Background & Geography

Introduction Laos
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, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.
Geography Laos
Location:
 Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam
Geographic coordinates:
 18 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references:
 Southeast Asia
Area:
 total: 236,800 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km
Area - comparative:
 slightly larger than Utah
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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 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
Natural resources:
 timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Land use:
 arable land: 3.47%
permanent crops: 0.23%
other: 96.3% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 1,640 sq km
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 floods, droughts
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

See Also: