Laos (2001) | Guatemala (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong, Xiangkhoang | 22 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Progreso, Escuintla, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Peten, Quetzaltenango, Quiche, Retalhuleu, Sacatepequez, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Solola, Suchitepequez, Totonicapan, Zacapa |
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.) |
0-14 years: 40.8% (male 2,641,179/female 2,556,397)
15-64 years: 55.5% (male 3,426,376/female 3,642,157) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 213,801/female 248,201) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry | sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens |
Airports | 51 (2000 est.) | 402 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
43 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
total: 390
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 82 under 914 m: 301 (2007) |
Area | total:
236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
total: 108,890 sq km
land: 108,430 sq km water: 460 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Utah | slightly smaller than Tennessee |
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. | The Mayan civilization flourished in Guatemala and surrounding regions during the first millennium A.D. After almost three centuries as a Spanish colony, Guatemala won its independence in 1821. During the second half of the 20th century, it experienced a variety of military and civilian governments, as well as a 36-year guerrilla war. In 1996, the government signed a peace agreement formally ending the conflict, which had left more than 100,000 people dead and had created, by some estimates, some 1 million refugees. |
Birth rate | 37.84 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 29.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$211 million expenditures: $462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues: $4.301 billion
expenditures: $5.219 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Vientiane | name: Guatemala
geographic coordinates: 14 37 N, 90 31 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in April; ends last Friday in September; note - there is no DST planned for 2007-2009 |
Climate | tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) | tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 400 km |
Constitution | promulgated 14 August 1991 | 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986; note - suspended 25 May 1993 by former President Jorge SERRANO; reinstated 5 June 1993 following ouster of president; amended November 1993 |
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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Guatemala
conventional short form: Guatemala local long form: Republica de Guatemala local short form: Guatemala |
Currency | kip (LAK) | - |
Death rate | 13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.27 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.46 billion (1998 est.) | $5.561 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affairs Karen Brevard STEWART embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, B. P. 114, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585 FAX: [856] (21) 212584 |
chief of mission: Ambassador James M. DERHAM
embassy: 7-01 Avenida Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City mailing address: APO AA 34024 telephone: [502] 2326-4000 FAX: [502] 2326-4654 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador VANG Rattanavong chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Guillermo CASTILLO
chancery: 2220 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 745-4952 FAX: [1] (202) 745-1908 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Providence, San Francisco |
Disputes - international | parts of the border with Thailand are indefinite | annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States |
Economic aid - recipient | $345 million (1999 est.) | $253.6 million (2005 est.) |
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. | Guatemala is the most populous of the Central American countries with a GDP per capita roughly one-half that of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The agricultural sector accounts for about one-fourth of GDP, two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Coffee, sugar, and bananas are the main products, with sugar exports benefiting from increased global demand for ethanol. The 1996 signing of peace accords, which ended 36 years of civil war, removed a major obstacle to foreign investment, and Guatemala since then has pursued important reforms and macroeconomic stabilization. On 1 July 2006, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) entered into force between the US and Guatemala and has since spurred increased investment in the export sector. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with about 56% of the population below the poverty line. Other ongoing challenges include increasing government revenues, negotiating further assistance from international donors, upgrading both government and private financial operations, curtailing drug trafficking and rampant crime, and narrowing the trade deficit. Given Guatemala's large expatriate community in the United States, it is the top remittance recipient in Central America, with inflows serving as a primary source of foreign income equivalent to nearly two-thirds of exports. |
Electricity - consumption | 173.6 million kWh (1999) | 6.361 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 705 million kWh (1999) | 339 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 142 million kWh (1999) | 23 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 792 million kWh (1999) | 7.281 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
2.78% hydro: 97.22% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Volcan Tajumulco 4,211 m |
Environment - current issues | unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; a majority of the population does not have access to potable water | deforestation in the Peten rainforest; soil erosion; water pollution |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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% | Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European 59.4%, K'iche 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9%, Q'eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6%, indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%, other 0.1% (2001 census) |
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) | quetzales per US dollar - 7.6833 (2007), 7.6026 (2006), 7.6339 (2005), 7.9465 (2004), 7.9409 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphandon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since NA March 2001) head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since NA March 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers THONGLOUN Sisolit (since NA March 2001), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 21 December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term election results: KHAMTAI Siphandon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% |
chief of state: President Alvaro COLOM Caballeros (since 14 January 2008); Vice President Rafael ESPADA (since 14 January 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Alvaro COLOM Caballeros (since 14 January 2008); Vice President Rafael ESPADA (since 14 January 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held 9 September 2007; runoff held 4 November 2007 (next to be held September 2011) election results: Alvaro COLOM Caballeros elected president; percent of vote - Alvaro COLOM Caballeros 52.8%, Otto PEREZ Molina 47.2% |
Exports | $323 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 15,560 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Exports - commodities | wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin | coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom |
Exports - partners | Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium | US 44.6%, El Salvador 11.9%, Honduras 7.2%, Mexico 5.2% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band | three equal vertical bands of light blue (hoist side), white, and light blue with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms includes a green and red quetzal (the national bird) and a scroll bearing the inscription LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (the original date of independence from Spain) all superimposed on a pair of crossed rifles and a pair of crossed swords and framed by a wreath |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
51% industry: 22% services: 27% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 13.8%
industry: 27.9% services: 58.3% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 5.6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 00 N, 105 00 E | 15 30 N, 90 15 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | no natural harbors on west coast |
Highways | total:
14,000 km paved: 3,360 km unpaved: 10,640 km (1991) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
4.2% highest 10%: 26.4% (1992) |
lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% (2002) |
Illicit drugs | world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 1999 - 21,800 hectares, a 16% decrease over 1998; estimated potential production in 1999 - 140 metric tons, about the same as in 1998); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis | major transit country for cocaine and heroin; in 2005, cultivated 100 hectares of opium poppy after reemerging as a potential source of opium in 2004; potential production of less than 1 metric ton of pure heroin; marijuana cultivation for mostly domestic consumption; proximity to Mexico makes Guatemala a major staging area for drugs (particularly for cocaine); money laundering is a serious problem; corruption is a major problem |
Imports | $540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 72,960 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel | fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity |
Imports - partners | Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Hong Kong | US 33.2%, Mexico 8.8%, China 6.5%, El Salvador 5.3%, South Korea 4.9% (2006) |
Independence | 19 July 1949 (from France) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.5% (1999 est.) | 5.9% (2007 est.) |
Industries | tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism | sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 92.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 29.77 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 27.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 33% (2000 est.) | 6.6% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,250 sq km (1993 est.)
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.) |
1,300 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee) | Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitutcionalidad is Guatemala's highest court (five judges are elected for concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (13 members serve concurrent five-year terms and elect a president of the Court each year from among their number; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice also supervises trial judges around the country, who are named to five-year terms) |
Labor force | 1 million - 1.5 million | 3.958 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80% (1997 est.) | agriculture: 50%
industry: 15% services: 35% (1999 est.) |
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 |
total: 1,687 km
border countries: Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km, Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km |
Land use | arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 3% forests and woodland: 54% other: 40% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 13.22%
permanent crops: 5.6% other: 81.18% (2005) |
Languages | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages | Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca) |
Legal system | based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and Socialist practice | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (99 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - by presidential decree, on 27 October 1997, the number of seats increased from 85 to 99)
elections: last held 21 December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 99 |
unicameral Congress of the Republic or Congreso de la Republica (158 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 9 September 2007 (next to be held in September 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - UNE 30.4%, GANA 23.4%, PP 18.9%, FRG 9.5%, PU 5.1%, other 12.7%; seats by party - UNE 48, GANA 37, PP 30, FRG 15, PU 8, CASA 5, EG 4, PAN 4, UCN 4, URNG 2, UD 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
53.48 years male: 51.58 years female: 55.44 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 69.69 years
male: 67.94 years female: 71.52 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 57% male: 70% female: 44% (1999 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 69.1% male: 75.4% female: 63.3% (2002 census) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Mexico, and bordering the Gulf of Honduras (Caribbean Sea) between Honduras and Belize |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Lao People's Army (LPA; includes riverine element), Air Force, National Police Department | Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $55 million (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.2% (FY96/97) | 0.4% (2006) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,319,537 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
710,627 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
64,437 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Republic Day, 2 December (1975) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian |
noun: Guatemalan(s)
adjective: Guatemalan |
Natural hazards | floods, droughts, and blight | numerous volcanoes in mountains, with occasional violent earthquakes; Caribbean coast extremely susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical storms |
Natural resources | timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones | petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -2.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 136 km | oil 480 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president]; other parties proscribed | Center of Social Action or CASA [Eduardo SUGER]; Democracy Front or FRENTE [Alfonso CABRERA]; Democratic Union or UD [Manuel CONDE Orellana]; Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENGRO]; Grand National Alliance or GANA [Alfredo VILLA]; Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or URNG [Hector NUILA]; Guatemalan Republican Front or FRG [Efrain RIOS Montt]; National Advancement Party or PAN [Ruben Dario MORALES]; National Unity for Hope or UNE [Alvaro COLOM Caballeros]; Patriot Party or PP [Ret. Gen. Otto PEREZ Molina]; Unionista Party or PU [Fritz GARCIA]; Unity of National Change or UCN [Sidney SHAW] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 | Agrarian Owners Group or UNAGRO; Alliance Against Impunity or AAI; Committee for Campesino Unity or CUC; Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations or CACIF; Mutual Support Group or GAM |
Population | 5,635,967 (July 2001 est.) | 12,728,111 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 46.1% (1993 est.) | 56.2% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.48% (2001 est.) | 2.152% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 130, FM 487, shortwave 15 (2000) |
Radios | 730,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 886 km
narrow gauge: 886 km 0.914-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% | Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs |
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.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.033 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.941 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.861 male(s)/female total population: 0.974 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal; note - active duty members of the armed forces may not vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day |
Telephone system | general assessment:
service to general public is poor but improving, with over 20,000 telephones currently in service and an additional 48,000 expected by 2001; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas domestic: radiotelephone communications international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
general assessment: fairly modern network centered in the city of Guatemala
domestic: state-owned telecommunications company privatized in the late 1990s opening the way for competition; fixed-line teledensity 11 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity approaching 60 per 100 persons international: country code - 502; landing point for both the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the SAM-1 fiber optic submarine cable system that together provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 25,000 (1997) | 1.355 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 4,915 (1997) | 7.179 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (1999) | 26 (plus 27 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus | mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau |
Total fertility rate | 5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.7 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 5.7% (1997 est.) | 3.2% (2005 est.) |
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 |
990 km
note: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season (2007) |