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Compare Laos (2003) - Southern Ocean (2006)

Compare Laos (2003) z Southern Ocean (2006)

 Laos (2003)Southern Ocean (2006)
 LaosSouthern Ocean
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 -
Age structure 0-14 years: 42.2% (male 1,255,172; female 1,242,823)


15-64 years: 54.6% (male 1,592,697; female 1,639,431)


65 years and over: 3.2% (male 87,192; female 104,230) (2003 est.)
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Agriculture - products sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry -
Airports 51 (2002) -
Airports - with paved runways total: 9


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 5


914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2002)
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Airports - with unpaved runways total: 42


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 15


under 914 m: 26 (2002)
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Area total: 236,800 sq km


land: 230,800 sq km


water: 6,000 sq km
total: 20.327 million sq km


note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative slightly larger than Utah slightly more than twice the size of the US
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. A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government.
Birth rate 36.93 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) -
Budget revenues: $211 million


expenditures: $462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est. est.)
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Capital Vientiane -
Climate tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 17,968 km
Constitution promulgated 14 August 1991 -
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
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Currency kip (LAK) -
Death rate 12.39 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) -
Debt - external $2.53 billion (1999) -
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Douglas A. HARTWICK


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
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Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador PHANTHONG Phommahaxay


chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416


FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923
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Disputes - international demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam is nearing completion, but with Thailand several areas including Mekong River islets remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and Vietnam over squatters Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west
Economic aid - recipient $345 million (1999 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% in 1988-2001 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it 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. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining. Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000.
Electricity - consumption 824.7 million kWh (2001) -
Electricity - exports 400 million kWh (2001) -
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) -
Electricity - production 1.317 billion kWh (2001) -
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 1.4%


hydro: 98.6%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2001)
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Elevation extremes lowest point: Mekong River 70 m


highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench


highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; a majority of the population does not have access to potable water increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish


note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries
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
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)


note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
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% -
Exchange rates kips per US dollar - 7,562 (2002), 8,954.58 (2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.02 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998) -
Executive branch chief of state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphandon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 27 March 2001)


head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since 27 March 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since NA May 2002), Deputy Prime Minister THONGLOUN Sisolit (since 27 March 2001), and Deputy Prime Minister 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 24 February 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); 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%
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Exports NA (2001) -
Exports - commodities wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin -
Exports - partners Vietnam 25.7%, Thailand 19%, France 7.5%, Germany 5.3% (2002) -
Fiscal year 1 October - 30 September -
Flag description three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band -
GDP purchasing power parity - $10.4 billion (2002 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 53%


industry: 23%


services: 24% (2001 est.)
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GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,800 (2002 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 5.7% (2002 est.) -
Geographic coordinates 18 00 N, 105 00 E 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude
Geography - note landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds
Highways total: 21,716 km


paved: 9,664 km


unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 3.2%


highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)
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Illicit drugs world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 2002 - 23,200 hectares, a 5% increase over 2001; estimated potential production in 2002 - 180 metric tons, a 10% decrease from 2001); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis; growing methamphetamine abuse problem -
Imports NA (2001) -
Imports - commodities machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods -
Imports - partners Thailand 58.9%, Vietnam 12.3%, China 7.9% (2002) -
Independence 19 July 1949 (from France) -
Industrial production growth rate 7.5% (1999 est.) -
Industries tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism -
Infant mortality rate total: 88.94 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 99.1 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 78.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) 10% (2002 est.) -
International organization participation ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) -
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 1 (2000) -
Irrigated land 1,640 sq km


note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.)
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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) -
Labor force 2.4 million (1999) -
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 80% (1997 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
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Land use arable land: 3.47%


permanent crops: 0.23%


other: 96.3% (1998 est.)
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Languages Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages -
Legal system based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice -
Legislative branch unicameral National Assembly (109 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2002 election)


elections: last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held NA 2007)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109
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Life expectancy at birth total population: 54.3 years


male: 52.34 years


female: 56.33 years (2003 est.)
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Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 52.8%


male: 67.5%


female: 38.1% (2003 est.)
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Location Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica
Map references Southeast Asia Antarctic Region
Maritime claims none (landlocked) -
Merchant marine total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT


ships by type: cargo 1 (2002 est.)
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Military branches Lao People's Army (LPA; including Riverine Force), Air Force, National Police Department -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $55 million (FY98) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 4.2% (FY96) -
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 1,411,042 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 759,499 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - military age 18 years of age (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 67,260 (2003 est.) -
National holiday Republic Day, 2 December (1975) -
Nationality noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)


adjective: Lao or Laotian
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Natural hazards floods, droughts huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue
Natural resources timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) -
Pipelines refined products 540 km (2003) -
Political parties and leaders Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president]; other parties proscribed -
Political pressure groups and leaders noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 -
Population 5,921,545 (July 2003 est.) -
Population below poverty line 40% (2002 est.) -
Population growth rate 2.45% (2003 est.) -
Ports and harbors none -
Radio broadcast stations AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998) -
Railways 0 km -
Religions Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%) -
Sex ratio at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female


total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
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Suffrage 18 years of age; universal -
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)
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Telephones - main lines in use 25,000 (1997) -
Telephones - mobile cellular 4,915 (1997) -
Television broadcast stations 4 (1999) -
Terrain mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers
Total fertility rate 4.94 children born/woman (2003 est.) -
Transportation - note - Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal
Unemployment rate 5.7% (1997 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
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