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Compare Laos (2004) - Sudan (2002)

Compare Laos (2004) z Sudan (2002)

 Laos (2004)Sudan (2002)
 LaosSudan
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, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong, Xiangkhoang 26 states (wilayat, singular - wilayah); A'ali an Nil, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrat, Al Jazirah, Al Khartum, Al Qadarif, Al Wahdah, An Nil al Abyad, An Nil al Azraq, Ash Shamaliyah, Bahr al Jabal, Gharb al Istiwa'iyah, Gharb Bahr al Ghazal, Gharb Darfur, Gharb Kurdufan, Janub Darfur, Janub Kurdufan, Junqali, Kassala, Nahr an Nil, Shamal Bahr al Ghazal, Shamal Darfur, Shamal Kurdufan, Sharq al Istiwa'iyah, Sinnar, Warab
Age structure 0-14 years: 41.9% (male 1,277,152; female 1,265,761)


15-64 years: 54.9% (male 1,642,895; female 1,688,175)


65 years and over: 3.2% (male 87,995; female 106,139) (2004 est.)
0-14 years: 44.2% (male 8,385,554; female 8,023,847)


15-64 years: 53.6% (male 9,945,683; female 9,933,383)


65 years and over: 2.2% (male 447,214; female 354,617) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock
Airports 46 (2003 est.) 65 (2001)
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 (2004 est.)
total: 12


over 3,047 m: 1


2,438 to 3,047 m: 8


1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 35


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 13


under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
total: 51 53


1,524 to 2,437 m: 16


914 to 1,523 m: 26


under 914 m: 17 11 (2002)
Area total: 236,800 sq km


land: 230,800 sq km


water: 6,000 sq km
total: 2,505,810 sq km


land: 2.376 million sq km


water: 129,810 sq km
Area - comparative slightly larger than Utah slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Background Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. 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. Military dictatorships favoring an Islamic-oriented government have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years of this period (1972-82). Since 1983, the war and war- and famine-related effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced. The war pits the Arab/Muslim majority in Khartoum against the non-Muslim African rebels in the south. Since 1989, traditional northern Muslim parties have made common cause with the southern rebels and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance.
Birth rate 36.47 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) 37.21 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget revenues: $298.5 million


expenditures: $429.9 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
revenues: $1.6 billion


expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Capital Vientiane Khartoum
Climate tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)
Coastline 0 km (landlocked) 853 km
Constitution promulgated 14 August 1991 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989; new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998 partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR
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 the Sudan


conventional short form: Sudan


local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan


local short form: As-Sudan


former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Currency kip (LAK) Sudanese dinar (SDD)
Death rate 12.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) 9.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external $2.49 billion (2001) $24.9 billion (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia M. HASLACH


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
For security reasons, US officials at the US Embassy in Khartoum were relocated in February 1996 to the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make regular visits to Khartoum; the US Embassy in Khartoum is located on Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue; mailing address - P. O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 09829; telephone - [249] (11) 774611 or 774700; FAX - [249] (11) 774137; the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located in the Interim Office Building on Mombasa Road, Nairobi; mailing address - P. O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831; telephone - [254] (2) 751613; FAX - [254] (2) 743204; the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is located at (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo; mailing address - Unit 64900, APO AE 09839-4900; telephone - [20] (2) 3557371; FAX - [20] (2) 3573200
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
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge D'Affairs, Ad Interim Khidir Haroun AHMED (since April 2001)


chancery: 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 338-8565


FAX: [1] (202) 667-2406
Disputes - international demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam is largely complete, but with Thailand several areas including Mekong River islets remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and Vietnam over squatters; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels Sudan agrees in 2002 to demarcate whole boundary with Ethiopia; Egypt and Sudan each claim to administer triangular areas which extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel (the north "Hala'ib Triangle" is the largest with 20,580 sq km); in 2001, the two states agreed to discuss an "area of integration" and withdraw military forces in the overlapping areas; since colonial times, Kenya's administrative boundary has extended beyond its treaty boundary into Sudan creating the "Ilemi Triangle"
Economic aid - recipient $243 million (2001 est.) $187 million (1997)
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. Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces formidable economic problems. Starting in 1997 Sudan began implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms that have successfully stabilized inflation. In 1999 Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate. Current oil production stands at 220,000 barrels per day, of which some 70% is exported and the rest refined mostly for domestic consumption. Increased oil production, revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones should maintain GDP growth at 5% in 2002. Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 43% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Sudan is also constrained by its limited access to international credit; most of Sudan's $24.9 billion debt remains in arrears. The civil war, chronic instability, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.
Electricity - consumption 824.7 million kWh (2001) 1,832.1 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports 400 million kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - production 1.317 billion kWh (2001) 1.97 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 49%


hydro: 51%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Mekong River 70 m


highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m
lowest point: Red Sea 0 m


highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m
Environment - current issues unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; periodic drought
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
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection


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 and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1% black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Exchange rates kips per US dollar - 10,443 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.58 (2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.02 (1999) Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 261.44 (January 2002), 258.70 (2001), 257.12 (2000), 252.55 (1999), 200.80 (1998), 157.57 (1997)
Executive branch chief of state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphadon (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 Bouasone BOUPHAVANH (since 3 October 2003) Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since 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 in 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%
chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - the National Congress Party or NCP (formerly the National Islamic Front or NIF) dominates BASHIR's cabinet


elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 13-23 December 2000 (next to be held NA 2005)


election results: Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR reelected president; percent of vote - Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 86.5%, Ja'afar Muhammed NUMAYRI 9.6%, three other candidates received less than a combined 4% of the vote; election widely viewed as rigged; all popular opposition parties boycotted elections because of a lack of guarantees for a free and fair poll


note: BASHIR assumed supreme executive power in 1989 and retained it through several transitional governments in the early and mid-90s before being popularly elected for the first time in March 1996
Exports NA (2001) $2.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin oil and petroleum products, cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar
Exports - partners Thailand 20.7%, Vietnam 15.9%, France 7.3%, Germany 5.3%, Belgium 4% (2003) Japan 25%, China 19%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Germany 4%, (2000)
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 horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
GDP purchasing power parity - $10.32 billion (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $49.3 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 49.4%


industry: 24.5%


services: 26.1% (2003 est.)
agriculture: 43%


industry: 17%


services: 40% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $1,360 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 5.5% (2003 est.) 5.5% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates 18 00 N, 105 00 E 15 00 N, 30 00 E
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 largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries
Heliports - 2 (2002)
Highways total: 21,716 km


paved: 9,664 km


unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)
total: 11,900 km


paved: 4,320 km


unpaved: 7,580 km (1996)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 3.2%


highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 2003 - 18,900 hectares, a 19% decrease over 2002; estimated potential production in 2003 - 200 metric tons, a 11% increase from 2002); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis; growing methamphetamine abuse problem -
Imports NA (2001) $1.6 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat
Imports - partners Thailand 59.4%, China 12.8%, Vietnam 10.2% (2003) China 12%, Saudi Arabia 10%, UK 10%, Germany 7% (2000)
Independence 19 July 1949 (from France) 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)
Industrial production growth rate 9.7% (2001 est.) 8.5% (1999 est.)
Industries tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly
Infant mortality rate total: 87.06 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 97.05 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 76.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
67.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 15.3% (2003 est.) 10% (2001 est.)
International organization participation ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 2 (2002)
Irrigated land 1,640 sq km


note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.)
19,500 sq km (1998 est.)
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) Supreme Court; Special Revolutionary Courts
Labor force 2.6 million (2001 est.) 11 million (1996 est.)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 80% (1997 est.) agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 7%, government 13% (1998 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: 7,687 km


border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km
Land use arable land: 3.8%


permanent crops: 0.35%


other: 95.85% (2001)
arable land: 7.03%


permanent crops: 0.08%


other: 92.89% (1998 est.)
Languages Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English


note: program of "Arabization" in process
Legal system based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice based on English common law and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
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 in 2007)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109
unicameral National Assembly (360 seats; 270 popularly elected, 90 elected by supra assembly of interest groups known as National Congress; members serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 13-22 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2004)


election results: NCP 355, others 5


note: on 12 December 1999, BASHIR dismissed the National Assembly during an internal power struggle between the president and the speaker of the National Assembly Hassan al-TURABI
Life expectancy at birth total population: 54.69 years


male: 52.71 years


female: 56.75 years (2004 est.)
total population: 57.33 years


male: 56.22 years


female: 58.5 years (2002 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 66.4%


male: 77.4%


female: 55.5% (2002)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 46.1%


male: 57.7%


female: 34.6% (1995 est.)
Location Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea
Map references Southeast Asia Africa
Maritime claims none (landlocked) contiguous zone: 18 NM


continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation


territorial sea: 12 NM
Merchant marine total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT


by type: cargo 1 (2004 est.)
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,545 GRT/51,195 DWT


ships by type: cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2002 est.)
Military branches Lao People's Army (LPA; including Riverine Force), Air Force Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force Militia
Military expenditures - dollar figure $10.9 million (2003) $581 million (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 0.5% (2003) 2.5% (1999)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 1,456,500 (2004 est.) males age 15-49: 8,739,982 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 783,800 (2004 est.) males age 15-49: 5,380,917 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 68,563 (2004 est.) males: 398,294 (2002 est.)
National holiday Republic Day, 2 December (1975) Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
Nationality noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)


adjective: Lao or Laotian
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)


adjective: Sudanese
Natural hazards floods, droughts dust storms and periodic persistent droughts
Natural resources timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, hydropower
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines refined products 540 km (2004) refined products 815 km
Political parties and leaders Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president]; other parties proscribed the government allows political "associations" under a 1998 law revised in 2000; to obtain government approval parties must accept the constitution and refrain from advocating or using violence against the regime; approved parties include the National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR], Popular National Congress or PNC [Hassan al-TURABI], and over 20 minor, pro-government parties
Political pressure groups and leaders noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 National Congress Party [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR]; Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI]; Umma [Sadiq al-MAHDI]; Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI]; National Democratic Alliance [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI, chairman]; Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army [Dr. John GARANG]
Population 6,068,117 (July 2004 est.) 37,090,298 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line 40% (2002 est.) NA%
Population growth rate 2.44% (2004 est.) 2.73% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors none Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port Sudan, Sawakin
Radio broadcast stations AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998) AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios - 7.55 million (1997)
Railways - total: 5,995 km


narrow gauge: 4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge plantation line


note: the 1.067-m line from Khartoum to Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic; the 0.600-m gauge system serves Sudan's cotton plantations with over 120 collecting stations (2001)
Religions Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%) Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)
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: 0.83 male(s)/female


total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 1.26 male(s)/female


total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 17 years of age; universal, but noncompulsory
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: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)
general assessment: large, well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially


domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations


international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use 61,900 (2002) 400,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular 55,200 (2002) 20,000 (2000)
Television broadcast stations 4 (1999) 3 (1997)
Terrain mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west
Total fertility rate 4.86 children born/woman (2004 est.) 5.22 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate 5.7% (1997 est.) 18.7% (2002 est.)
Waterways 4,600 km


note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)
5,310 km
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