Compare Laos (2006) - Ukraine (2003)

Compare Laos (2006) z Ukraine (2003)

	Laos (2006)	Ukraine (2003)

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 (Vientiane), Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun*, Xekong, Xiangkhoang	24 oblasti (singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtomnaya respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status; Cherkas'ka (Cherkasy), Chernihivs'ka (Chernihiv), Chernivets'ka (Chernivtsi), Dnipropetrovs'ka (Dnipropetrovs'k), Donets'ka (Donets'k), Ivano-Frankivs'ka (Ivano-Frankivs'k), Kharkivs'ka (Kharkiv), Khersons'ka (Kherson), Khmel'nyts'ka (Khmel'nyts'kyy), Kirovohrads'ka (Kirovohrad), Kyyiv, Kyyivs'ka (Kiev), Luhans'ka (Luhans'k), L'vivs'ka (L'viv), Mykolayivs'ka (Mykolayiv), Odes'ka (Odesa), Poltavs'ka (Poltava), Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Rivnens'ka (Rivne), Sevastopol'**, Sums'ka (Sumy), Ternopil's'ka (Ternopil'), Vinnyts'ka (Vinnytsya), Volyns'ka (Luts'k), Zakarpats'ka (Uzhhorod), Zaporiz'ka (Zaporizhzhya), Zhytomyrs'ka (Zhytomyr); note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending "s'ka" or "z'ka," the word Oblast' should be added to the place name note: oblasts have the administrative center name following in parentheses
Age structure	0-14 years: 41.4% (male 1,324,207/female 1,313,454) 15-64 years: 55.4% (male 1,744,206/female 1,786,139) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 89,451/female 111,024) (2006 est.)	0-14 years: 16.3% (male 4,004,948; female 3,832,931) 15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,779,735; female 17,225,103) 65 years and over: 15% (male 2,419,612; female 4,793,110) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products	sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry	grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk
Airports	44 (2006)	790 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2006)	total: 182 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 51 1,524 to 2,437 m: 31 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 81 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 21 (2006)	total: 608 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 36 1,524 to 2,437 m: 50 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 466 (2002)
Area	total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km	total: 603,700 sq km land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Utah	slightly smaller than Texas
Background	Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th Century under King FA NGUM. For three hundred years Lan Xang included large parts of present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came 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 and instituting a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1986. Laos became a member of ASEAN in 1997.	Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kievan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-1920), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although independence was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive, as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.
Birth rate	35.49 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	9.89 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget	revenues: $319.3 million expenditures: $434.6 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)	revenues: $10.2 billion expenditures: $11.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)
Capital	name: Vientiane geographic coordinates: 17 58 N, 102 36 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Kiev (Kyyiv)
Climate	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)	temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	2,782 km
Constitution	promulgated 14 August 1991	adopted 28 June 1996
Country name	conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos PDR or Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukrayina former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency	-	hryvnia (UAH)
Death rate	11.55 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	16.39 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external	$2.49 billion (2001)	$14.2 billion (2002)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia M. HASLACH embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, That Dam Road, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy Vientiane, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] 21-26 7000 FAX: [856] 21-26 7074	chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos E. PASCUAL embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi Street, Kiev 01901 mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 244-7350
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'Affaires Sergiy KORSUNSKYI chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York
Disputes - international	Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on completion of demarcation with Thailand but disputes remain over several areas along Mekong River and Thai squatters; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels	1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal cross-border activities; land delimitation of boundary with Russia is complete, but maritime regime of the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait remains unresolved; difficulties in the Transnistria region of Moldova complicate border crossing and customs, facilitating smuggling, arms transfers, and other illegal activities; has not resolved Romanian claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary despite ongoing talks based on 1997 friendship treaty to find a solution in two years
Economic aid - recipient	$243 million (2001 est.)	$637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)
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 6% in 1988-2004 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, though the government is sponsoring major improvements in the road system with possible support from Japan. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice, accounts for about half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid by the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining. Construction will be another strong economic driver, especially as hydroelectric dam and road projects gain steam. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to face lower tariffs on exports. This new status may help spur growth. In addition, the European Union has agreed to provide $1 million to the Lao Government for technical assistance in preparations for WTO membership. If the avian flu worsens and spreads in the region, however, prospects for tourism could dim.	After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence in December 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence - and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001 as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth of 4.1% in 2002 was more moderate, in part a reflection of faltering growth in the developed world. In general, growth has been undergirded by strong domestic demand, low inflation, and solid consumer and investor confidence. Growth was a sturdy 6% in 2003 despite a loss of mementum in needed economic reforms.
Electricity - consumption	3.298 billion kWh (2003)	152.4 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	435 million kWh (2003)	800 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	230 million kWh (2003)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	3.767 billion kWh (2003)	164.7 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: 48.6% hydro: 7.9% nuclear: 43.5% other: 0% (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m	lowest point: Black Sea 0 m highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 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; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant
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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Ethnic groups	Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%	Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001)
Exchange rates	kips per US dollar - 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.6 (2001)	hryvnia per US dollar - 5.33 (2002), 5.37 (2001), 5.44 (2000), 4.13 (1999), 2.45 (1998)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 8 June 2006) and Vice President BOUN-GNANG Volachit (since 8 June 2006) head of government: Prime Minister BOUASONE Bouphavanh (since 8 June 2006); Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. DOUANGCHAI Phichit [since 8 June 2006], Deputy Prime Minister SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998), and Deputy Prime Minister THONGLOUN Sisolit (since 27 March 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 8 June 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term election results: CHOUMMALI Saignason elected president; BOUN-GNANG Volachit elected vice president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100%; BOUASONE Bouphavanh elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - 97%	chief of state: President Leonid D. KUCHMA (since 19 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 21 November 2002); First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 26 November 2002) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened under President KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Administration that helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president; and a Council of Regions that serves as an advisory body created by President KUCHMA in September 1994 that includes chairmen of the Kiev (Kyyiv) and Sevastopol' municipalities and chairmen of the oblasti elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 31 October and 14 November 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council election results: Leonid D. KUCHMA elected president; percent of vote - Leonid KUCHMA 57.7%, Petro SYMONENKO 38.8%
Exports	NA bbl/day	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin	ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products
Exports - partners	Thailand 29.6%, Vietnam 12%, France 6.1%, Germany 4.6% (2005)	Russia 18.6%, Italy 7.4%, Turkey 5.6%, Germany 4.1%, China 4.1% (2002)
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	two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grainfields under a blue sky
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $218 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 45.5% industry: 28.7% services: 25.8% (2005 est.)	agriculture: 23% industry: 42% services: 35% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $4,500 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	7.3% (2005 est.)	4.8% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	18 00 N, 105 00 E	49 00 N, 32 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	strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe
Highways	-	total: 169,491 km paved: 163,898 km unpaved: 5,593 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)	lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 23.2% (1999)
Illicit drugs	estimated cultivation in 2004 - 10,000 hectares, a 45% decrease from 2003; estimated potential production in 2004 - 49 metric tons, a significant decrease from 200 metric tons in 2003 (2005)	limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; drug-related money laundering a minor, but growing, problem; lax anti-money-laundering regime
Imports	NA bbl/day	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods	energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners	Thailand 66.1%, China 9%, Vietnam 6.7% (2005)	Russia 32.3%, Germany 11.7%, Turkmenistan 7.4%, Poland 6%, Italy 4% (2002)
Independence	19 July 1949 (from France)	24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	13% (2005 est.)	6% (2002 est.)
Industries	copper, tin, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism, cement	coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar)
Infant mortality rate	total: 83.31 deaths/1,000 live births male: 92.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 73.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	total: 20.87 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.2 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	7% (2005 est.)	-1.2% (2002 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)	BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	-	260 (2001)
Irrigated land	1,750 sq km (2003)	24,540 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; Constitutional Court
Labor force	2.8 million (2002 est.)	22.8 million (yearend 1997)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 80% industry and services: 20% (1997 est.)	industry 32%, agriculture 24%, services 44% (1996)
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: 4,663 km border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km
Land use	arable land: 4.01% permanent crops: 0.34% other: 95.65% (2005)	arable land: 57.1% permanent crops: 1.73% other: 41.17% (1998 est.)
Languages	Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages	Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Legal system	based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice	based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly (115 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 30 April 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LPRP 113, independents 2	unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under Ukraine's new election law, 225 of the Supreme Council's seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 4% or more of the national electoral vote; the other 225 members are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies; all serve four-year terms) elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Our Ukraine 24%, CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, United Social Democratic Party 6%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%, other 24%; seats by party - Our Ukraine 102, CPU 60, Regions of Ukraine 42, Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 41, United Social Democratic Party 39, Democratic Initiatives 22, SPU 20, People's Power 19, European Choice 18, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 18, Agrarian Party 17, People's Democratic Party 16, People's Choice 15, others 21 note: following the election, United Ukraine splintered into the Agrarian Party, European Choice, People's Choice, People's Democratic Party, Regions of Ukraine, and Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 55.49 years male: 53.45 years female: 57.61 years (2006 est.)	total population: 66.5 years male: 61.1 years female: 72.17 years (2003 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: 99.7% male: 99.8% female: 99.6% (2003 est.)
Location	Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam	Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia
Map references	Southeast Asia	Asia, Europe
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	continental shelf: 200-m or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Merchant marine	total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2006)	total: 131 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 633,932 GRT/640,743 DWT ships by type: bulk 7, cargo 89, container 5, liquefied gas 2, passenger 14, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 10, railcar carrier 2, short-sea passenger 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cyprus 1, Greece 1, Panama 1, Russia 4, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 (2002 est.)
Military - note	Laos is one of the world's least developed countries; the Lao People's Armed Forces are small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; there is little political will to allocate sparse funding to the military, and the armed forces' gradual degradation is likely to continue; the massive drug production and trafficking industry centered in the Golden Triangle makes Laos an important narcotics transit country, and armed Wa and Chinese smugglers are active on the Lao-Burma border (2005)	-
Military branches	Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force	Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Interior Troops, Border Troops
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$11.04 million (2005 est.)	$617.9 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.4% (2005 est.)	1.4% (FY02)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 12,236,811 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 9,597,172 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - military age	-	18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 389,499 (2003 est.)
National holiday	Republic Day, 2 December (1975)	Independence Day, 24 August (1991); the date of 22 January (1918), the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Nationality	noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian	noun: Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian
Natural hazards	floods, droughts	NA
Natural resources	timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones	iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines	refined products 540 km (2006)	gas 20,069 km; oil 4,435 km; refined products 4,098 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders	Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [CHOUMMALY Sayasone]; other parties proscribed	Agrarian Party [Kateryna VASHCHUK]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Democratic Initiatives [Stepan HAVRYSH]; European Choice [Volodymyr STASYUK]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; People's Choice [Mykola HAPOCHKA]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO, chairman]; People's Power [Bohdan HUBSKYY]; Regions of Ukraine [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; United Social Democratic Party [Leonid KRAVCHUK]; Working Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Ihor SHAROV]; Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO] note: and numerous smaller parties
Political pressure groups and leaders	noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975	NA
Population	6,368,481 (July 2006 est.)	48,055,439 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line	34% (2005 est.)	29% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	2.39% (2006 est.)	-0.69% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Berdyans'k, Feodosiya, Illichivs'k, Izmayil, Kerch, Kherson, Kiev (Kyyiv), Kiliya, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Sevastopol', Yalta, Yuzhnyy
Radio broadcast stations	AM 7, FM 13, shortwave 2 (2006)	AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 22,473 km broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2002)
Religions	Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%)	Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving; 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: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is now rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high rate international: two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project which connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems
Telephones - main lines in use	90,067 (2006)	9.45 million (April 1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular	520,546 (2006)	236,000 (1998)
Television broadcast stations	7; note - including one station relaying Vietnam Television from Hanoi (2006)	at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus	most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south
Total fertility rate	4.68 children born/woman (2006 est.)	1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate	2.4% (2005 est.)	3.8% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (2002)
Waterways	4,600 km note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2005)	4,499 km note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester (Dnister) (1990)

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