Compare Laos (2008) - Tuvalu (2006)

Compare Laos (2008) z Tuvalu (2006)

	Laos (2008)	Tuvalu (2006)

Administrative divisions	16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural) and 1 capital city* (nakhon luang, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xekong, Xiangkhoang	none
Age structure	0-14 years: 41.2% (male 1,349,352/female 1,338,252) 15-64 years: 55.7% (male 1,795,029/female 1,835,168) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 90,188/female 114,009) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 30.2% (male 1,819/female 1,752) 15-64 years: 64.7% (male 3,715/female 3,923) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 228/female 373) (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry	coconuts; fish
Airports	42 (2007)	1 (2006)
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 (2007)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 33 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 23 (2007)	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)
Area	total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km	total: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Utah	0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
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 had influence reaching into present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as over all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the domination 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.	In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.
Birth rate	34.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	22.18 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $470.4 million expenditures: $643.5 million (2007 est.)	revenues: $22.78 million expenditures: $14.23 million; including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 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)	name: Funafuti geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet
Climate	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)	tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	24 km
Constitution	promulgated 14 August 1991	1 October 1978
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: none conventional short form: Tuvalu local long form: none local short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
Death rate	11.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	7.11 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Debt - external	$3.179 billion (2006)	$NA
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Ravic R. HUSO embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, That Dam, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy Vientiane, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] 21-26-7000 FAX: [856] 21-26-7190	the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador PHIANE Philakone chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923	Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534
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 islands in the Mekong River; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels	none
Economic aid - recipient	$379 million (2006 est.)	$13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)
Economy - overview	The government of Laos, one of the few remaining one-party Communist states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 6% per year in 1988-2007 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 underdeveloped infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. 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 support from Japan and China. Electricity is available in urban areas and in most rural districts. Subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice, accounts for about 40% of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from international donors and from foreign investment in hydropower and mining. Construction will be another strong economic driver, especially as hydroelectric dam and road projects gain steam. Several policy changes since 2004 may help spur growth. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to benefit from lower tariffs on exports. Laos is taking steps to join the World Trade Organization in the next few years; the resulting trade policy reforms will improve the business environment. On the fiscal side, a value-added tax (VAT) regime, slated to begin in 2008, should help streamline the government's inefficient tax system.	Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.
Electricity - consumption	1.193 billion kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - exports	728 million kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - imports	326 million kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - production	1.715 billion kWh (2005)	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m
Environment - current issues	unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water	since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution 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%	Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
Exchange rates	kips per US dollar - 9,658 (2007), 10,235 (2006), 10,820 (2005), 10,585.5 (2004), 10,569 (2003)	Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 8 June 2006); Vice President BOUN-GNANG Volachit (since 8 June 2006) head of government: Prime Minister BOUASONE Bouphavanh (since 8 June 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Maj. Gen. DOUANGCHAI Phichit (since 8 June 2006), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998), and THONGLOUN Sisoulit (since 27 March 2001) cabinet: Ministers appointed by president, approved by National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected by National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 8 June 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister nominated by president and elected by National Assembly for 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010) election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004)	$1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	wood products, coffee, electricity, tin, copper, gold	copra, fish
Exports - partners	Thailand 42.1%, Vietnam 9.5%, China 4% (2006)	Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (2005)
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	light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 41.2% industry: 32.5% services: 26.3% (2007 est.)	agriculture: 16.6% NA% industry: 27.2% NA% services: 56.2% NA%
GDP - real growth rate	7% (2007 est.)	1.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	18 00 N, 105 00 E	8 00 S, 178 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	one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 28.5% (2002)	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs	estimated opium poppy cultivation in 2005 was 5,600 hectares, about a 45% decrease from 2004; estimated potential opium production in 2005 was 28 metric tons, a significant decrease from 200 metric tons in 2003; unsubstantiated reports of domestic methamphetamine production; growing domestic methamphetamine problem	-
Imports	2,898 bbl/day (2004)	$9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners	Thailand 68.8%, China 11.3%, Vietnam 5.6% (2006)	Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2005)
Independence	19 July 1949 (from France)	1 October 1978 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate	12% (2007 est.)	NA%
Industries	copper, tin, gold, and gypsum mining; timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism, cement	fishing, tourism, copra
Infant mortality rate	total: 81.44 deaths/1,000 live births male: 90.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 71.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 19.47 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	5% (2007 est.)	3.7% (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ADB, APT, ARF, ASEAN, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)	ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Irrigated land	1,750 sq km (2003)	NA
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)	High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)
Labor force	2.1 million (2006 est.)	3,615 (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 80% industry and services: 20% (2005 est.)	note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)
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	0 km
Land use	arable land: 4.01% permanent crops: 0.34% other: 95.65% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 66.67% other: 33.33% (2005)
Languages	Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages	Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Legal system	based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	NA
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly (115 seats; members elected by popular vote from a list of candidates selected by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party 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 Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 55.89 years male: 53.82 years female: 58.04 years (2007 est.)	total population: 68.32 years male: 66.08 years female: 70.66 years (2006 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 68.7% male: 77% female: 60.9% (2001 est.)	NA
Location	Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam	Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Map references	Southeast Asia	Oceania
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2007)	total: 52 ships (1000 GRT or over) 196,790 GRT/256,436 DWT by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 37, chemical tanker 1, container 2, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 43 (China 23, Hong Kong 8, Kenya 1, Russia 2, Singapore 6, Thailand 1, Turkey 2) (2006)
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 Armed Forces (LPAF): Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force (2008)	no regular military forces; Police Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.5% (2006)	NA
National holiday	Republic Day, 2 December (1975)	Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Nationality	noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian	noun: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan
Natural hazards	floods, droughts	severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level
Natural resources	timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones	fish
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Pipelines	refined products 540 km (2007)	-
Political parties and leaders	Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [CHOUMMALI Saignason]; other parties proscribed	there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings
Political pressure groups and leaders	political parties and groups other than LPRP are proscribed	none
Population	6,521,998 (July 2007 est.)	11,810 (July 2006 est.)
Population below poverty line	30.7% (2005 est.)	NA%
Population growth rate	2.37% (2007 est.)	1.51% (2006 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 7, FM 14, shortwave 2 (2006)	AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)
Religions	Buddhist 65%, animist 32.9%, Christian 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.8% (1995 census)	Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.978 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.791 male(s)/female total population: 0.984 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 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: multiple service providers; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership about 10 per 100 persons international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)	general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
Telephones - main lines in use	90,067 (2006)	700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	638,200 (2006)	0 (2004)
Television broadcast stations	7 (includes 1 station relaying Vietnam Television from Hanoi) (2006)	0 (2004)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Total fertility rate	4.59 children born/woman (2007 est.)	2.98 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	2.4% (2005 est.)	NA%
Waterways	4,600 km note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,900 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2007)	-

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