Panama (2008) | Laos (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 territory* (comarca); Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama, San Blas*(Kuna Yala), and Veraguas | 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: 30% (male 496,195/female 476,508)
15-64 years: 63.6% (male 1,044,139/female 1,016,805) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 97,365/female 111,161) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
42.75% (male 1,212,577; female 1,196,795) 15-64 years: 53.94% (male 1,494,927; female 1,544,851) 65 years and over: 3.31% (male 85,632; female 101,185) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; livestock; shrimp | sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry |
Airports | 116 (2007) | 51 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 54
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 29 (2007) |
total:
8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 62
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 50 (2007) |
total:
43 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 78,200 sq km
land: 75,990 sq km water: 2,210 sq km |
total:
236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly larger than Utah |
Background | Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador - named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia. With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of the century. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the subsequent decades. With US help, dictator Manuel NORIEGA was deposed in 1989. The entire Panama Canal, the area supporting the Canal, and remaining US military bases were transferred to Panama by the end of 1999. In October 2006, Panamanians approved an ambitious plan to expand the Canal. The project, which is to begin in 2007 and could double the Canal's capacity, is expected to be completed in 2014-15. | In 1975 the communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, an easing of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997. |
Birth rate | 21.45 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 37.84 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $5.206 billion
expenditures: $5.089 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues:
$211 million expenditures: $462 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
Capital | name: Panama
geographic coordinates: 8 58 N, 79 32 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Vientiane |
Climate | tropical maritime; hot, humid, cloudy; prolonged rainy season (May to January), short dry season (January to May) | tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) |
Coastline | 2,490 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 11 October 1972; major reforms adopted 1978, 1983, 1994, and 2004 | promulgated 14 August 1991 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Panama
conventional short form: Panama local long form: Republica de Panama local short form: Panama |
conventional long form:
Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none |
Currency | - | kip (LAK) |
Death rate | 5.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 13.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $10.56 billion (31 December 2007 est.) | $2.46 billion (1998 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador William A. EATON
embassy: Edificio 783, Avenida Demetrio Basilio Lakas Panama, Apartado Postal 0816-02561, Zona 5, Panama City 5 mailing address: American Embassy Panama, Unit 0945, APO AA 34002 telephone: [507] 207-7000 FAX: [507] 227-1964 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affairs Karen Brevard STEWART embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, B. P. 114, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585 FAX: [856] (21) 212584 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Federico HUMBERT Arias
chancery: 2862 McGill Terrace NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-1407 FAX: [1] (202) 483-8416 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa |
chief of mission:
Ambassador VANG Rattanavong chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
Disputes - international | organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia operate within the remote border region with Panama | parts of the border with Thailand are indefinite |
Economic aid - recipient | $19.54 million (2005) | $345 million (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | Panama's dollarized economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for three-fourths of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal, banking, the Colon Free Zone, insurance, container ports, flagship registry, and tourism. Economic growth will be bolstered by the Panama Canal expansion project that began in 2007 and should be completed by 2014 at a cost of $5.3 billion (about 30% of current GDP). The expansion project will more than double the Canal's capacity, enabling it to accommodate ships that are now too large to transverse the transoceanic crossway and should help to reduce the high unemployment rate. The government has implemented tax reforms, as well as social security reforms, and backs regional trade agreements and development of tourism. Not a CAFTA signatory, Panama in December 2006 independently negotiated a free trade agreement with the US, which, when implemented, will help promote the country's economic growth. | The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% during 1988-97. Reform efforts subsequently slowed, and GDP growth dropped an average of 3 percentage points. Because Laos depends heavily on its trade with Thailand, it was damaged by the regional financial crisis beginning in 1997. Government mismanagement deepened the crisis, and from June 1997 to June 1999 the Lao kip lost 87% of its value. Laos' foreign exchange problems peaked in September 1999 when the kip fell from 3,500 kip to the dollar to 9,000 kip to the dollar in a matter of weeks. Now that the currency has stabilized, however, the government seems content to let the current situation persist, despite limited government revenue and foreign exchange reserves. A landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, Laos has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. For the foreseeable future the economy will continue to depend on aid from the IMF and other international sources; Japan is currently the largest bilateral aid donor; aid from the former USSR/Eastern Europe has been cut sharply. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.735 billion kWh (2005) | 173.6 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 51 million kWh (2005) | 705 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 55 million kWh (2005) | 142 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 5.661 billion kWh (2005) | 792 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
2.78% hydro: 97.22% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Volcan Baru 3,475 m |
lowest point:
Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution from agricultural runoff threatens fishery resources; deforestation of tropical rain forest; land degradation and soil erosion threatens siltation of Panama Canal; air pollution in urban areas; mining threatens natural resources | unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; a majority of the population does not have access to potable water |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
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 |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 70%, Amerindian and mixed (West Indian) 14%, white 10%, Amerindian 6% | 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 | balboas per US dollar - 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003) | kips per US dollar - 7,578.00 (December 2000), 7,102.03 (1999), 3,298.33 (1998), 1,259.98 (1997), 921.02 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino (since 1 September 2004); First Vice President Samuel LEWIS Navarro (since 1 September 2004); Second Vice President Ruben AROSEMENA Valdes (since 1 September 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino (since 1 September 2004); First Vice President Samuel LEWIS Navarro (since 1 September 2004); Second Vice President Ruben AROSEMENA Valdes (since 1 September 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms (eligible for two more terms); election last held 2 May 2004 (next to be held on 3 May 2009); note - beginning in 2009, Panama will have only one vice president. election results: Martin TORRIJOS Espino elected president; percent of vote - Martin TORRIJOS Espino 47.5%, Guillermo ENDARA Galimany 30.6%, Jose Miguel ALEMAN 17%, Ricardo MARTINELLI 4.9% note: government coalition - PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party), PP (Popular Party) |
chief of state:
President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphandon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since NA March 2001) head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since NA March 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers THONGLOUN Sisolit (since NA March 2001), SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 21 December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term election results: KHAMTAI Siphandon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | 4,140 bbl/day (2004) | $323 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee, clothing | wood products, garments, electricity, coffee, tin |
Exports - partners | US 39.8%, Spain 8.1%, Netherlands 6.7%, Sweden 5.6%, Costa Rica 4.5% (2006) | Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, France, Belgium |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 October - 30 September |
Flag description | divided into four, equal rectangles; the top quadrants are white (hoist side) with a blue five-pointed star in the center and plain red; the bottom quadrants are plain blue (hoist side) and white with a red five-pointed star in the center | 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 - $9 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.8%
industry: 16.2% services: 77% (2007 est.) |
agriculture:
51% industry: 22% services: 27% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.8% (2007 est.) | 4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 9 00 N, 80 00 W | 18 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming land bridge connecting North and South America; controls Panama Canal that links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with North Pacific Ocean | landlocked |
Heliports | 2 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total:
14,000 km paved: 3,360 km unpaved: 10,640 km (1991) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 43% (2003) |
lowest 10%:
4.2% highest 10%: 26.4% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | major cocaine transshipment point and primary money-laundering center for narcotics revenue; money-laundering activity is especially heavy in the Colon Free Zone; offshore financial center; negligible signs of coca cultivation; monitoring of financial transactions is improving; official corruption remains a major problem | world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 1999 - 21,800 hectares, a 16% decrease over 1998; estimated potential production in 1999 - 140 metric tons, about the same as in 1998); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis |
Imports | 92,170 bbl/day (2004) | $540 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals | machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel |
Imports - partners | US 27%, Netherlands Antilles 10.1%, Costa Rica 5.1%, Japan 4.7% (2006) | Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Hong Kong |
Independence | 3 November 1903 (from Colombia; became independent from Spain 28 November 1821) | 19 July 1949 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.8% (2007 est.) | 7.5% (1999 est.) |
Industries | construction, brewing, cement and other construction materials, sugar milling | tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 15.96 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.33 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
92.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.1% (2007 est.) | 33% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CAN (observer), CSN (observer), FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 430 sq km (2003) | 1,250 sq km (1993 est.)
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (nine judges appointed for 10-year terms); five superior courts; three courts of appeal | 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 | 1.471 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2007 est.) |
1 million - 1.5 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 15%
industry: 18% services: 67% (2006 est.) |
agriculture 80% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 555 km
border countries: Colombia 225 km, Costa Rica 330 km |
total:
5,083 km border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km |
Land use | arable land: 7.26%
permanent crops: 1.95% other: 90.79% (2005) |
arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 3% forests and woodland: 54% other: 40% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages |
Legal system | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Justice; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations | based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and Socialist practice |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (78 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - in 2009, the number of seats will change to 71
elections: last held 2 May 2004 (next to be held 3 May 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 41, PA 17, PS 9, MOLIRENA 4, CD 3, PLN 3, PP 1 note: legislators from outlying rural districts are chosen on a plurality basis while districts located in more populous towns and cities elect multiple legislators by means of a proportion-based formula |
unicameral National Assembly (99 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - by presidential decree, on 27 October 1997, the number of seats increased from 85 to 99)
elections: last held 21 December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 99 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.69 years female: 77.8 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
53.48 years male: 51.58 years female: 55.44 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9% male: 92.5% female: 91.2% (2000 census) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 57% male: 70% female: 44% (1999 est.) |
Location | Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm or edge of continental margin |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 5,764 ships (1000 GRT or over) 159,649,801 GRT/240,190,316 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 1,940, cargo 1,034, carrier 3, chemical tanker 507, combination ore/oil 6, container 710, liquefied gas 191, livestock carrier 7, passenger 46, passenger/cargo 72, petroleum tanker 522, refrigerated cargo 288, roll on/roll off 129, specialized tanker 22, vehicle carrier 285 foreign-owned: 4,949 (Albania 1, Argentina 8, Australia 4, Bahamas 2, Bangladesh 1, Belgium 11, Bulgaria 1, Canada 17, Chile 8, China 473, Colombia 4, Croatia 6, Cuba 11, Cyprus 15, Denmark 32, Dominican Republic 1, Ecuador 2, Egypt 13, Estonia 3, France 15, Gabon 1, Germany 38, Greece 505, Hong Kong 137, India 25, Indonesia 37, Iran 4, Ireland 1, Israel 2, Italy 10, Jamaica 1, Japan 2,151, Jordan 11, South Korea 316, Kuwait 1, Latvia 5, Lebanon 3, Lithuania 5, Malaysia 14, Maldives 1, Malta 2, Mexico 4, Monaco 11, Netherlands 14, Nigeria 6, Norway 60, Oman 1, Pakistan 5, Peru 15, Philippines 12, Poland 15, Portugal 9, Qatar 1, Romania 8, Russia 9, Saudi Arabia 14, Singapore 83, Spain 61, Sri Lanka 3, Sweden 9, Switzerland 26, Syria 24, Taiwan 306, Thailand 10, Turkey 53, Turks and Caicos Islands 1, Ukraine 8, UAE 108, UK 35, US 115, Venezuela 10, Vietnam 10, Yemen 5) registered in other countries: 1 (Venezuela 1) (2007) |
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,370 GRT/3,000 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | on 10 February 1990, the government of then President ENDARA abolished Panama's military and reformed the security apparatus by creating the Panamanian Public Forces; in October 1994, Panama's Legislative Assembly approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the creation of a standing military force, but allowing the temporary establishment of special police units to counter acts of "external aggression" | - |
Military branches | an amendment to the Constitution abolished the armed forces, but there are security forces (Panamanian Public Forces or PPF includes the Panamanian National Police, National Maritime Service, and National Air Service) | Lao People's Army (LPA; includes riverine element), Air Force, National Police Department |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $55 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (2006) | 4.2% (FY96/97) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
1,319,537 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
710,627 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
64,437 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 3 November (1903) | Republic Day, 2 December (1975) |
Nationality | noun: Panamanian(s)
adjective: Panamanian |
noun:
Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian |
Natural hazards | occasional severe storms and forest fires in the Darien area | floods, droughts, and blight |
Natural resources | copper, mahogany forests, shrimp, hydropower | timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones |
Net migration rate | -0.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 136 km |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Change or CD [Ricardo MARTINELLI]; Democratic Revolutionary Party or PRD [Hugo GUIRAUD]; Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement or MOLIRENA [Gisela CHUNG]; Panamenista Party or PA [Juan Carlos VARELA] (formerly the Arnulfista Party); Patriotic Union Party or PU (combination of the Liberal National Party or PLN and the Solidarity Party or PS)[Jose Raul MULINO and Anibal GALINDO]; Popular Party or PP [Rene ORILLAC] (formerly Christian Democratic Party or PDC) | Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president]; other parties proscribed |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Chamber of Commerce; National Civic Crusade; National Council of Organized Workers or CONATO; National Council of Private Enterprise or CONEP; National Union of Construction and Similar Workers (SUNTRACS); Panamanian Association of Business Executives or APEDE; Panamanian Industrialists Society or SIP; Workers Confederation of the Republic of Panama or CTRP | noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 |
Population | 3,242,173 (July 2007 est.) | 5,635,967 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% (1999 est.) | 46.1% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.564% (2007 est.) | 2.48% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 101, FM 134, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | - | 730,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 355 km
standard gauge: 77 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 278 km 0.914-m gauge (2006) |
0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 15% | Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.027 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.876 male(s)/female total population: 1.021 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: domestic and international facilities well developed
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone density is approaching 70 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 507; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1), the MAYA-1, and PAN-AM submarine cable systems that together provide links to the US, and parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to the Central American Microwave 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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 432,900 (2006) | 25,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.694 million (2005) | 4,915 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 38 (including repeaters) (1998) | 4 (1999) |
Terrain | interior mostly steep, rugged mountains and dissected, upland plains; coastal areas largely plains and rolling hills | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus |
Total fertility rate | 2.66 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 5.12 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.2% (2007 est.) | 5.7% (1997 est.) |
Waterways | 800 km (includes 82 km Panama Canal) (2007) | 4,587 km approximately
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m |