Compare West Bank (2006) - Laos (2005)

Compare West Bank (2006) z Laos (2005)

	West Bank (2006)	Laos (2005)

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
Age structure	0-14 years: 42.9% (male 541,110/female 515,202) 15-64 years: 53.7% (male 676,427/female 644,347) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 35,440/female 47,966) (2006 est.)	0-14 years: 41.6% (male 1,300,094/female 1,289,227) 15-64 years: 55.2% (male 1,693,494/female 1,737,196) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 88,744/female 108,386) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products	sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
Airports	3 (2006)	44 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)	total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2004 est.)
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.)
Area	total: 5,860 sq km land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967	total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Delaware	slightly larger than Utah
Background	The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provided that Israel would retain responsibility during the transitional period for external and internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were derailed by a second intifada that broke out in September 2000. In April 2003 the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through on their commitments. Longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT died in November 2004 and Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA President in January 2005, bringing hope of a turning point in the conflict. Israel and the PA agreed in February 2005 to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments, focused on security issues, in an effort to move the peace process forward. Progress has been slow because of different interpretations of the verbal agreement by the two sides.	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.
Birth rate	31.67 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	35.99 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $964 million expenditures: $1.34 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA; note - these budget data include Gaza Strip (2004)	revenues: $284.3 million expenditures: $416.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital	-	Vientiane
Climate	temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	-	promulgated 14 August 1991
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank	conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none
Death rate	3.92 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	11.83 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$0; note - includes Gaza Strip (2002)	$2.49 billion (2001)
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
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
Disputes - international	West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region	Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; Laos and Thailand pledge to complete demarcation of boundaries in 2005, while ongoing disputes over squatters and boundary encroachment by Thailand including Mekong River islets persist; in 2004 Cambodian-Laotian boundary commission agrees to re-erect missing markers in two adjoining provinces; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels
Economic aid - recipient	$1.14 billion; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004 est.)	$243 million (2001 est.)
Economy - overview	The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestinian Authority (PA)- has experienced a general decline in economic growth and a degradation in economic conditions made worse since the second intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has been largely the result of the Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in PA areas resulted in the destruction of much capital plant, the disruption of administrative structure, and widespread business closures. Including the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israeli settlements, or in joint industrial zones, have lost their jobs. International aid of $2 billion to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004 prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed some reforms in the government's financial operations. In 2005, high unemployment and limited trade opportunities, due to continued closures both within the West Bank and externally, stymied 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 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. The government has sponsored major improvements in the road system. 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. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to face lower tariffs on their exports; this may help spur growth.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	3.036 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	-	400 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	NA kWh	125 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants	3.56 billion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m	lowest point: Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m
Environment - current issues	adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment	unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most 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, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%	Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%
Exchange rates	new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001)	kips per US dollar - 10,820 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.6 (2001), 7,887.6 (2000)
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 Siphadon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA%
Exports	$270 million f.o.b.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)	NA
Exports - commodities	olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone	garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin
Exports - partners	Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)	Thailand 19.3%, Vietnam 13.4%, France 8%, Germany 5.3%, UK 5% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	1 October - 30 September
Flag description	-	three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.)	agriculture: 49.5% industry: 27.5% services: 23% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	6.2% (2004 est.)	6% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	32 00 N, 35 15 E	18 00 N, 105 00 E
Geography - note	landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2005 est.)	landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand
Highways	-	total: 21,716 km paved: 9,664 km unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)
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)
Imports	$1.952 billion c.i.f.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)	NA
Imports - commodities	food, consumer goods, construction materials	machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods
Imports - partners	Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)	Thailand 60.5%, China 10.3%, Vietnam 7.1%, Singapore 4% (2004)
Independence	-	19 July 1949 (from France)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	9.7% (2001 est.)
Industries	generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers	tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 19.15 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	total: 85.22 deaths/1,000 live births male: 95.04 deaths/1,000 live births female: 75.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	7% (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.)	12.3% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	-	ACCT, APT, 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)
Irrigated land	150 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)	1,640 sq km note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 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)
Labor force	614,000 (April-June 2005)	2.6 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 18.4% industry: 24% services: 57.6% (April-June 2005)	agriculture 80% (1997 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 404 km border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 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: 16.9% permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001)	arable land: 3.8% permanent crops: 0.35% other: 95.85% (2001)
Languages	Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)	Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Legal system	-	based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice
Legislative branch	-	unicameral National Assembly (109 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2002 election) elections: last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.27 years male: 71.5 years female: 75.15 years (2006 est.)	total population: 55.08 years male: 53.07 years female: 57.17 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91.9% male: 96.3% female: 87.4% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 66.4% male: 77.4% female: 55.5% (2002)
Location	Middle East, west of Jordan	Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam
Map references	Middle East	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	none (landlocked)
Merchant marine	-	total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2005)
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
Military expenditures - dollar figure	NA	$10.7 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	0.5% (2004)
National holiday	-	Republic Day, 2 December (1975)
Nationality	noun: NA adjective: NA	noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian
Natural hazards	droughts	floods, droughts
Natural resources	arable land	timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Net migration rate	2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	refined products 540 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	-	Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphadon, party president]; other parties proscribed
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975
Population	2,460,492 note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)	6,217,141 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	46% including Gaza Strip (2004 est.)	40% (2002 est.)
Population growth rate	3.06% (2006 est.)	2.42% (2005 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 0 (2005)	AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998)
Religions	Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%	Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	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: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services in the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services international: country code - 970	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)
Telephones - main lines in use	357,300 (includes Gaza Strip) (2004)	61,900 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	1.095 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)	55,200 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	8 (2005)	4 (1999)
Terrain	mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
Total fertility rate	4.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)	4.77 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	19.9% (includes Gaza Strip) (January-September 2005)	5.7% (1997 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)

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