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Country profilesLaos

Capital: Vientiane
Currency: Kip (LAK)
Time zone: GMT +7
International dialling code: +856
Driving: Right
Area size: 236,800 km²

At a glance / quick facts

Common Definition: Lao People's Democratic Republic
Language: Lao is the official language. French, English and many minor local languages are also spoken.
Region: Asia-Pacific
Latitude: 18.0000000
Longitude: 105.0000000
Religion: Buddhism 58 percent, traditional religions 34 percent. There are smaller Christian and Muslim communities.
Climate: Tropical; one rainy season between May and September and dry and sunny for the rest of the year
Ethnic Group: Around three-fifths of Laotians descend from the Lao ethnic group. Various groups in the country's mountain regions account for more than one-third of the population, and there are also Chinese and Vietnamese minorities.

Humanitarian profile

Laos is the most bombed country in the world. Between 1963 and 1974, the U.S. military dropped over 2 million tonnes of bombs, which still claim victims today and prevent access to agricultural land. Laos aims to lose its “least developed country” classification by 2020.

Country snapshot

One of the world’s poorest countries, Laos is a one-party communist state in which all dissent is suppressed. Market reforms in the mid-1980s sharply raised economic growth rates, but political interference and pervasive corruption hinder progress.

Government

The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party is the only legal political party. The 115 members of the National Assembly, the single chamber parliament, are elected by popular vote from a list of candidates selected by the LPRP. Voting is compulsory. The president, the head of state, is elected by the National Assembly for a five year term. The prime minister, the head of the government, is nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly for a five year term.

Economy

Agriculture, mostly subsistence rice farming, accounts for about half the economy and employs about 75 percent of the workforce. Tourism has grown rapidly and is the second largest sector. There are substantial deposits of gold, bauxite, tin and copper and the country has great potential as a producer of hydro-electric power thanks to its mountainous terrain and plentiful water resources. The only railway is a very short track into Thailand and roads to many villages are unpaved. In 1986 the LPRP abandoned its centralised control of the economy and began to encourage private enterprise and a more market-oriented approach. Since then, growth rates have risen, averaging 6 percent annually from 1988 to 2008. Domestic savings are low, forcing the country to rely on foreign loans and grants for investment. Donor-funded programmes account for about 10 percent of GDP and over 80 percent of public investment. For example, the government’s initial equity contribution of $83 million to the $1.3 billion Nam Theun II hydro-electric project was largely funded by donors; the rest of the financing was provided by foreign loans and international donors. There are plans to open a stock exchange to attract capital to develop hydro-power and mining projects. Laos joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 and is seeking to join the World Trade Organisation.

History

At the end of the nineteenth century Laos was incorporated into France’s colonial territories in Indochina and during World War II was occupied by Japanese forces. France’s efforts to re-establish itself in Indochina in the late 1940s and early 1950s were focused mainly on fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam. But in 1953 communist Pathet Lao guerrillas, with help from their Vietnamese allies, invaded Laos and set up a government in the north of the country. Laos became fully independent after the French defeat in Vietnam in 1954. Elections were held in 1955 and the first coalition government, led by Prince Souvanna Phouma, was formed in 1957. But it collapsed the following year and fighting resumed between communist forces, supported by North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, and royalist and neutralist forces supported, at times, by the U.S. and China. A cease fire was arranged in 1961 and agreement was reached at a 14-nation conference in Geneva in 1962 that Laos should be a democratic, neutral country from which all foreign military forces would be withdrawn. But fighting broke out again in 1963. Pathet Lao guerrilla activity declined in 1965 when the U.S. began bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a North Vietnamese supply route through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam. In the late 1960s and early 1970s more bombs were probably dropped on Laos and Cambodia than on Europe in World War II. More than a million people were killed. The fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia to communist forces in 1975 hastened the decline of the coalition government in Laos. The Pathet Lao took control of the country in 1975, abolished the monarchy and established a republic. In the mid 1980s the government followed China’s example and abandoned centralised control of the economy, but tight political control was retained and dissent harshly suppressed.

Legal snapshot

The legal system is based on traditional customs, the French legal tradition and communist practices. The People’s Supreme Court is the highest legal entity. The president of the court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the Assembly’s Standing Committee, the vice president and the judges are appointed by the Standing Committee. The courts are corrupt and controlled by the LPRP, says U.S.-funded watchdog Freedom House. Suspects are often illegally detained and prisoners often tortured. Corruption by officials is widespread; government regulation of most aspects of life gives many opportunities for bribery. Laos was ranked 158th in Transparency International’s 180 nation corruption perception index. Freedom of the press is severely restricted. The state owns all media organisations, internet access is restricted and content censored. All land is owned by the state; development projects often lead to public resentment and sometimes violent protests.

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