Country Guide • Laos

Flag of Laos

Laos was a former French Indochinese state, but is the least developed of the three. It is a landlocked country located on the Indo-Chinese Peninsula of South East Asia. It is bound by Vietnam to the east, Myanmar (Burma) and China to the north and north east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west.

Official NameLao People's Democratic Republic
Area236,800km² (91,429mile²)
Population5,920,000
ContinentAsia
Population per mile²65
Capital CityVientiane
ReligionsThe Lao Lum and Lao Thai are mostly Buddhists, (60%), while the Lao Theung are Animists and the Lao Soung are a mixture of Animists, Christians and Confucianists, (40%)
LanguageLao and Lao dialects (closely related to Thai), French and English
GovernmentSocialist republic
CurrencyNew Kip
GDP$9.9 billion
GDP per Head$1,700
Natural ResourcesTimber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Land UseArable Land 3.5%
AgricultureSweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton; tea, peanuts, rice; water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry
IndustryRice, tobacco, coffee, tin mining, timber, and opium
TourismLaos is the least developed and most enigmatic of the three former French Indochinese states
Natural HazardsDroughts and Floods
Health RisksCholera, dengue fever, hepatitis, Japanese encephalitis, malaria, rabies, typhoid and HIV/AIDS
ClimateLaos has a tropical climate and two seasons. A wet season during the SW Monsoon which occurs between May - October and a dry season during the NE Monsoon from November - April. Rainfall is at its heaviest in July and August with average annual rainfall ranging from 50 - 90 inches) Average temperature ranges in Vientiane are from 14 to 34°C throughout the year
TimeGMT/UTC+7 hours
National DaysDecember 2
VisasTourist visas may be obtained at the Vientiane and Luang Prabang international airports and the Thai Laos Friendship Bridge on arrival on payment of 30 American Dollars cash and provision of a passport photograph. These are valid for 14 days and can be renewed at the Department of Immigration. At all other international border crossing points open to foreigners (not all are), a visa must be obtained prior to arrival. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic does not have an embassy in the United Kingdom. Visa applications can be made before arrival at: Laotian representation in the UK
British EmbassyEmbassy Details

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