Facts About Laos
Quick geography of Laos
Laos has a surface area of 236 800 km2. The country has a common border with China (200 km), Burma (150 km), Thailand (1 000 km), Vietnam (1 000 km), and Cambodia (150 km). Mountains and plateaux represent over 70% of the surface area of the country.
Laos is crossed by the Mekong River, hardly navigable because of its irregular flow of water (1 898 km of the Mekong River cross Laos out of a total length of 4 200 km).
The country stretches from north to south over 1 000 km from the Chinese border to the Cambodia's one. In some areas, the distance between two borders is no more than a hundred kilometers wide. Laos is mostly made of mountains and high plateaux.
Its highest point is the Phou Bia (2 820 m), in the south of Xieng Khouang province. Tropical climates are characterized by a monsoon season.
There are two seasons: the dry season from October to April and the green season from May to September. The temperature is around 59/68 °F from December to January, and around 86 °F in March-April. The months of October and November can be rainy.
IDENTITY CARD OF LAOS
Official name : Lao People's Democratic Republic
Area : 236 800 km²
Population : 7,1 millions (2018)
Capital : Vientiane
Official languages : Lao, French
Religions : Buddhism (65%) / Animism (33%) / Other 2%
Principal productions and industry : rice, tobacco, coffee, tin, wood
Principal business partners : Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan
Ethnic diversity
Laos is a sparsely populated country (17 inhabitants per km²). The population is unevenly dispatched over the entire country and is more than 78% rural.
Laos has about 80 ethnic groups that can be grouped into 3 large families. Each of them speaks their own dialect, has its own customs, traditions and beliefs.
-
Lao-Lum (75% of the population, inhabitants of the plains)
-
Lao-Theung (inhabitants of the middle-altitude lands)
-
Lao-Soung (inhabitants of the mountains).
