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Laos

East and Southeast Asia

Photos of Laos

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Pha That Luang, the Great Stupa in Vientiane, is considered a national symbol of Laos. It was built in the 16th century on the ruins of a 13th century Khmer temple, which in turn was built on the ruins of a 3rd century Indian temple built by Buddhist missionaries. The stupa is said to contain a relic of the Buddha.
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Contents

Introduction

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Definitions and Notes
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Geography

Area

comparison ranking: total 84

Area - comparative

Area comparison map:
<p>about twice the size of Pennsylvania; slightly larger than Utah</p>

People and Society

Languages

Lao audio sample:

Age structure

2024 population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Laos. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends. <br/><br/>For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page.

Median age

comparison ranking: total 170

Population growth rate

comparison ranking: 75

Birth rate

comparison ranking: 69

Death rate

comparison ranking: 147

Net migration rate

comparison ranking: 145

Maternal mortality ratio

comparison ranking: 64

Infant mortality rate

comparison ranking: total 38

Total fertility rate

comparison ranking: 81

Tobacco use

comparison ranking: total 42

Environment

Government

Economy

Real GDP growth rate

comparison ranking: 61

Real GDP per capita

comparison ranking: 151

Labor force

comparison ranking: 99

Unemployment rate

comparison ranking: 8

Taxes and other revenues

comparison ranking: 115

Current account balance

comparison ranking: 67

Exports

comparison ranking: 118

Imports

comparison ranking: 128

Debt - external

comparison ranking: 51

Energy

Communications

Transportation

Airports

comparison ranking: 140

Merchant marine

comparison ranking: total 184

Military and Security

Transnational Issues

Contents