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Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), commonly referred to
as "Laos" abroad, is a land-linked country in the heart
of Southeast Asia. Encompassing 236,800 square kilometers and
sharing borders with China in the north, Cambodia in the south,
Vietnam in the east, Myanmar in the northwest and Thailand in the
west it provides a land link to all of the countries in the
region. It connects its five neighbors to each other and has the
potential to be a valuable transportation link. Laos is
characterized by two main geographical zones: the central plains
along the Mekong River and the mountainous regions to the north,
east and south. The climate is governed by two monsoons, bringing
rain from May to September and a dry season from November to
February.
Laos has a population of approximately 5.5 million people with a growth rate of 2.8% per year. The Lao population comprises three main ethnic groups: the Lao Loum (lowland), 68%, the Lao Theung (low mountains), 22%, and Lao Sung (high mountains), 10%. The population density of Laos is 23 persons per square kilometer and roughly 85% of the population lives in rural areas. The major cities are Vientiane, the capital, Savannakhet, Pakse and Luang Prabang. Buddhism is the dominant religion with more than 85% of the population as believers. The official language of the Lao PDR is Lao. Millions of people in the region speak the language; in fact, there are more speakers of the Lao language living in Thailand than there are in Laos. Thai is commonly spoken in the country, as the Lao and Thai languages share much of their vocabulary and grammar. French is spoken, but English is emerging as the readily used language in business. Education is compulsory through age 12 in Laos. The education system is organized with six years of primary education starting at age six, three years of middle and three years of high school. University enrolments have been expanding rapidly over the past decade. |
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