Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 126 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 51 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 5.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Lao (sing., Lao or Laotian); adjective--Lao or Laotian
Ethnic divisions: 50% Lao, 15% Phoutheung (Kha), 20% tribal Thai, 15% Meo,
Hmong, Yao, and other
Religion: 85% Buddhist, 15% animist and other
Language: Lao (official), French, and English
Literacy: 85%
Labor force: 1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)
Organized labor: Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to the
Communist party
- Government
Long-form name: Lao People's Democratic Republic
Type: Communist state
Capital: Vientiane
Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural)
and 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo,
Bolikhamsai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louang Namtha, Louangphrabang,
Oudomxai, Phongsali, Saravan, Savannakhet, Sekong, Vientiane,
Vientiane*, Xaignabouri, Xiangkhoang
Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
Constitution: draft constitution under discussion since 1976
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day (proclamation of the Lao People's
Democratic Republic), 2 December (1975)
Executive branch: president, chairman and five vice chairmen of the
Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: Supreme People's Assembly
Judicial branch: Central Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Acting President PHOUMI VONGVICHIT (since 29 October
1986);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers General
KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 2 December 1975)
Political parties and leaders: Lao People's Revolutionary Party
(LPRP), Kaysone Phomvihan, party chairman; includes Lao Patriotic
Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; other
parties moribund
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Supreme People's Assembly--last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be
held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(79 total) number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups
moribund; most leaders have fled the country
Member of: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD,
ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: First Secretary, Charge d'Affaires ad interim
DONE SOMVORACHIT; Chancery at 2222 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417;
US--Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON; Embassy at Rue
Bartholonie, Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or
Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red
with a large white disk centered in the blue band
- Economy
Overview: One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a Communist
centrally planned economy with government ownership and control of
productive enterprises of any size. Recently, however, the government
has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise.
Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, that is,
it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited
external and internal telecommunications, and electricity
available in only a limited area. Subsistence agriculture is the
main occupation, accounting for over 60% of GDP and providing about 85-90% of
total employment. The predominant crop is rice. For the foreseeable future the
economy will continue to depend for its survival on foreign aid--from
CEMA, IMF, and other international sources.
GDP: $585 million, per capita $150; real growth rate 3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $71 million; expenditures $198 million, including
capital expenditures of $132 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $57.5 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--
electricity, wood products, coffee, tin; partners--Thailand, Malaysia,
Vietnam, USSR, US
Imports: $219 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--food, fuel
oil, consumer goods, manufactures; partners--Thailand, USSR, Japan,
France, Vietnam
External debt: $964 million (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 8% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 176,000 kW capacity; 900 million kWh produced,
225 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tin mining, timber, electric power, agricultural
processing
Agriculture: accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the work force;
subsistence farming predominates; normally self-sufficient; principal
crops--rice (80% of cultivated land), potatoes, vegetables, coffee,
sugarcane, cotton
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and opium poppy for the
international drug trade; production of cannabis increased in 1989;
marijuana and heroin are shipped to Western countries, including the US
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $468
million; Communist countries (1970-88), $895 million
Currency: new kip (plural--kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
Exchange rates: new kips (NK) per US$1--700 (December 1989), 725 (1989),
350 (1988), 200 (1987), 108 (1986), 95 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications
Highways: about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous
treated; 7,451 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km unimproved
earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to mid-September
Inland waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897
additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m
Pipelines: 136 km, refined products
Ports: none
Airports: 64 total, 50 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: service to general public considered poor; radio
network provides generally erratic service to government users; 7,390 telephones
(1986); stations--10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station
- Defense Forces
Branches: Lao People's Army (LPA, which consists of an army with naval,
aviation, and militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department
Military manpower: males 15-49, 967,047; 517,666 fit for military service;
44,176 reach military age (18) annually; conscription age NA
Defense expenditures: 3.8% of GDP (1987)
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Lebanon
- Geography
Total area: 10,400 km2; land area: 10,230 km2
Comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries: 454 km total; Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Coastline: 225 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line;
Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in
northern Lebanon since October 1976
Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers
Terrain: narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa (Bekaa Valley) separates
Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt; water-surplus state
in a water-deficit region
Land use: 21% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 1% meadows and
pastures; 8% forest and woodland; 61% other; includes 7% irrigated
Environment: rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect,
and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, ethnicity;
deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification
Note: Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East
not crossing an international boundary
- People
Population: 3,339,331 (July 1990), growth rate 1.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 49 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Lebanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Lebanese
Ethnic divisions: 93% Arab, 6% Armenian, 1% other
Religion: 75% Islam, 25% Christian, NEGL% Judaism; 17 legally recognized
sects--4 Orthodox Christian (Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Nestorean,
Syriac Orthodox), 7 Uniate Christian (Armenian Catholic, Caldean, Greek
Catholic, Maronite, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Syrian Catholic), 5 Islam
(Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Ismailite, Shia, Sunni), and 1 Jewish
Language: Arabic and French (both official); Armenian, English
Literacy: 75%
Labor force: 650,000; 79% industry, commerce, and services,
11% agriculture, 10% goverment (1985)
Organized labor: 250,000 members (est.)
- Government
Note: Between early 1975 and late 1976 Lebanon was torn by civil
war between its Christians--then aided by Syrian troops--and its Muslims
and their Palestinian allies. The cease-fire established in October
1976 between the domestic political groups generally held for about six
years, despite occasional fighting. Syrian troops constituted as the Arab
Deterrent Force by the Arab League have remained in Lebanon. Syria's
move toward supporting the Lebanese Muslims and the Palestinians and
Israel's growing support for Lebanese Christians brought the two sides
into rough equilibrium, but no progress was made toward national
reconciliation or political reforms--the original cause of the war.
Continuing Israeli concern about the Palestinian presence in
Lebanon led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Israeli
forces occupied all of the southern portion of the country and mounted a
summer-long siege of Beirut, which resulted in the evacuation of the
PLO from Beirut in September under the supervision of a multinational
force (MNF) made up of US, French, and Italian troops.
Within days of the departure of the MNF, Lebanon's newly elected
president, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated. In the wake of his death,
Christian militiamen massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees in two
Beirut camps. This prompted the return of the MNF to ease the security
burden on Lebanon's weak Army and security forces. In late March 1984
the last MNF units withdrew.
Lebanese Parliamentarians met in Taif, Saudi Arabia in late 1989 and
concluded a national reconciliation pact that codified a new power-sharing
formula, specifiying a Christian president but giving Muslims more
authority. Rene Muawad was subsequently elected president on 4 November
1989, ending a 13-month period during which Lebanon had no president and
rival Muslim and Christian governments. Muawad was assassinated
17 days later, on 22 November; on 24 November Elias Harawi was
elected to succeed Muawad.
Progress toward lasting political compromise in Lebanon has been
stalled by opposition from Christian strongman Gen. Michel Awn.
Awn--appointed acting Prime Minister by outgoing president Amin Gemayel
in September 1988--called the national reconciliation accord
illegitimate and has refused to recognize the new Lebanese Government.
Lebanon continues to be partially occupied by Syrian troops. Syria
augmented its troop presence during the weeks following Muawad's
assassination. Troops are deployed in West Beirut and its southern
suburbs, in Al Biqa, and in northern Lebanon. Iran also maintains
a small contingent of revolutionary guards in Al Biqa, from
which it supports Lebanese Islamic fundamentalist groups.
Israel withdrew the bulk of its forces from the south in 1985,
although it still retains troops in a 10-km-deep security zone north
of its border with Lebanon. Israel arms and trains the Army of South
Lebanon (ASL), which also occupies the security zone and is Israel's
first line of defense against attacks on its northern border.
The following description is based on the present constitutional and
customary practices of the Lebanese system.
Long-form name: Republic of Lebanon; note--may be changed to
Lebanese Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Beirut
Administrative divisions: 5 governorates (muhafazat,
singular--muhafazah); Al Biqa, Al Janub, Ash Shamal,
Bayrut, Jabal Lubnan
Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under
French administration)
Constitution: 26 May 1926 (amended)
Legal system: mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code,
and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet; note--by custom,
the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim,
and the president of the legislature is a Shia Muslim
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Arabic--Majlis
Alnuwab, French--Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch: four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and
commercial cases and one court for criminal cases)
Leaders:
Chief of State--Elias HARAWI (since 24 November 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Salim AL-HUSS (since 24
November 1989)
Political parties and leaders: political party activity is organized along
largely sectarian lines; numerous political groupings exist, consisting of
individual political figures and followers motivated by religious, clan, and
economic considerations; most parties have well-armed militias, which are still
involved in occasional clashes
Suffrage: compulsory for all males at age 21; authorized for women
at age 21 with elementary education
Elections:
National Assembly--elections should be held every four years
but security conditions have prevented elections since May 1972
Communists: the Lebanese Communist Party was legalized in 1970; members
and sympathizers estimated at 2,000-3,000
Member of: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IPU, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant); Charge
d'Affaires Suleiman RASSI; note--the former Lebanese Ambassador,
Dr. Abdallah Bouhabib, is loyal to Gen. Awn and has refused to
abandon his residence or relinquish his post; Chancery at 2560 28th
Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-6300;
there are Lebanese Consulates General in Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles;
US--Ambassador John T. MCCARTHY; Embassy at Avenue de Paris, Beirut
(mailing address is P. O. Box 70-840, Beirut); telephone [961] 417774 or 415802,
415803, 402200, 403300
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red
with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band
- Economy
Overview: Severe factional infighting in 1989 has been destroying physical
property, interrupting the established pattern of economic affairs, and
practically ending chances of restoring Lebanon's position as a Middle
Eastern entrepot and banking hub. The ordinary Lebanese citizen
struggles to keep afloat in an environment of physical danger, high
unemployment, and growing shortages. The central government's ability
to collect taxes has suffered greatly from militia control and taxation
of local areas. As the civil strife persists, the US dollar has become
more and more the medium of exchange. Transportation,
communications, and other parts of the infrastructure continue to deteriorate.
Family remittances, foreign political money going to the factions, international
emergency aid, and a small volume of manufactured exports help prop up the
battered economy. Prospects for 1990 are grim, with expected further declines in
economic activity and living standards.
GDP: $2.3 billion, per capita $700; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 60% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 33% (1987 est.)
Budget: revenues $50 million; expenditures $650 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)
Exports: $1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1987);
commodities--agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, precious
and semiprecious metals and jewelry, metals and metal products;
partners--Saudi Arabia 16%, Switzerland 8%, Jordan 6%, Kuwait 6%, US 5%
Imports: $1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1987); commodities--NA;
partners--Italy 14%, France 12%, US 6%, Turkey 5%, Saudi Arabia 3%
External debt: $935 million (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 1,381,000 kW capacity; 3,870 million kWh produced,
1,170 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: banking, food processing, textiles, cement, oil refining,
chemicals, jewelry, some metal fabricating
Agriculture: accounts for about one-third of GDP; principal
products--citrus fruits, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco, hemp
(hashish), sheep, and goats; not self-sufficient in grain
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the
international drug trade; opium poppy production in Al Biqa
is increasing; most hashish production is shipped to
Western Europe
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $356 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $509 million;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $962 million; Communist countries (1970-86),
$9 million
Currency: Lebanese pound (plural--pounds);
1 Lebanese pound (LL) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates: Lebanese pounds (LL) per US$1--474.21 (December 1989),
496.69 (1989), 409.23 (1988), 224.60 (1987), 38.37 (1986), 16.42 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications
Railroads: 378 km total; 296 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 82 km
1.050-meter gauge; all single track; system almost entirely inoperable
Highways: 7,370 km total; 6,270 km paved, 450 km gravel and crushed stone,
650 km improved earth
Pipelines: crude oil, 72 km (none in operation)
Ports: Beirut, Tripoli, Ras Silata, Juniyah, Sidon,
Az Zahrani, Tyre, Shikka (none are under the direct control
of the Lebanese Government); northern ports are occupied by Syrian
forces and southern ports are occupied or partially quarantined by
Israeli forces; illegal ports scattered along the central coast are
owned and operated by various Christian, Druze, and Shia militias
Merchant marine: 67 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 325,361
GRT/494,319 DWT; includes 43 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 2 vehicle
carrier, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 container, 7 livestock carrier, 1
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker,
1 specialized tanker, 6 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Civil air: 15 major transport aircraft
Airports: 9 total, 8 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m; none under the direct control of the
Lebanese Government
Telecommunications: rebuilding program disrupted; had fair system of
radio relay, cable; 325,000 telephones; stations--5 AM, 3 FM, 15 TV;
1 inactive Indian Ocean INTELSAT satellite earth station; 3 submarine
coaxial cables; radio relay to Jordan and Syria, inoperable
- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 702,961; 434,591 fit for military
service; about 44,625 reach military age (18) yearly
Defense expenditures: NA
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Lesotho
- Geography
Total area: 30,350 km2; land area: 30,350 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundary: 909 km with South Africa
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Terrain: mostly highland with some plateaus, hills, and mountains
Natural resources: some diamonds and other minerals, water,
agricultural and grazing land
Land use: 10% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 66% meadows and
pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 24% other
Environment: population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas
results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, soil exhaustion; desertification
Note: surrounded by South Africa; Highlands Water Project will control,
store, and redirect water to South Africa
- People
Population: 1,754,664 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 80 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 62 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Mosotho (sing.), Basotho (pl.); adjective--Basotho
Ethnic divisions: 99.7% Sotho; 1,600 Europeans, 800 Asians
Religion: 80% Christian, rest indigenous beliefs
Language: Sesotho (southern Sotho) and English (official); also Zulu and
Xhosa
Literacy: 59% (1989)
Labor force: 689,000 economically active; 86.2% of resident population
engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 60% of active male labor force works
in South Africa
Organized labor: there are two trade union federations; the
government favors formation of a single, umbrella trade union
confederation
- Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of Lesotho
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Maseru
Administrative divisions: 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe,
Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qachas Nek, Quthing,
Thaba-Tseka
Independence: 4 October 1966 (from UK; formerly Basutoland)
Constitution: 4 October 1966, suspended January 1970
Legal system: based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law;
judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 October (1966)
Executive branch: monarch, chairman of the Military Council, Military
Council, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: a bicameral Parliament consisting of an upper house
or Senate and a lower house or National Assembly was dissolved in January 1970;
following the military coup of 20 January 1986, legislative powers were vested
in the monarch
Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State--King MOSHOESHOE II (Paramount Chief from 1960 until
independence on 4 October 1966, when he became King); Heir Apparent Letsie
David SEEISO (son of the King);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Military Council Maj. Gen. Justin
Metsing LEKHANYA (since 24 January 1986)
Political parties and leaders: Basotho National Party (BNP),
position vacant; Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), Ntsu Mokhehle; Basotho
Democratic Alliance (BDA), A. S. Nqojane; National Independent Party (NIP),
A. C. Manyeli; Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), S. H. Mapheleba; United
Democratic Party, C. D. Mofeli
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
National Assembly --dissolved following the military coup in
January 1986; no date set for national elections
Communists: small Lesotho Communist Party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, Southern African
Customs Union, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO