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• Country Profile
• The Lao People' s Democratic Republic
  • General Information
    • Fact Sheet
  • Statistical Data on Disability Profile
  • Current Situation of Persons with Disabilities
  • Plan of Action toward Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003 - 2012
  • Profile of Disability Related Organizations

1. General Fact Sheet

Figure 1

Government (ii)
Type		Communist State
Chief of State		President Gen. Khamtai Siphandon (since 1998)
Head of Government		Prime Minister Boungnang Volachit(since 2001)
Capital		Vientiane
Administrative Divisions		16 provinces, 1 municipality, 1 special zone
Demographics
Mid - 2005 Population (thousands) i	5,924	Age Structure (2005) i
Annual Growth Rate i	2.2%	0 - 14 years	41.0%
Urban Population (2005) i	22.0%	15 - 64 years	55.0%
Nationality	Lao/Laotian	Over 65 years	4.0%
Ethnic Group ii		Sex Ratio (2005 est.) ii	0.98 male(s)/female
Lao Loum	68.0%	>Unemployment Rate (1997 est.) ii	5.7%
Lao Theung	22.0%	Population below poverty line (2002 est.) ii	40.0%
Lao Soung	9.0%
Ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese	1.0%
Education (iii)
Adult Literacy (M) (2002 - 2004 est.)	77.0%	Enrolment Ratios (GER) (2002/2003)
Adult Literacy (F) (2002 - 2004 est.)	60.9%	Primary	116.0%
Public expenditure on Education:total government expenditure (2002/2003 est.)	11.0%	Secondary	44.0%
		Tertiary	5.0%
		Compulsory	6-15 years
Health
Life Expectancy (M) (2005) i	54 years	HIV/AIDS Prevalence (2003 est.) ii	0.1%
Life Expectancy (F) (2005) i	57 years	HIV/AIDS Figures (2003 est.) ii	1,700
		Infant Mortality (per 1,000) i	84
Economic (ii)
GDP - per capita (2004 est.)	$ 1,900	Contributions to GDP (GDP 2004 est.)
GDP Growth (2004 est.)	6.0%	Agriculture	49.5%
Budget (2004 est.)		Industry	27.5%
Revenues	$ 284.3 million	Services	23.0%
Expenditures	$ 416.5 million
Disability
Major Legislation		None
No. of Persons with Disabilities (1996) iv	52,200	Disability by Type iv
National Coordination Committee on Disability	National Committee for Disabled Persons	Amputees	11,000 (21.0%)
		Deaf and speech problem	22,000 (42.0%)
		Blind	15,000 (29.0%)
		Deformities (leg, foot)	4,200 (8.0%)

Source

1. 2005 ESCAP Population Data Sheet, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
2. CIA-The World Factbook 2005 - Laos (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/la.html)
3. UNESCO : Institution for Statistics - education sector (www.uis.unesco.org)
4. National Medical Rehabilitation Center, Ministry of Health, 1996