Laos:
Geography

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Background	Modern-day Laos has its roots in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th Century under King FA NGUM. For three hundred years Lan Xang included large parts of present-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well as all of what is now Laos. After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government ending a six-century-old monarchy and instituting a strict socialist regime closely aligned to Vietnam. A gradual return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1986. Laos became a member of ASEAN in 1997.

Location	Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam
Geographic coordinates	18 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references	Southeast Asia
Area	total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Utah
Land boundaries	total: 5,083 km border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)
Climate	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m
Natural resources	timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Land use	arable land: 4.01% permanent crops: 0.34% other: 95.65% (2005)
Irrigated land	1,750 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards	floods, droughts
Environment - current issues	unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note	landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand