352,640 (Burundi); 127,973 (Democratic
Republic of the Congo) (2007)

Illicit drugs:

growing role in transshipment of Southwest and Southeast Asian
heroin and South American cocaine destined for South African,
European, and US markets and of South Asian methaqualone bound for
southern Africa; money laundering remains a problem

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Thailand

Introduction
Thailand

Background:

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century.
Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian
country never to have been taken over by a European power. A
bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In
alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally
following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing separatist
violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces.

Geography
Thailand

Location:

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of
Thailand, southeast of Burma

Geographic coordinates:

15 00 N, 100 00 E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 514,000 sq km
land: 511,770 sq km
water: 2,230 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries:

total: 4,863 km
border countries: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km,
Malaysia 506 km

Coastline:

3,219 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate:

tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to
September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March);
southern isthmus always hot and humid

Terrain:

central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point: Doi Inthanon 2,576 m

Natural resources:

tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish,
gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 27.54%
permanent crops: 6.93%
other: 65.53% (2005)

Irrigated land:

49,860 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

409.9 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 82.75 cu km/yr (2%/2%/95%)
per capita: 1,288 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazard