220 kWh per capita (1992)
Industries:
tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing,
construction
Agriculture:
accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the work force; subsistence
farming predominates; normally self-sufficient in nondrought years;
principal crops - rice (80% of cultivated land), sweet potatoes, vegetables,
corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton; livestock - buffaloes, hogs, cattle,
poultry
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis, opium poppy for the international drug trade,
third-largest opium producer

*Laos, Economy

Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $605 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million
Currency:
1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
Exchange rates:
new kips (NK) per US$1 - 710 (May 1992), 710 (December 1991), 700 (September
1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June

*Laos, Communications

Railroads:
none
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:
petroleum products 136 km
Ports:
none
Airports:
total:
54
usable:
41
with permanent-surface runways:
8
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
15
Telecommunications:
service to general public practically non-existant; radio communications
network provides generally erratic service to government users; 7,390
telephones (1986); broadcast stations - 10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite
earth station

*Laos, Defense Forces

Branches:
Lao People's Army (LPA; including naval, aviation, and militia elements),
Air Force, National Police Department
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 980,274; fit for military service 528,450; reach military
age (18) annually 43,849 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

*Latvia, Geography

Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering on the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia
Map references:
Arctic Region, Asia, Europe, Stand