der countries: Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km

Coastline: 443 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry
season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point: Phnum Aoral 1,810 m

Natural resources: timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese,
phosphates, hydropower potential

Land use:
arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 11%
forests and woodland: 66%
other: 10% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 920 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding;
occasional droughts

Environment--current issues: illegal logging activities throughout
the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along
the border with Thailand are resulting in habitat loss and declining
biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps
threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, a
majority of the population does not have access to potable water;
toxic waste delivery from Taiwan sparked unrest in Kampong Saom
(Sihanoukville) in December 1998

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Marine Life Conservation, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping

Geography--note: a land of paddies and forests dominated by the
Mekong River and Tonle Sap

People

Population: 11,626,520 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 2,667,768; female 2,587,590)
15-64 years: 52% (male 2,821,772; female 3,197,604)
65 years and over: 3% (male 143,016; female 208,770) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.49% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 41.05 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 16.2 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 105.06 deaths/1,000 live birt