The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a landlocked South-East Asian nation with a population of about 5.5 million, a population growth rate of 2.8% and a population density of 23.3 per square kilometre (km2).  The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is approximately 1700 km long from north to south and 100–400 km wide from east to west.  It has lengthy borders with Viet Nam to the east and Thailand to the west and shorter borders with Cambodia to the south and China and Myanmar to the north and northwest.  The Mekong River runs from north to south, sometimes as the border with Thailand and sometimes completely within the country, and serves as a source of transport and food.  As much as two thirds of the terrain is mountainous, which leads to remoteness and difficulties in communication, transport, service provision, and development.  The population is young (43.6% below 15 years) with a total fertility rate of 4.9.  The nation is mainly rural (80%), although some rural-to-urban shift is beginning to occur.  The climate is tropical with a single rainy season.  The staple crop and food is glutinous rice, produced in both paddy and upland production, and food self-sufficiency has been achieved on a national level, but not in all regions.  As recently as 1992, 47% of the land mass was covered by forest, although the forest cover is decreasing due to logging and shifting cultivation.  This is problematic as much of the population in the highlands depends on non-timber forest products for both food and income.  Agriculture is the most common economic activity, making up half of the economy.  Exports are dominated by textiles, electricity and wood and wood products.  Tourism has become an increasingly significant foreign exchange earner.

The population is ethnically varied with 47 distinct ethnic groups identified in the 1995 census with the ethnic or lowland Lao making up 52.5% of the total.  The ethnic Lao tend to predominate in the lowlands and the ethnic minorities in the highlands, although there is some mixing through migration and resettlement.  The ethnic minority areas, in the highlands, have higher rates of poverty, worse health indicators, and fewer services available for a variety of reasons, including remoteness, lower levels of educational achievement, and increasing land pressure which limits their ability to achieve food self-sufficiency.  Ethnic diversity also presents communication challenges, as many of the ethnic minority people do not speak Lao.

Unexploded ordnance from the war period of 1964–1975 continues to contaminate half of the landmass of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and it continues to be an obstacle to the development of agricultural lands and a health risk.  The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is one of the top three opium producers in the world.  Opium-producing districts are highly correlated with poverty and the Government is firmly committed to eliminating opium production as part of their poverty reduction strategy.

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