Laos

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: Phu 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	3,000 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	333.6 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 3 cu km/yr (4%/6%/90%) per capita: 507 cu m/yr (2000)
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