Laos

General country information

Capital	Vientiane
Government	Communist state
Area	236800 km²
Population / Density	6677534 (July 2008 est.) / 28/km²
Currency	Kip (LAK) currency converter
GDP - per capita (PPP)	$ 2100 (2007 est.)
HDI	0.601 (2005)
Official language(s)	Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Religions	Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (2005 census)
Climate	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)
Interesting links	Country Insights - Centre for Intercultural Learning (Canada) Country information from the CIA-Website Country information from Wikipedia Visit Mekong - Laos Visit Mekong is the official website for tourism in the Greater Mekong sub-region. Not only does this site provide travel information, it also provides historical and cultural information. Vientiane Times Vientiane Times, the first English newspaper in the Lao PDR, was officially launched as a weekly tabloid in April 1994. By 1996 it came out twice weekly Tuesdays and Fridays and from 2004 the paper publishes daily Mondays to Fridays. The newspaper covers a wide range of news stories and provides information reflecting on government policies and socio-economic development in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.