Laos — Country Profile
An overview of Laos covering geography, demographics, economy, culture, political status, and practical information, sourced from World Bank and REST Countries open data.
These figures are estimates based on public statistics and may differ from actual values.
About Laos
The capital of Laos is Vientiane. It has a population of approximately 7.8M. The country covers an area of 236,800 km². It is located in South-Eastern Asia.
Geography
Laos is a country in South-Eastern Asia, part of the Asia region. It covers an area of approximately 236,800 km². It shares land borders with Myanmar, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, and Thailand, totalling 5 neighbours. It is a landlocked country with no direct sea access.
Demographics & Languages
Laos has a population of approximately 7,769,819 people. Population density is around 32.8 people per km². Its officially recognised languages include Lao, totalling 1 language. People from this country are referred to as Laotian.
Economy Overview
As of 2025, Laos reports a nominal GDP of about $18.3 billion. The official currency is the Lao kip (LAK, symbol ₭). The current exchange rate is approximately 1 USD = 22,399.92 LAK.
Culture & Time
Laos operates on a single time zone (Asia/Vientiane). Its country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) is.la.
Government & Status
The capital of Laos is Vientiane. It is internationally recognised as an independent sovereign state. The country is a member state of the United Nations.
Practical Information
Traffic drives on the right. The international dialling code is +856. Its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code is LA.
Data Sources & Methodology
GDP and debt-to-GDP figures on this page are pulled from the most recent available year of World Bank open statistics. The real-time debt estimate is computed by multiplying total debt (GDP × debt ratio) by World Bank's real interest rate (or a 4% fallback when unavailable) and dividing across each second of a year. Exchange rates refresh hourly via open.er-api.com, and country-level metadata such as languages, time zones, borders, and domains is fetched from REST Countries every 24 hours. All values are estimates derived from public datasets and may differ from official figures.