Country · Asia
Laos
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Laos is a country in South-Eastern Asia. About 7.1 million people live there, in an area of 236 800 square kilometres. Its capital city is Vientiane.
Picture credit: Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Laos?
Laos lies in South-Eastern Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 004 km from the equator.
Laos is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 5 countries: Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
How big is Laos?
Laos covers 236 800 square kilometres.
That is about 5.7 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 82nd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 29.8 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Laos?
About 7.1 million people live in Laos.
That is the 102nd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Lao.
They pay with the Lao kip (₭).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 53 years.
The land of Laos
The land of Laos sits on average 710 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 5 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Laos different?
Dishes the country is known for: Tum Mak Hoong (Som Tum and its Thai name).
Websites from here often end in .la.
Laos and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Laos.
It takes up about 0.18 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia the country ranks 22nd of 46 by size, and 31st by population.
Laos and its neighbours
China, its largest neighbour, is about 41 times bigger.
China has more people: 1.4 billion against 7.1 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 3 live wild in Laos: Gaur, Sun bear and Siamese fighting fish. The highest mountain in the country is Phou Bia, at 2 830 metres. The longest river in the country is the Mekong. The country has no large natural lake; its largest body of water, Nakai Reservoir, is a reservoir.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Laos compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 40 times as big as Laos: 9 372 610 km² against 236 800 km².
- The United Kingdom and Laos are almost the same size: 242 900 km² against 236 800 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Laos?
The capital of Laos is Vientiane. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Laos?
About 7.1 million people live in Laos, which makes it the 102nd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Laos?
How big is Laos?
Laos covers 236 800 square kilometres, making it the 82nd largest country in the world. That is about 5.7 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Laos?
The highest mountain in Laos is Phou Bia, 2 830 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Laos?
The longest river in Laos is the Mekong. Of its 4 350 kilometres, about 1 898 run through the country.
What is the largest lake in Laos?
The largest body of water in Laos is Nakai Reservoir, a reservoir of about 450 km²; there is no large natural lake in the country.
Which continent is Laos in?
Laos is in Asia, in the part called South-Eastern Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made