uge (1990)

Highways:
total: 18,500 km
paved: 16,854 km (including 140 km of expressways)
unpaved: 1,646 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 600 km (1990)

Pipelines: natural gas 200 km

Ports and harbors: Balykchy (Ysyk-Kol or Rybach'ye)

Airports: 54 (1994 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 9
under 914 m: 1 (1994 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 40
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 32 (1994 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, National Guard, Security Forces
(internal and border troops), Civil Defense
note: border troops controlled by Russia

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 1,146,595 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 930,017 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 46,561 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $10.8 million (1996)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1% (1996)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: territorial dispute with Tajikistan on
southwestern boundary in Isfara Valley area

Illicit drugs: limited illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium
poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication
program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs
to Russia and Western Europe from Southwest Asia

======================================================================

@Laos
----

Geography

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: Phou Bia 2,817 m

Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold,
gemstones

Land use:
arable land: