Geography
The only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and lies in the middle of the Indochinese Peninsula. Laos is bordered by China to the north, Vietnam to the east and Cambodia to the south. Thailand lies west of Laos and Burma sits to the northwest.
Laos is mainly a mountainous nation, with limited level land. These characteristics make communication, transportation and farming difficult and contribute to the Laotian people’s isolation from one another and from greater South East Asia. The mountains of Laos dominate the landscape, covering more than two-thirds of the country. In fact more than 90% of the land rises to over 200m above sea level. Mount Phou Bia in north central Laos is the country’s highest point, reaching an elevation of 2820m. In northern Laos, rugged mountains run from the northeast to the southwest and are separated by narrow valleys that hold dense rain-forests. Along Lao’s eastern border with Vietnam, the rugged Anamese Cordillera mountain range blocks transportation. At the narrowest section of Laos, these mountains reach the valley of the Mekong River, which forms much of Lao’s western border. Limestone caves, steep rock formations and sinkholes –(hollow places in which rainwater collect) are common at the southern end of the Annamese chain.
A series of three plateaus runs from north to south through Laos. Northern Laos holds the Tran Ninh Plateau, which includes rolling grassland known as the Plain of Jars. In central Laos, the Cammon Plateau reaches the foothills of the Annamese Cordillera. This region is full of limestone with sinkholes, underground streams and caverns. At the southern end of Laos, near the border with Cambodia is the Boloven Plateau, a fertile wooded plain surrounded by steep slopes. These plateaus along with the floodplains of Mekong River comprise the only level land in Laos.
Rivers
The Mekong River s the principal waterway of Southeast Asia. It flows for 4000km from its source in the mountains of Tibet. From this remote area of China, the river snakes its way between seep mountainsides and then passes through the Golden Triangle – the region where Laos, Burma and Thailand meet. The Mekong forms much of Laos’s wester border before exiting the country at Khone Falls, 2000km to the south east. The river travels into Cambodia and then into the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. Here the river empties into the South China Sea, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. In the dry season the river’s water level is low. In the rainy summer months the Mekong can swell up to 12m above its banks and can extend 20m wide. However, in certain seasons and in certain areas, the river provides many Laotians with a useful transportation route. Riverboats carry crops and livestock to market and people from town to town. The Mekong also deposits hundreds of tons of fertile soil on the farmland and rice paddies of western Laos.
Other important rivers in Laos include Nam Ou, Nam Tha and Nam Ngum, all of which run westward into the Mekong River. Nam Ngum powers a large hydroelectric station near Vientiane. The Laotian government is planning to build several other big dams along the Mekong which if developed improperly will cause massive environmental problems.
Natural Resources
The extensive forests of Laos remain the nation’s most profitable natural resource. The country’s most common mineral of value is tin, which is mined extensively in the west central regions. Gypsum, a mineral used in making plaster is also a major resource. Coal deposits of northern Laos are largely untouched because there is no way to transport them to processing centres. The country also has undeveloped stocks of gold, zinc, lead and silver as well as petroleum reserves. The rivers make a valuable energy resource in terms of hydroelectricity whilst it also yields more than 20,000tons of fish each year.
