Population:

6,677,534 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 41% (male 1,374,966/female 1,362,945)
15-64 years: 55.9% (male 1,846,375/female 1,885,029)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 91,028/female 117,191) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 19.2 years
male: 18.9 years
female: 19.5 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.344% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

34.46 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

11.02 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 79.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 88.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 69.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 56.29 years
male: 54.19 years
female: 58.47 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

4.5 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

1,700 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian

Ethnic groups:

Lao 55%, Khmou 11%, Hmong 8%, other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26% (2005 census)

Religions:

Buddhist 65%, animist 32.9%, Christian 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.8% (1995 census)

Languages:

Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 68.7%
male: 77%
female: 60.9% (2001 est.)