LOCATED IN SOUTHEAST Asia, and formerly part of the French Indochina, Laos has a land area of 91,429 sq. mi. (236,800 sq. km.), a population of 5,859,000 (2006 est.), and a population density of 66 people per sq. mi. (25 people per sq. km.). With only 3 percent of the country arable, and another 3 percent used for meadows and pasture, 55 percent of the country remains forested, although this is declining slowly with a large timber industry in parts of Laos.

Regarding the electricity production in Laos, 98 percent comes from hydropower, with the remaining 2 percent from fossil fuels. Laos is located on the Mekong River, and plans were first discussed in 1962, and drawn up in 1969, to build the Nam Ngum Dam ...