This is a
demography
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
of the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of
Laos including
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
,
ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Laos' population was estimated at about million in , dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...
River and its tributaries.
Vientiane Prefecture
Vientiane (or ''Viengchan'', Also known as ''Vientiane Prefecture'' or ''Vientiane Municipality'') ( Lao: ນະຄອນຫຼວງວຽງຈັນ, ''Nakhônlouang ViangChan'') is a prefecture of Laos, in the northwest Laos. The nationa ...
, which includes
Vientiane
Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...
, the capital and largest city of the country, had about 569,000 residents in 1999. The country's population density is 23.4/km
2.
In March 2005, the total population was 5.62 million (2.82 million females, 2.80 million males) in the 2005 census, an increase of 1.047 million since the previous 1995 census.
Overview
The demographic makeup of the population is uncertain as the government divides the people into three groups according to the altitude at which they live, rather than according to ethnic origin. The lowland Lao (
Lao Loum
The Lao Loum ( lo, ລາວລຸ່ມ; th, ลาวลุ่ม, , ) is an official Lao People's Democratic Republic designation for lowland dwelling Tai peoples, including the majority Lao people. The Lao Loum, literally meaning 'lowland L ...
) account for 68%, upland Lao (
Lao Theung
The Lao Theung or Lao Thoeng (Lao: ລາວເທິງ ) is one of the traditional divisions of ethnic groups living in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum and the Lao Soung). It literally indicates the "midland Lao", and comprises a variety o ...
) for 22%, and the highland Lao (
Lao Soung
Lao Sung or more commonly Lao Soung ( Laotian: ລາວສູງ ) is an official Laotian designation for highland dwelling peoples of Hmong, Yao and Tibeto-Burman origins in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum and the Lao Theung). Lao Soung ma ...
, including the
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
and the
Yao) for 9%.
Ethnic
Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants and politically and culturally dominant group, make up the bulk of the Lao Loum and around 60% of the total population. The Lao are a branch of the
Tai people
Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, a ...
who began migrating southward from
China in the first millennium A.D. In the north, there are mountain tribes of
Miao–Yao, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
,
Yao,
Akha, and
Lahu who migrated into the region in the 19th century. Collectively, they are known as
Lao Sung
Lao Sung or more commonly Lao Soung ( Laotian: ລາວສູງ ) is an official Laotian designation for highland dwelling peoples of Hmong, Yao and Tibeto-Burman origins in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum and the Lao Theung). Lao Soung ma ...
or highland Lao.
In the central and southern mountains,
Mon–Khmer
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...
tribes known as
Lao Theung
The Lao Theung or Lao Thoeng (Lao: ລາວເທິງ ) is one of the traditional divisions of ethnic groups living in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum and the Lao Soung). It literally indicates the "midland Lao", and comprises a variety o ...
or upland Lao, predominate. Some Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many
Laotian Chinese were forced to leave during 1975-80 when Laos followed the anti-Chinese policy of Vietnam.
The predominant religion is
Theravada
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
Buddhism.
Animism
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...
is common among the mountain tribes.
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
and spirit worship coexist easily. There is a small number of
Christians and
Muslims.
The official and dominant language is
Lao, a
tonal language
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information and to convey emph ...
of the
Tai
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
linguistic group. Midslope and highland Lao speak tribal languages.
French, once common in government and commerce, has declined in use, while knowledge of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
— the language of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
(ASEAN) — has increased in recent years.
With a median age of 19.3, Laos has the youngest population of Asia.
Population
According to , the population of Laos increased from 1.7 million in 1950 to million in . Until the year 2000 the proportion of children 0–14 years of age was over 40% of the total population. Due to decreasing fertility rates this proportion decreased to 34.5% in 2010. The proportion of elderly people is still very low (3.9%), although the proportion doubled between 1950 and 2010.
Structure of the population
Structure of the population (March 2005; census):
Structure of the population (01.03.2015) (Census) :
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):
Vital statistics
UN estimates
Births and deaths
Fertility and Births
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Total fertility rate and other related statistics by province, as of 2011-2012:
Life expectancy
Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''
Ethnic groups
Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos.
[Indigenous Peoples Development Planning Document](_blank)
/ref> For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities. whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups.
The term ''ethnic minorities'' is used by some to classify the non-Lao ethnic groups, while the term ''indigenous peoples'' is not used by the Lao PDR. These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages.[Ethnologue report for Laos](_blank)
/ref>
Lao 53.2%, Khmu 11%, Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
9.2%, and other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26.6% (2015 census).
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Sex ratio:
''at birth:'' 1.1 male(s)/female
''under 15 years:'' 1.01 male(s)/female
''15-64 years:'' 0.98 male(s)/female
''65 years and over:'' 0.76 male(s)/female
''total population:'' 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
''total population:'' 62.39 years (2011 est.)
''male:'' 60.50 years (2011 est.)
''female:'' 64.36 years (2011 est.)
Nationality:
''noun:'' Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
''adjective:'' Lao or Laotian
Religions:
Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5% (see Religion in Laos
Theravada Buddhism is the largest religion in Laos. It is practiced by 66% of the population. Almost all ethnic or "lowland" Lao (Lao Loum and Lao Lom) are followers of Theravada Buddhism; however, they constitute only 40-50% of the population. ...
)
Languages:
Lao (official), French, English, Vietnamese, and various ethnic languages
Literacy:
''definition:'' age 15 and over can read and write
''total population:'' 73%
''male:'' 83%
''female:'' 63% (2005 est.)
See also
* List of ethnic groups in Laos
The following is a list of ethnic groups in Laos.
Classification
Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos. For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 14 ...
References
Sources
CIA World Factbook
Lao Statistics Bureau
{{Asia in topic, Demographics of
pt:Laos#Demografia