Transportation in Laos
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This article concerns systems of transportation in Laos. Laos is a country in Asia, which possesses a number of modern transportation systems, including several highways and a number of airports. As a landlocked country, Laos possesses no ports or harbours.
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[edit] Railways
There are currently no major railways in Laos. Work begin in 2007 on a 3.5 km extension of the metre-gauge Thai railway network across the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge into Laos. Surveys have begun to continue to the line a further 12 km to Vientiane.[1]
Laos does not have any links to other neighbouring countries by rail, although a link to Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province has been proposed. All neighbouring countries share the same 1000mm gauge, including lines in the China as far as Yunan.
[edit] Highways
In Laos, there are 21,716km of highway, of which 9,673.5km are paved, leaving 12,042.5km unpaved. Driving in Laos is on the right.
Laos has constructed a new highway connecting Savannakhet to the Vietnamese border at Lao Bao, with funding coming from the Japanese government [1]. This has greatly facilitated travelling across Laos. This highway can now be traversed in a few hours, while in 2002 the trip took over 9 hours along a very bumpy (and scenic) route.
[edit] Water transport
About 4,587 km of navigable water routes exist in Laos, primarily the Mekong and its tributaries. There is an additional 2,897km, which is sectionally navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m.
In terms of sea travel, Laos has a merchant marine consisting of 1 cargo ship of 2,370 gross register tons (GRT).
[edit] Pipelines
Laos has 136km of pipeline for transport of petroleum products.
[edit] Airports
Laos possesses 52 airports, if which 9 have paved runways, and 43 do not. Of the airports with paved runways, only Wattay International Airport has runway length over 2,438m. Of the remainder, four have runways 1,524 to 2,437 m length, and a further four of lengths between 914 and 1,523 m. Of the airports without paved runways, 1 has runways of length above 1,524m, 17 have runway lengths between 914 and 1,523 m, leaving 25 with length below 914m.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
