China vs. Laos
Geography
| China | Laos | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam |
| Geographic coordinates | 35 00 N, 105 00 E | 18 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Map references | Asia | Southeast Asia |
| Area | total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km | total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the US | about twice the size of Pennsylvania; slightly larger than Utah |
| Land boundaries | total: 22,457 km border countries (14): Afghanistan 91 km, Bhutan 477 km, Burma 2129 km, India 2659 km, Kazakhstan 1765 km, North Korea 1352 km, Kyrgyzstan 1063 km, Laos 475 km, Mongolia 4630 km, Nepal 1389 km, Pakistan 438 km, Russia (northeast) 4133 km and Russia (northwest) 46 km, Tajikistan 477 km, Vietnam 1297 km | total: 5,274 km border countries (5): Burma 238 km, Cambodia 555 km, China 475 km, Thailand 1845 km, Vietnam 2161 km |
| Coastline | 14,500 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north | tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) |
| Terrain | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Mount Everest (highest peak in Asia and highest point on earth above sea level) 8,849 m lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m mean elevation: 1,840 m | highest point: Phu Bia 2,817 m lowest point: Mekong River 70 m mean elevation: 710 m |
| Natural resources | coal, iron ore, helium, petroleum, natural gas, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, cadmium, ferrosilicon, gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, lithium, mercury, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, antimony, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest), arable land | timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones |
| Land use | agricultural land: 54.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 11.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 1.6% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 41.8% (2018 est.) forest: 22.3% (2018 est.) other: 23% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 10.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 6.2% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.7% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 3.7% (2018 est.) forest: 67.9% (2018 est.) other: 21.5% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 690,070 sq km (2012) | 3,100 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence volcanism: China contains some historically active volcanoes including Changbaishan (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or P'aektu-san), Hainan Dao, and Kunlun although most have been relatively inactive in recent centuries | floods, droughts |
| Environment - current issues | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; China is the world's largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; coastal destruction due to land reclamation, industrial development, and aquaculture; deforestation and habitat destruction; poor land management leads to soil erosion, landslides, floods, droughts, dust storms, and desertification; trade in endangered species | unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; water pollution, most of the population does not have access to potable water |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note | note 1: world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) and largest country situated entirely in Asia; Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak above sea level note 2: the largest cave chamber in the world is the Miao Room, in the Gebihe cave system at China's Ziyun Getu He Chuandong National Park, which encloses some 10.78 million cu m (380.7 million cu ft) of volume note 3: China appears to have been the center of domestication for two of the world's leading cereal crops: millet in the north along the Yellow River and rice in the south along the lower or middle Yangtze River | landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand |
| Total renewable water resources | 2,840,220,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.) | 333.5 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | overwhelming majority of the population is found in the eastern half of the country; the west, with its vast mountainous and desert areas, remains sparsely populated; though ranked first in the world in total population, overall density is less than that of many other countries in Asia and Europe; high population density is found along the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys, the Xi Jiang River delta, the Sichuan Basin (around Chengdu), in and around Beijing, and the industrial area around Shenyang | most densely populated area is in and around the capital city of Vientiane; large communities are primarily found along the Mekong River along the southwestern border; overall density is considered one of the lowest in Southeast Asia |
Source: CIA Factbook
