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Background:
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A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces.
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Location:
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Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma
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Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 N, 100 00 E
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Map references:
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Area:
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total: 514,000 sq km
land: 511,770 sq km
water: 2,230 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming
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Land boundaries:
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total: 4,863 km
border countries: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km
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Coastline:
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3,219 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
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Climate:
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tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid
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Terrain:
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central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point: Doi Inthanon 2,576 m
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Natural resources:
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tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land
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Land use:
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arable land: 27.54%
permanent crops: 6.93%
other: 65.53% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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49,860 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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409.9 cu km (1999)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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Total: 82.75 cu km/yr (2%/2%/95%)
Per capita: 1,288 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards:
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land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
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Geography - note:
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controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore
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Population:
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65,068,149
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 21.6% (male 7,195,750/female 6,870,858)
15-64 years: 70.1% (male 22,547,238/female 23,092,881)
65 years and over: 8.2% (male 2,437,640/female 2,923,782) (2007 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 32.4 years
male: 31.6 years
female: 33.2 years (2007 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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0.663% (2007 est.)
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Birth rate:
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13.73 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Death rate:
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7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Net migration rate:
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0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.047 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.976 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.834 male(s)/female
total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 18.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.13 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 72.55 years
male: 70.24 years
female: 74.98 years (2007 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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1.64 children born/woman (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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1.5% (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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570,000 (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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58,000 (2003 est.)
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and plague are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies
water contact disease: leptospirosis
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)
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Nationality:
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noun: Thai (singular and plural)
adjective: Thai
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Ethnic groups:
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Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
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Religions:
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Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)
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Languages:
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Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6%
male: 94.9%
female: 90.5% (2000 census)
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This page was last updated on 24 January, 2008
- The Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook - |
