View source for Geography of Laos

== Agriculture ==
5 million out of 23,680,000 hectares of Laos's total land area is suitable for cultivation, and 17% of the land area, between 850,000 and 900,000 hectares, was cultivated as of the 1990s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Savada|1995|p=153}}.</ref> Rice is a crop grown during the rainy season.<ref>{{Harvnb|Savada|1995|p=156}}.</ref>

Agricultural cultivation is possible with varying weather on a portion of land area apart from the Vientiane plain and the lowlands along the Mekong Valley. These cultivated areas are situated in the valleys cut by the rivers or the plateau regions of Xieng Khouang in the North and in the Bolavens in the south. Typically there are only two ways to cultivate: either the wet-field paddy system practiced among the Lao Loum or lowland in Lao, or the swidden cultivation system practiced in the hills.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Laos - Crops |url=http://countrystudies.us/laos/68.htm |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=countrystudies.us}}</ref>