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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. |
|
-GEOGRAPHY |
| Area
|
total
: 514,000 sq km
land : 511,770 sq km
water : 2,230 sq km
|
|
| Land
boundaries |
total
: 4,863 km
border countries :
-
Laos 1,754 km,
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Burma 1,800 km,
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Cambodia 803 km,
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Malaysia 506 km
|
| Coastline |
3,219
km
|
| Climate |
tropical;
rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September);
dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern
islands always hot and humid
|
| Terrain |
central
plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; moutains elsewhere
|
| Elevation
extremes |
lowest
point :
Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point :
Doi Ihthanon 2,576
m
|
| Natural
resources |
tin,
rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish,
gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land
|
| Land
use |
arable
land : 27.54%
permanent crops : 6.93%
other : 65.53% (2005)
|
| Irrigated
Land |
49,860
sq km (2003)
|
| Natural
hazards |
land
subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the
water table; droughts
|
| -PEOPLE |
| Population |
65,068,149
note : estimates explicitly take into account the effects
of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can be result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2007 est.)
|
| Age
structure |
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.)
|
| Growth
rate |
0.663%
(2007 est.)
|
| Birth
rate |
13.73
births / 1,000 population (2007 est.)
|
| Death
rate |
7.1
deaths / 1,000 population (2007 est.)
|
| Net
migration rate
|
0
migrant / 1,000 population (2007 est.)
|
Sex
ratio
|
at
birth : 1.05 males / female
under 15 years : 1.047 males / female
15-64 years : 0.976 male / female
65 years and over : 0.834 male / female
total population : 0.979 male / female (2007 est.)
|
| Infant
mortality rate |
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.)
|
Life
expectancy at birth
|
total
population : 72.55 years
male : 70.24 years
female :74.98 years (2007 est.)
|
| Total
fertility rate
|
1.64
children born / woman (2007 est.)
|
| HIV
/ AIDS |
adult
prevalence rate : 1.5% (2003 est.)
people
living with HIV / AIDS : 570,000 (2003 est.)
|
| Ethnic
groups |
Thai
75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
|
| Religions |
Buddhist
94,6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)
|
| Languages |
Thai,
English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional
dialects. 74 living languages are listed for Thailand, including
Thai, Northeastern Thai, Northern Thai and Southern Thai.
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| Literacy |
definition
: age 15 and over can read and write
total population : 92.6%
male : 94.9%
female : 90.5% (2004 est.)
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