43.Laos

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Since 1975, it has been ruled by a Marxist and communist government. Its population was estimated to be around 6.8 million in July 2014. Significant corruption exists in the Lao government, military, and communist party in the LPDR, and the legacy of a command economy, as well as excess spending on military and defense budgets during the Cold War and its aftermath, have continued to impoverish Laos.