Thailand

Capital: Bangkok Population: 66,720,153 Official Languages: Thai Time Zone: +7 Dialing Code: +66

Government: constitutional monarchy Area: 513,120 km2 largest city: Bangkok Currency : Baht ISO 3166 code: TH

Basic Info

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.

Geography

Totalling 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi), Thailand is the world's 51st-largest country by total area. It is slightly smaller than Yemen and slightly larger than Spain.

Climate

Most of Thailand has a Tropical wet and dry or savanna climate (Aw) according to the Köppen climate classification, while the South and the eastern tip of the East have a tropical monsoon climate (Am); countrywide, temperatures normally range from an average annual high of 38 °C (100.4 °F) to a low of 19 °C (66.2 °F). During the dry season, the temperature rises dramatically in the second half of March, spiking to well over 40 °C (104 °F) in some areas by mid April when the Sun passes the Zenith. Southwest monsoons that arrive between May and July (except in the South) signal the advent of the rainy season (ruedu fon), which lasts into October and the cloud covering reduces the temperature again but the high humidity is experienced as 'hot and sticky'.

November and December mark the onset of the dry season and night temperatures on high ground can occasionally drop to a light frost. Temperatures begin to climb in January, and a hot sun parches the landscape. The dry season is shortest in the South because of the proximity of the sea to all parts of the Malay Peninsula. With only minor exceptions, every area of the country receives adequate rainfall, but the duration of the rainy season and the amount of rain vary substantially from region to region and with altitude.

The Northeast experiences a long dry season although the dry 2007/2008 season lasted only from late November through mid March. Its red,(laterite) dense clayey soils retain water well, which limits their agricultural potential for many crops but is ideal for keeping the water in the paddy fields and local village reservoirs. The well drained, loose sandy alluvium of the Mekong flood plain is very fertile, the main crops being tomatoes on an industrial scale, tobacco, and pineapples.

Religion

The most common religion is Theravada Buddhism. Thai Buddhism ranks amongst the highest in the world. According to the last census (2000) 94.6% of the total population are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6%. Thailand's southernmost provinces – Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla Chumphon have dominant muslim populations, consisting of both ethnic Thai and Malay. The southern tip of Thailand is mostly ethnically Malay, and most Malays are Sunni muslims. Christians represent 0.7% of the population. A small community of Sikhs in Thailand and some Hindus also live in the country's cities. There is also a small Jewish community in Thailand, dating back to the 17th century.

Administrative divisions

Thailand is divided into 75 provinces and the metropolitan municipality Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon). See Thailand Administrative divisions Map

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