Laos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Laos (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 18N 105E

Lao People's Democratic Republic

(Lao)

Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao

Flag Emblem

Motto:

"Peace, independence, democracy, unity and prosperity"

Anthem: Pheng Xat Lao

Lao National Anthem

MENU
0:00

Location of Laos (green)

in ASEAN (dark grey) [Legend]

Capital Vientiane
and largest city 1758N 10236E

Official languages Lao

 Spoken languages Lao
Hmong
Khmu
French

Ethnic groups(2005[1])
55% Lao

11% Khmu

8% Hmong

26% othera

Religion Buddhism

Demonym Laotian
Lao

Government Unitary MarxistLeninist o

ne-partyCommunist
republic

General Secretary and President Bounnhang Vorachith

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith
Vice President Phankham Viphavanh
National Assembly President Pany Yathotou

Legislature National Assembly

Formation
Kingdom of Lan Xang 13541707
Luang 17071778
Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak
Vassal of Thonburi and Siam 17781893
War of Succession 18268
French Indochina 18931949
Independence from France 19 July 1949
Declared Independence 22 October 1953
Laotian civil war 9 November 1953 2
December 1975
Lao Monarchy abolished 2 December 1975
Current constitution 14 August 1991

Area
 Total 237,955 km2(91,875 sq mi)
(84th)
Water (%) 2

Population
2014 (Jul) estimate 6,803,699[2] (104th)
2015 census 6,492,228[3]
Density 26.7/km2 (69.2/sq mi)
(177th)

GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate

Total $44.639 billion[4]
Per capita $6,115[4]

GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate

Total $14.971 billion[4]
Per capita $2,051[4]

Gini (2008) 36.7[5]

medium

HDI (2015) 0.586[6]

medium 138th

Currency Kip (LAK)

Time zone ICT

Date format dd/mm/yyyy

Drives on the right

Calling code +856

ISO 3166 code LA

Internet TLD .la

a Including over 100 smaller ethnic groups.

You may need rendering

support to display the Lao text in
this article correctly.

Laos, ( /los/,[7] /las/, /ls/, or /les/;[8][9] Lao: , Lao pronunciation: [lw], Lo) officially
i

the Lao People's Democratic Republic, (Lao:

 , Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao) or commonly referred to its colloquial name of Muang
Lao (Lao: , Muang Lao) is a landlocked country in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula
of Mainland Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to
the east, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand to the west and southwest.[10]
Present day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom
Khao (Kingdom of a Million Elephants Under the White Parasol), which existed for four centuries as
one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia.[11] Due to Lan Xang's central geographical location in
Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a popular hub for overland trade, becoming
wealthy economically as well as culturally.[11]
After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke off into three separate kingdoms Luang
Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three
territories uniting to form what is now known as the country of Laos. It briefly gained independence in
1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949.
Laos became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly
after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet
Lao movement came to power in 1975.
Laos is a one-party socialist republic. It espouses Marxism and is governed by the Lao People's
Revolutionary Party, in which the party leadership is dominated by military figures. The Socialist
Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army continue to have significant influence in Laos.
The capital city is Vientiane. Other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse.
The official language is Lao. Laos is a multi-ethnic country with the politically and culturally
dominant Lao people making up approximately 60 percent of the population, mostly in the
lowlands. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes, accounting for 40 percent
of the population, live in the foothills and mountains.
Laos' ambitious strategies for development are based on generating electricity from its rivers and
selling the power to its neighbors, namely Thailand, China, and Vietnam, as well as its initiative to
become a 'land-linked' nation, shown by the planning of four new railways connecting Laos to those
same countries.[12] This, along with growth of the mining sector, Laos has been referred to as one of
East Asia and Pacific's fastest growing economies by the World Bank, with annual GDP growth
averaging 7% for the past decade.[13][14]
It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), East Asia Summit and La Francophonie. Laos applied for membership of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997; on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. [15]
According to the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Laos
remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world. This has deterred foreign investment and
created major problems with the rule of law, including the nation's ability to enforce contract and
business regulation.[16] This has contributed to a third of the population of Laos currently living below
the international poverty line (living on less than US$1.25 per day).[17] Laos has a low-income
economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2014, the country ranked 141st on
the Human Development Index (HDI), indicating lower medium development.[18] According to
the Global Hunger Index (2015), Laos ranks as the 29th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of
the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation(s). [19] Laos has also had a poor human rights record.

Contents
[hide]

1Etymology

2History
 o 2.1Early history

o 2.2Lan Xang

o 2.3French Laos (18931953)

o 2.4Independence and Communist Rule (1953present)

3Geography

o 3.1Administrative divisions

o 3.2Environmental problems and illegal logging

4Government and politics

o 4.1Military

o 4.2Hmong conflict

o 4.3Human rights

5Economy

o 5.1Tourism

o 5.2Infrastructure

6Demographics

o 6.1Ethnicity

6.1.1Lao Loum (lowland people)

6.1.2Lao Theung (midland people)

6.1.3Lao Soung (highland people)

o 6.2Languages

o 6.3Religion

o 6.4Health

o 6.5Education

7Culture
 o 7.1Polygamy

o 7.2Media

o 7.3Sport

8See also

9Notes

10References

11External links

Etymology[edit]
The English word Laos was coined by the French, who united the three Lao kingdoms in French
Indochina in 1893, and named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common ethnic
group, which are the Lao people.
In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" () or "Pathet Lao" ():
both literally mean "Lao Country".[20]

History[edit]
Main article: History of Laos
Early history[edit]
An ancient human skull was recovered from the Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains in
northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found
to date in Southeast Asia.[21] Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites
dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos.[22] Archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist
society developed during the 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a
complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC, and iron tools were known from
700 BC. The proto-historic period is characterised by contact with Chinese and Indian civilisations.
According to linguistic and other historical evidence, Tai-speaking tribes migrated southwestward to
the modern territories of Laos and Thailand from Guangxi sometime between the 8th10th centuries.
[23]

Lan Xang[edit]
Main article: Lan Xang

Pha That Luang in Vientiane is the national symbol of Laos.

A statue of Fa Ngum, founder of the Lan Xang kingdom.

Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), founded in the 14th century,
by a Lao prince Fa Ngum,[24]:223 who with 10,000 Khmer troops, took over Vientiane. Ngum was
descended from a long line of Lao kings, tracing back to Khoun Boulom. He made Theravada
Buddhism the state religion and Lan Xang prospered. Within 20 years of its formation, the kingdom
expanded eastward to Champa and along the Annamite mountains in Vietnam. His ministers, unable
to tolerate his ruthlessness, forced him into exile to the present-day Thai province of Nan in 1373,
[25]
where he died. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, came to the throne under the
name Samsenthai and reigned for 43 years. During his reign, Lan Xang became an important trade
centre. After his death in 1421, Lan Xang collapsed into warring factions for the next 100 years.
In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to
avoid a Burmese invasion. Setthathirat became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered
the construction of what would become the symbol of Laos, That Luang. Setthathirat disappeared in
the mountains on his way back from a military expedition into Cambodia and Lan Xang began to
rapidly decline.
It was not until 1637, when Sourigna Vongsa ascended the throne, that Lan Xang would further
expand its frontiers. His reign is often regarded as Laos's golden age. When he died, leaving Lan
Xang without an heir, the kingdom divided into three principalities. Between 1763 and 1769,
Burmese armies overran northern Laos and annexed Luang Phrabang, while Champasak eventually
came under Siamese suzerainty.
Chao Anouvong was installed as a vassal king of Vientiane by the Siamese. He encouraged a
renaissance of Lao fine arts and literature and improved relations with Luang Phrabang. Under
Vietnamese pressure, he rebelled against the Siamese in 1826. The rebellion failed and Vientiane
was ransacked.[26] Anouvong was taken to Bangkok as a prisoner, where he died.
A Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by a British observer as having been
"transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large scale".[27]
French Laos (18931953)[edit]
Main articles: French Protectorate of Laos and First Indochina War
Local Lao soldiers in the French Colonial guard, c.1900.

In the late 19th century, Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black Flag Army.[28]France
rescued King Oun Kham and added Luang Phrabang to the Protectorate of French Indochina.
Shortly after, the Kingdom of Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were added to the
protectorate. King Sisavang Vong of Luang Phrabang became ruler of a unified Laos and Vientiane
once again became the capital.
Laos never had any importance for France[29] other than as a buffer state between British-influenced
Thailand and the more economically important Annam and Tonkin. During their rule, the French
introduced the corve, a system that forced every male Lao to contribute 10 days of manual labour
per year to the colonial government. Laos produced tin, rubber, and coffee, but never accounted for
more than one percent of French Indochina's exports. By 1940, around 600 French citizens lived in
Laos.[30]
During World War II in Laos, Vichy France, fascist Thailand, Imperial Japan, Free France,
and Chinese nationalist armies occupied Laos. On 9 March 1945, a nationalist group declared Laos
once more independent, with Luang Prabang as its capital but on 7 April 1945 two battalions of
Japanese troops occupied the city.[31] The Japanese attempted to force Sisavang Vong (the King of
Luang Phrabang) to declare Laotian independence but on 8 April he instead simply declared an end
to Laos' status as a French protectorate. The King then secretly sent Prince Kindavong to represent
Laos to the Allied forces and Prince Sisavang as representative to the Japanese.[31] When Japan
surrendered, some Lao nationalists (including Prince Phetsarath) declared Laotian independence,
but by early 1946, French troops had reoccupied the country and conferred limited autonomy on
Laos.
During the First Indochina War, the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao resistance
organisation. The Pathet Lao began a war against the French Colonial forces with the aid of
the Vietnamese independence organisation (the Viet Minh). In 1950 the French granted Laos semi-
autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. France remained in de facto control until
22 October 1953, when Laos gained full independence as a constitutional monarchy.
Independence and Communist Rule (1953present)[edit]
Main articles: History of Laos since 1945, Kingdom of Laos, and Laotian Civil War
French General Salan and Prince Sisavang Vatthana in Luang Prabang, 4 May 1953.

The First Indochina War took place across French Indochina and eventually led to French defeat and
the signing of a peace accord for Laos at the Geneva Conference of 1954. In 1955, the US
Department of Defense created a special Programs Evaluation Office to replace French support of
the Royal Lao Army against the communist Pathet Lao as part of the US containment policy.
In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions in the Kingdom of Laos, fighting broke out between the Royal
Lao Army and the communist North Vietnam-backed, and Soviet Union-backed Pathet Lao guerillas.
A second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962
proved to be unsuccessful, and the situation steadily deteriorated into large scale civil war between
the Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed militarily by
the NVA and Vietcong.

Ruins of Muang Khoun, former capital of Xiangkhouang province, destroyed by the American bombing of
Laos in the late 1960s.

Laos was a key part of the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North
Vietnam for use as a supply route for its war against the South. In response, the United States
initiated a bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese positions, supported regular and
irregular anticommunist forces in Laos and supported South Vietnamese incursions into Laos.
In 1968 the North Vietnamese Army launched a multi-division attack to help the Pathet Lao to fight
the Royal Lao Army. The attack resulted in the army largely demobilising, leaving the conflict to
irregular ethnic Hmong forces of the "U.S. Secret Army" backed by the United States and Thailand,
and led by General Vang Pao.
Massive aerial bombardment against the Pathet Lao and invading People's Army of Vietnam forces
were carried out by the United States to prevent the collapse of the Royal Kingdom of Laos central
government, and to deny the use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to attack US forces in the Republic of
Vietnam. Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal
to the 2.1 million tons of bombs the U.S. dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II,
making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history relative to the size of its population; The
New York Times noted this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos."[32] Some 80 million bombs
failed to explode and remain scattered throughout the country, rendering vast swathes of land
impossible to cultivate and killing or maiming 50 Laotians every year.[33](Due to the particularly heavy
impact of cluster bombs during this war, Laos was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster
Munitions to ban the weapons, and was host to the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention
in November 2010.[34])
Pathet Lao soldiers in Vientiane, 1972.

In 1975 the Pathet Lao, along with the Vietnam People's Army, and backed by the Soviet Union,
overthrew the royalist Lao government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December
1975. He later died in prison. Between 20,000 and 70,000 Laotians died during the Civil War.[35][36][37][38]
On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao government under Kaysone
Phomvihane renamed the country as the Lao People's Democratic Republic and signed agreements
giving Vietnam the right to station armed forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the
country. Laos was requested in 1979 by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to end relations with
the People's Republic of China, leading to isolation in trade by China, the United States, and other
countries.
In addition to the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, by the Soviet-backed Vietnam People's Army,
the post-Vietnam War occupation of Laos continued during the 1970s and 1980s.
The conflict between Hmong rebels and the Vietnam People's Army of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam (SRV), as well as the SRV-backed Pathet Lao continued in key areas of Laos, including in
Saysaboune Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane Province and
Xieng Khouang Province. From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao
refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.[39] (See: Indochina refugee crisis)

Geography[edit]
Main article: Geography of Laos

Laos map of Kppen climate classification.

Mekong River flowing through Luang Prabang.

Paddy fields in Laos.

Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and it lies mostly between
latitudes 14 and 23N (a small area is south of 14), and longitudes 100 and 108E. Its thickly
forested landscape consists mostly of rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,818
metres (9,245 ft), with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a large part of the
western boundary with Thailand, whereas the mountains of the Annamite Range form most of the
eastern border with Vietnam and the Luang Prabang Range the northwestern border with the Thai
highlands. There are two plateaux, the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven Plateau at the
southern end. The climate is tropical and influenced by the monsoon pattern.[40]
There is a distinct rainy season from May to November, followed by a dry season from December to
April. Local tradition holds that there are three seasons (rainy, cold and hot) as the latter two months
of the climatologically defined dry season are noticeably hotter than the earlier four months. The
capital and largest city of Laos is Vientiane and other major cities include Luang
Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse.[citation needed]
In 1993 the Laos government set aside 21 percent of the nation's land area for habitat conservation
preservation.[41] The country is one of four in the opium poppy growing region known as the "Golden
Triangle". According to the October 2007 UNODC fact book Opium Poppy Cultivation in South East
Asia, the poppy cultivation area was 15 square kilometres (5.8 sq mi), down from 18 square
kilometres (6.9 sq mi) in 2006.
Laos can be considered to consist of three geographical areas: north, central, and south. [42]
Administrative divisions[edit]
Main article: Administrative divisions of Laos
Laos is divided into 17 provinces (khoueng) and one prefecture (kampheng nakhon) which includes
the capital city Vientiane (Nakhon Louang Viangchan). The new province, Xaisomboun Province,
was established on 13 December 2013. Provinces are further divided into districts (muang) and then
villages (ban). An "urban" village is essentially a town.[42]