Laos, offificially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to ,the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest.[13] Its capital and largest city is Vientiane.Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as oneof the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia.[14] Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally.[14] After a period of internal conflflict, Lan Xang broke intothree separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, the three territories came under a Frenchprotectorate and were united to form what is now known as Laos. It brieflfly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation but was re-colonised by France until it won autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. A post-independence civil war began, which saw the communist resistance, supported by the Soviet Union, fifight against the monarchy that later came under inflfluence of military regimes supported by the United States. After the Vietnam

War ended in 1975, the communist Pathet Lao came to power, ending the civil war. Laos was then dependent on military and economic aid from the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Laos is a member of the Asia-Pacifific Trade Agreement, the ASEAN, East Asia Summit, and La Francophonie. Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997; on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership.[15] It is a one-party socialist republic, espousing Marxism–Leninism and governed by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, under which non governmental organisations have routinely characterised the country's human rights record as poor, citing repeated abuses such as torture, restrictions on civil liberties and persecution of minorities. The politically and culturally dominant Lao people make up 53.2% of the population, mostly in the lowlands. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes live in the foothills and mountains. Laos's strategies for development are based on

generating electricity from rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, namely Thailand, China and Vietnam, as well as its initiative to become a "land-linked" nation, as evidenced by the construction of four new railways connecting Laos andneighbours.[16][17] Laos has been referred to as one of Southeast Asia and Pacifific's fastest growing economies by the World Bankwith annual GDP growth averaging 7.4% since 2009

History

Prehistory and early history [ edit ]

An ancient human skull was recovered in 2009 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.[26] Stone artefacts includingHoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos.[27] Archaeological evidence suggests an agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC.[28] 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 8th and 10th centuries

Lan Xang

Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang ('million elephants'), which was founded in the 14th century by a Lao prince, Fa Ngum, [30]:223 whose father had his family exiled from the Khmer Empire. Fa Ngum, with 10,000 Khmer troops, conquered many Lao principalities in the Mekong river basin, culminating in the capture of Vientiane. Ngum was descended from a long line of Lao kings that traced back to Khoun Boulom.[31] He made Theravada Buddhism the state religion, and Lan Xang prospered. His ministers, unable to tolerate his ruthlessness, forced him into exile to the present-day Thai province of Nan in 1373,[32] where he died. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, ascended to the throne under the name Samsenethai and reigned for 43 years. Lan Xang became an important trade centre during Samsenthai's reign, but after his death in 1421 it collapsed into warring factions for nearly a century.[33] In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion. Setthathirath became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of what became the symbol of Laos, That Luang. Settathirath disappeared in the mountains on his way back from a military expedition into Cambodia, and Lan Xang fellinto more than seventy years of instability, involving both Burmese invasion and civil war.[34] In 1637, when Sourigna Vongsa ascended the throne, Lan Xang further expanded its frontiers. His reign is often regarded as Laos'sgolden age. When he died without an heir, the kingdom split into three principalities. Between 1763 and 1769, Burmese armies overran northern Laos and annexed Luang Prabang, while Champasak eventually came under Siamese suzerainty. [35] hao Anouvong was installed as a vassal king of Vientiane by the Siamese. He encouraged a renaissance of Lao fifine 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.[36] Anouvong was taken to Bangkok as a prisoner, where he died.[37]A Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by a British observer as having been "transformed into slave-hunting raidson a large scale".The First Indochina War took place across French Indochina and eventually led to French defeat and the signing of a peace accord forLaos at the Geneva Conference of 1954. In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions in the Kingdom of Laos, fifighting broke out between theRoyal Lao Army (RLA) and the communist North Vietnamese and Soviet Union-backed Pathet Lao guerillas. A second ProvisionalGovernment of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 was 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 People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong. [48][47]Laos was a key part of the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North Vietnam since 1958 for use as a supply route for its war against South Vietnam. In response, the United States initiated a bombing campaign against the PAVN positions,supported regular and irregular anti-communist forces in Laos, and supported Army of the Republic of Vietnam incursions intoLaos. [48][47]In 1968, the PAVN launched a multi-division attack to help the Pathet Lao fifight the RLA. The attack resulted in the RLA largely demobilising, leaving the conflflict to irregular ethnic Hmong forces of the "Secret Army" backed by the United States and Thailand, and

led by General Vang Pao.[citation needed]Massive aerial bombardments against the PAVN/Pathet Lao forces were carried out by the United States to prevent the collapse of theKingdom of Laos central government, and to deny the use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to attack US forces in South Vietnam.[48] Between1964 and 1973, the US dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal to the 2.1 million tons of bombs the US dropped onEurope 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 notes this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos".[49] Some 80 million bombs failed to explode and remainscattered throughout the country, rendering vast swaths of land impossible to cultivate. Currently unexploded ordnance (UXO), includingcluster munitions and mines, kill or maim approximately 50 Laotians every year.[50] Because of the particularly heavy impact of clusterbombs during this war, Laos was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to ban the weapons and was host to the FirstMeeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010.[51]In 1975 the Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. He later diedunder suspicious circumstances in a re-education camp. Between 20,000 and 62,000 Laotians died during the civil war.[48][52] Theroyalists set up a government in exile in the United States.On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao government under Kaysone Phomvihane renamed the countryas the Lao People's Democratic Republic and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right to station armed forces and to appointadvisers to assist in overseeing the country. The close ties between Laos and Vietnam were formalised via a treaty signed in 1977, whichhas since provided direction for Lao foreign policy, and provides the basis for Vietnamese involvement at all levels of Lao political and economic life.[48][53] Laos was requested in 1979 by Vietnam to end relations with the People's Republic of China, leading to isolation in trade by China, the United States, and other countries.[54] In 1979, there were 50,000 PAVN troops stationed in Laos and as many as 6,000 civilian Vietnamese offificials including 1,000 directly attached to the ministries in Vientiane.[55][56] The conflflict between Hmong rebels and Laos continued in key areas of Laos, including in Saysaboune Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang Province. From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.[5] On 3 December 2021, the 422-kilometre Boten-Vientiane railway, a flflagship of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was opened.

Geography [ edit ]

Main article: Geography of Laos

Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and it lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N (a small area is south of 14°),and longitudes 100° and 108°E. 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, where 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. Laos can be considered to consist of three geographical areas: north, central, and south.[59] Laos had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.59/10, ranking it 98th globally out of 172 countries.[60] In 1993 the Laos government set aside 21% of the nation's land area for habitat conservation preservation.[61] The country is one of four

in the opium poppy growing region known as the "Golden Triangle".[62] 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.[63]

Climate [ edit ]

The climate is mostly tropical savanna and inflfluenced by the monsoon pattern.[64] There is a distinct rainy season from May to October,followed by a dry season from November to April. Local tradition holds that there are three seasons (rainy, cool and hot) as the latter two months of the climatologically defifined dry season are noticeably hotter than the earlier four months.[64]

Administrative divisions

[ edit ]

Main article: Administrative divisions of LaosLaos is divided into 17 provinces (khoueng) and one prefecture (kampheng nakhon), which includes the capital city Vientiane (Nakhon Louang Viangchan).[65] A new province, Xaisomboun province, was established on 13 December 2013.[66] Provinces are further divided into districts (muang) and then villages (ban). An "urban" village is essentially a town.

Economy [ edit ]

The Lao economy depends on investment and trade with its neighbours, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Pakxehas also experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. In 2009, despite the fact that the government is still offificially communist, the Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer a Marxist–Leninist state and lifted bans on Laotian companies receiving fifinancing from the US Export-Import Bank. [118][119]In 2016, China was the biggest foreign investor in Laos's economy, having invested in US$5.395 billion since 1989, according to Laos Ministry of Planning and Investment's 1989–2014 report. Thailand (invested US$4.489 billion) and Vietnam (invested US$3.108 billion) are the second and third largest investors respectively.[120] The economy receives development aid from the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, and other international sources; and also foreign direct investment for development of the society,industry, hydropower and mining (most notably of copper and gold).

Subsistence agriculture still accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of employment. Only 4% of the country is arable land and a mere 0.3% used as permanent crop land,[121] the lowest percentage in the Greater Mekong Subregion. [122] The irrigated areas under cultivation account for only 28% of the total area under cultivation which, in turn, represents only 12% of all of the agricultural land in  2012.[123] Rice dominates agriculture, with about 80% of the arable land area used for growing rice.[124] Approximately 77% of Lao farm households are self-suffificient in rice.[125] Laos may have the greatest number of rice varieties in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The Lao government has been working with the International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines to collect seed samples of each of the

thousands of rice varieties found in Laos.[126]

Laos is rich in mineral resources and imports petroleum and gas. Metallurgy is an important industry, and the government hopes to attract foreign investment to develop the substantial deposits of coal, gold, bauxite, tin, copper, and other valuable metals. The mining industry of Laos has received prominent attention with foreign direct investments. This sector has made signifificant contributions to the economic condition of Laos. More than 540 mineral deposits of gold, copper, zinc, lead and other minerals have been identifified, explored and mined.[127] In addition, thecountry's plentiful water resources and mountainous terrain enable it to produce and export large quantities of hydroelectric energy.[128] Of the potential capacity of approximately 18,000 megawatts, around 8,000 megawatts have been committed for export to Thailand and Vietnam.[129] As of 2021, despite cheap hydro power available in the country, Laos continues to also rely on fossil fuels, coal in particular, in the domestic electricity production.[130]In 2018, the country ranked 139th on the Human Development Index (HDI), indicating medium development.[131] According to the Global Hunger Index (2018), Laos ranks as the 36th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation(s).[132]

In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights conducted an offificial visit to Laos and found that the country's top-down approach to economic growth and poverty alleviation "is all too often counterproductive, leading to impoverishment and jeopardising the rights of the poor and marginalised."[133] The country's most widely recognised product may well be Beerlao, which in 2017 was exported to more than 20 countries worldwide. It is produced by the Lao BreweryCompany

Tourism [ edit ]

Main article: Tourism in Laos

The tourism sector has grown rapidly, from 80,000 international visitors in 1990, to 1.876 million in 2010,[135] when tourism had been expected to rise to US$1.5857 billion by 2020. In 2010, one in every 11 jobs was in the tourism sector. Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 16% of total exports or US$270.3 million in 2010, growing in nominal terms to US$484.2 million (12.5% of the total) in 2020.[136] The European Council on Trade and Tourism awarded the country the "World Best Tourist Destination" designation for 2013 for architecture and history.[137]

Luang Prabang and Vat Phou are both UNESCO World Heritage sites. Major festivals include Lao New Year celebrated around 13–15 April and involves a water festival similar but more subdued than that of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.The Lao National Tourism Administration, related government agencies and the private sector are working together to realise the vision put forth in the country's National Ecotourism Strategy and Action Plan. This includes decreasing the environmental and cultural impact of tourism; increasing awareness in the importance of ethnic groups and biological diversity; providing a source of income to conserve, sustain and manage the Lao protected area network and cultural heritage sites; and emphasizing the need for tourism zoning and management plans for sites that will be developed as ecotourism destinations.[1

Languages [ edit ]

The offificial and majority language is Lao, a language of the Tai-Kadai language family. However, only slightly more than half of the population speaks Lao natively. The remainder, particularly in rural areas, speak ethnic minority languages. The Lao alphabet, which evolved sometime between the 13th and 14th centuries, was derived from the ancient Khmer script and is very similar to Thai script.[151] Languages like Khmu (Austroasiatic) and Hmong (Hmong-Mien) are spoken by minorities, particularly in the midlandand highland areas. A number of Laotian sign languages are used in areas with high rates of congenital deafness.[47] French is occasionally used in government and commerce. Laos is a member of the French-speaking organisation of La Francophonie. The organisation estimates that there are 173,800 French speakers in Laos (2010 est.).[152]

English, the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has become increasingly studied in recent years.

Health [ edit ]

Main article: Health in Laos Male life expectancy at birth was at 62.6 years and female life expectancy was at 66.7 years in 2017.[155] Healthy life expectancy was 54years in 2007.[156] Government expenditure on health is about four percent of GDP,[156] about US$18 (PPP) in 2006.[156]

Education [ edit ]

Main article: Education in Laos

See also: National Library of Laos

The adult literacy rate for women in 2017 was 62.9%; for adult men, 78.1%.[140]:

39–40

In 2004 the net primary enrollment rate was 84%.[156] The National University of Laos is the Lao state's public university. As a low income country, Laos faces a brain-drain problem as many educated people migrate to developed countries. It is estimated that about 37% of educated Laotians live outside Laos.[157] Laos was ranked 117th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021 down from 113rd in

2020.

Culture [ edit ]

Main article: Culture of Laos

See also: Lao art, Lao cuisine, Dance and theatre of Laos, Laotian society, List of festivals in Laos, and Music of Laos Theravada Buddhism is a dominant inflfluence in Lao culture. It is evident throughout the country, expressed in language, temples and the arts and literature. Many elements of Lao culture predate Buddhism. For example, Laotian music is dominated by its national musical instrument, the khaen, a type of bamboo mouth organ that has prehistoric origins. The khaen traditionally accompanied the singer in mor lam, the dominant style of folk music. Sticky rice is a staple food and has cultural and religious signifificance to the Lao people. Sticky rice is generally preferred over jasmine rice, and sticky rice cultivation and production is thought to have originated in Laos. There are many traditions and rituals associated with rice production in different environments and among many ethnic groups. For example, Khammu farmers in Luang Prabang plant the ricevariety khao kam in small quantities near the farm house in memory of dead parents, or at the edge of the rice fifield to indicate that parents are still alive.[163] The sinh is a traditional garment worn by Lao women in daily life. It is a hand-woven silk skirt that can identify the woman who wears it in a variety of ways.

Cinema [ edit ]

Main article: Cinema of Laos

Since the founding of the Lao PDR in 1975, very few fifilms have been made in Laos.[164] The fifirst feature-length fifilm made after the monarchy was abolished is Gun Voice from the Plain of Jars, directed by Somchith Pholsena in 1983, although its release was prevented by a censorship board.[165] One of the fifirst commercial feature-length fifilms was Sabaidee Luang Prabang, made in 2008.[166] The 2017

documentary feature fifilm Blood Road was predominantly shot and produced in Laos with assistance from the Lao government, it was recognised with a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2018.[167]

Australian fifilmmaker Kim Mordount's fifirst feature fifilm was made in Laos and features a Laotian cast speaking their native language.Entitled The Rocket, the fifilm appeared at the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival and won three awards at the Berlin International Film Festival.[168] One production company's fifilm that has succeeded to produce Lao feature fifilms and gain international recognition isLao New Wave Cinema's At the Horizon, directed by Anysay Keola, that was screened at the OzAsia Film Festival[169] and Lao Art Media's Chanthaly (Lao: ຈ'ນທະລ:) directed by Mattie Do, which was screened at the 2013 Fantastic Fest. [170][171] In September 2017, Laos submitted Dearest Sister (Lao: ນ;ອງຮ'ກ), Mattie Do's second feature fifilm, to the 90th Academy Awards (or the Oscars) for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the country's fifirst submission for the Oscars.[172]As of 2018, Laos has three operating theatres dedicated to showing fifilms.