Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is a country in Mainland Southeast Asia, and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Laos has a population of more than 7.5 million, and its capital and most populous city is Vientiane. It has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the town of Luang Prabang, the temple complex of Vat Phou, and the Plain of Jars. Laos participates in the Greater Mekong Subregion economic cooperation programme and is a member of ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, East Asia Summit, La Francophonie, and the World Trade Organization.
The kingdom of Lan Xang existed from the 14th to 18th centuries and was a hub for overland trade through its territory. In 1707 it split into three kingdoms: Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. In 1893, these kingdoms were unified under French rule as part of French Indochina. Laos was under Japanese administration during World War II, gaining independence in 1945 before returning to French administration until achieving autonomy in 1949. It regained full independence in 1953 as the Kingdom of Laos, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. A civil war from 1959 to 1975 saw the communist Pathet Lao (supported by China, North Vietnam, and the Soviet Union) oppose the Royal Lao Armed Forces (backed by the United States). It ended with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party's establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975.
Etymology In the Lao language, the country is colloquially called Muang Lao (, ) or Pathet Lao (). The official state name is the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao: ). In English, the country name is written as Laos, while Lao serves as both the primary demonym and adjective; the term Laotian is also used to refer to citizens or inhabitants of the country. The English name Laos was adopted from French, which historically pluralised the ethnonym with a terminal "s" to refer to the Lao people and their various kingdoms collectively
Traditional Lao historiography presents several explanations for the origin of the word Lao (). One theory connects the name to the Pali word lābu, referring to the bottle gourd, a central element in traditional Lao origin myths from which humanity emerged. Another account traces the name to Tai-Lao tribes migrating southwards from Yunnan, originally known as Kao Long (referring to nine dragons or legendary chieftains), which was shortened to Luang and eventually transformed into Lao. A folk etymology suggests that indigenous valley dwellers referred to high-altitude migrants as Dao (, 'star') due to their proximity to the sky, a term that later shifted phonetically to Lao.
In modern linguistics, the ethnonym is linked to Chinese Han dynasty records mentioning the Ai Lao () confederation. French linguist Michel Ferlus proposed that Lao stems from an Austroasiatic root, *k.raw, denoting "human being" or "person".
Geography
Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia and lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N, and longitudes 100° and 108°E. Its forested landscape consists mostly of mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at , with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a 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 major plateaus: the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven Plateau at the southern end.
In 1993, the government set aside 21% of the land area for habitat conservation preservation. Laos had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.59/10, ranking it 98th globally out of 172 countries. It is one of three nations 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 , down from in 2006.
Climate
The climate is mostly tropical savanna and influenced by the monsoon pattern. There is a rainy season from May to October, followed by a dry season from November to April. The latter two months of the climatologically defined dry season are hotter than the earlier four months.
Wildlife
Laos, with its forests and river systems, is home to an array of wildlife. National parks like Nam Et-Phou Louey and Nakai-Nam Theun are refuges, supporting endangered species such as the northern white-cheeked gibbon and the saola. These forests shelter more than 50 mammal species and nearly 300 bird species, along with a variety of reptiles and amphibians. Some of the native species are listed as endangered, from Asian elephants to gibbons and tigers, and conservation efforts are in place to protect them.
Administrative divisions
Laos is divided into 17 provinces and one prefecture, which includes the capital city Vientiane.
No. Province Capital Area(km2) Population2005 Census Population2015 Census PopulationMid 2023 Estimate 1 Attapeu Attapeu (Samakkhixay district) 10,320 112,120 139,628 147,000 2 Bokeo Houayxay (Houayxay district) 6,196 145,263 179,243 213,300 3 Bolikhamsai Paksan (Paksane District) 14,863 225,301 273,691 330,700 4 Champasak Pakse (Pakse District) 15,415 607,370 694,023 781,200 5 Houaphanh Xam Neua (Xamneua District) 16,500 280,938 289,393 317,100 6 Khammouane Thakhek (Thakhek District) 16,315 337,390 392,052 451,300 7 Luang Namtha Luang Namtha (Namtha District) 9,325 145,310 175,753 208,900 8 Luang Prabang Luang Prabang (Luang Prabang district) 16,875 407,039 431,889 477,700 9 Oudomxay Muang Xay (Xay District) 15,370 265,179 307,622 360,800 10 Phongsaly Phongsali (Phongsaly District) 16,270 165,447 177,989 197,600 11 Sainyabuli Sayabouly (Xayabury District) 16,389 338,669 381,376 439,400 12 Salavan Salavan (Salavan District) 10,691 324,327 396,942 464,800 13 Savannakhet Savannakhet (Kaysone Phomvihane District) 21,774 825,902 969,697 1,117,500 14 Sekong Sekong (Lamarm District) 7,665 84,995 113,048 136,700 15 Vientiane Prefecture Vientiane (Chanthabouly district) 3,920 698,318 820,940 1,009,300 16 Vientiane Province Phonhong (Phonhong District) 15,610 361,891 419,090 479,400 17 Xiengkhouang Phonsavan (Pek District) 14,751 229,596 244,684 274,400 18 Xaisomboun Anouvong (Anouvong district) 8,551 66,427 85,168 116,800 Totals 236,800 5,621,982 6,492,228(a) 7,545,800 Note: (a) The 2015 Census total was estimated to have an under-enumeration of 2.76%, resulting in a revised 2015 estimate of 6,671,680.
History
Prehistory In 2009, an anatomically modern human skull was recovered from Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains. At least 46,000 years old, the skull was the oldest modern human fossil discovered in Southeast Asia at the time. Stone artifacts, including Hoabinhian types, have also been found at Pleistocene sites in northern Laos.
Archaeological evidence indicates that an agricultural society developed during the 4th millennium BCE, with bronze artifacts appearing around 1500 BCE and iron tools by 700 BCE. The proto-historic period was characterized by contact with Chinese and Indian civilizations. Linguistic and historical evidence indicates that Tai-speaking groups migrated southwest from Guangxi into present-day Laos and Thailand between the 8th and 10th centuries.
Lan Xang Prince Fa Ngum founded the kingdom of Lan Xang ("a million elephants") in the 14th century. Leading 10,000 Khmer troops, he conquered several principalities in the Mekong River basin and captured Vientiane. Fa Ngum traced his lineage back to Khun Borom and established Theravada Buddhism as the state religion. In 1373, ministers forced him into exile in Nan due to his ruthlessness, where he later died. His eldest son succeeded him as Samsenethai and reigned for 43 years. Lan Xang became a regional trade hub during Samsenethai's reign, but after his death in 1421, the kingdom fractured into competing factions for nearly a century.Sanda Simms, ch. 3, "Through Chaos to a New Order", in The Kingdoms of Laos (London: Taylor & Francis, 2013).
In 1520, Photisarath ascended the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to counter the threat of a Burmese invasion. Setthathirath became king in 1548 and commissioned That Luang. After Setthathirath disappeared in the mountains during a military campaign in Cambodia, Lan Xang entered a 70-year period of instability marked by civil war and Burmese invasions.Sanda Simms, ch. 6, "Seventy Years of Anarchy", in The Kingdoms of Laos (London: Taylor & Francis, 2013). ; see also P.C. Sinha, ed., Encyclopaedia of South East and Far East Asia, vol. 3 (Anmol, 2006).
Sourigna Vongsa expanded Lan Xang's borders after taking the throne in 1637. When he died without an heir, the kingdom split into three principalities. Between 1763 and 1769, Burmese forces overran northern Laos and annexed Luang Prabang, while the Kingdom of Champasak came under Siamese suzerainty. The Siamese installed Anouvong as a vassal king of Vientiane. Anouvong patronized Lao arts and literature while seeking closer ties with Luang Prabang. Under Vietnamese pressure, he launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Siam in 1826; Vientiane was ransacked, and Anouvong died as a captive in Bangkok.
Because population control was prioritized over territorial expansion in traditional Southeast Asian warfare, military conflicts often targeted captives and resources. A British observer described an 1876 Siamese military campaign in Laos as "transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large scale".
French Laos
In the 19th century, Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black Flag Army. France rescued King Oun Kham and included Luang Prabang to the protectorate of French Indochina. The Kingdom of Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were later also added to the protectorate. King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang became ruler of a unified Laos under French control of the region, and Vientiane once again became the capital.Carine Hahn, Le Laos, Karthala, 1999, pp. 69–72
Laos produced tin, rubber, and coffee, while the country never accounted for more than 1% of French Indochina's exports. By 1940, around 600 French citizens lived in Laos. Under French rule, the Vietnamese were encouraged to migrate to Laos; this was seen by the French colonists as a rational solution to a labour shortage within the confines of an Indochina-wide colonial space. By 1943, the Vietnamese population stood at nearly 40,000, forming the majority in some cities of Laos and having the right to elect its own leaders. As a result, 53% of the population of Vientiane, 85% of Thakhek, and 62% of Pakse were Vietnamese; the exception was Luang Prabang, where the population was predominantly Lao. In 1945, the French drew up a plan to move some of the Vietnamese to the Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region, and the Bolaven Plateau, which was derailed by the Japanese invasion of Indochina. Otherwise, according to Martin Stuart-Fox, the Lao might well have lost control over their own country.