[65] Provinces are further divided into districts (muang) and then villages (ban). The organisation estimates that there are 173,800 French speakers in Laos (2010 est.). WebKingdom of Laos Stamps Album Exhibition In the Exhibits section, E. Moallem exhibits his Kingdom of Laos stamps album. ), at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female0-14 years: 1.03 male(s)/female15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female55-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/femaletotal population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2022 est. [138] Two new lines connecting with Vietnam, namely the VientianeVng ng and SavannakhetLao Bao railways, are also under planning, in line to meet the Laotian government's vision of becoming a land-linked nation. [100], Ostensibly, the Constitution of Laos that was promulgated in 1991 and amended in 2003 contains most key safeguards for human rights. )$12.9 billion (31 December 2016 est. Laos (/los/ (listen)[9][d]), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao: , French: Rpublique dmocratique populaire lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. [154] Healthy life expectancy was 54 years in 2007. [50], In 1975 the Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. [110][111], Human rights advocates including Vang Pobzeb, Kerry and Kay Danes, and others have also raised concerns about human rights violations, torture, the arrest and detention of political prisoners as well as the detention of foreign prisoners in Laos including at the infamous Phonthong Prison in Vientiane. [97] The organisation also raised concerns in relation to freedom of expression, poor prison conditions, restrictions on freedom of religions, protection of refugees and asylum-seekers, and the death penalty. ), unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; water pollution, most of the population does not have access to potable water, party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whalingsigned, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements, particulate matter emissions: 24.49 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est. Ngum was descended from a long line of Lao kings that traced back to Khoun Boulom. WebSearch from Kingdom Of Laos stock photos, pictures and royalty-free images from iStock. [69] Trade relations with the United States were normalised in November 2004 through Congress approved legislation. Under Vietnamese pressure, he rebelled against the Siamese in 1826. ), urban population: 38.2% of total population (2023)rate of urbanization: 2.99% annual rate of change (2020-25 est. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications", "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia: analysis of data from the world health survey programme", Politics in Contemporary Southeast Asia: Authority, Democracy and Political Change, Renovation in Vietnam since 1988 a study in political, economic and social change, "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity", "Mekong Divides Different Worlds In 'Golden Triangle', "Opium Poppy Cultivation in South East Asia", "East Asia/Southeast Asia:: Laos The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency", "Laos promotes PM Thongloun as leader of communist party", "OEC Laos (LAO) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners", "Q+A What is the East Asia Summit all about? The Pathet Lao began a war against the French colonial forces with the aid of the Vietnamese independence organisation, the Viet Minh. [84] Following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the United States, in a significant victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees in 2003. ), total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est. [141] Laos's predominantly rural[142] population makes investing in sanitation difficult. In 2010, one in every 11 jobs was in the tourism sector. )exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. [46], During the First Indochina War, the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao independence organisation. In 1950, the French were forced to give Laos semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. )nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est. )permanent crops: 0.7% (2018 est. The Lao League is the top professional league for association football clubs in the country. The Tai-Kadai Languages, ":: Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, R.o.c. [130] 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). Other carriers serving the country include Bangkok Airways, Vietnam Airlines, AirAsia, Thai Airways and China Eastern Airlines. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, ascended to the throne under the name Samsenethai and reigned for 43years. According to the World Bank data conducted in 2014, Laos has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets on water and sanitation regarding the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme. )$7,800 (2020 est. [19][20][21][22][23] In the Lao language, the country's name is Muang Lao () or Pathet Lao (), both of which literally mean 'Lao Country'. o din: Sato Shinsuke. Lao People's Democratic Republic", Asian Migrations: Social and Geographical Mobilities in Southeast, East, and Northeast Asia, "Release of the Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation? Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam, total: 236,800 sq kmland: 230,800 sq kmwater: 6,000 sq km, about twice the size of Pennsylvania; slightly larger than Utah, total: 5,274 kmborder countries (5): Burma 238 km; Cambodia 555 km; China 475 km; Thailand 1,845 km; Vietnam 2,161 km, tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April), mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus, highest point: Phu Bia 2,817 mlowest point: Mekong River 70 mmean elevation: 710 m, timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones, agricultural land: 10.6% (2018 est. note: data are in current year dollars$7.518 billion (2019 est. [77] Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. ), Thailand 53%, China 26%, Vietnam 10% (2019), refined petroleum, cars, cattle, iron structures, steel products (2019), $1.476 billion (31 December 2021 est. )from petroleum and other liquids: 2.855 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est. Bounchao Pichit, "Laos Cinema," in David Hanan, ed., General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, "Results of Population and Housing Census 2015", "Lao People's Democratic Republic's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2003", https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf, "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2022", "Lao People's Democratic Republic and the WTO", "China train project runs roughshod over Laos", "Laos approves Xayaburi 'mega' dam on Mekong", "Laos Securities Exchange to start trading", "10 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Laos", "Anatomically modern human in Southeast Asia (Laos) by 46 ka", "Archaeological Investigations in northern Laos: New contributions to Southeast Asian prehistory", "History and Practice of Archaeology in Laos", Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2014). [101] On 25 September 2009, Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, nine years after signing the treaty. (approximately $85 million), information is limited and estimates vary; approximately 30,000 active duty troops (26,000 Army; 4,000 Air Force) (2022), the LPAF is armed largely with Soviet-era weapons acquired from the former Soviet Union, Russia, and Vietnam; since 2010, China and Russia have been the leading suppliers of military equipment to Laos (2022), 18 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; minimum 18-month service obligation (2022), the LPAFs primary missions are border and internal security, including counterinsurgency and counterterrorismVietnam is the Laotian military's primary security partner, although in recent years, Laos has expanded defense ties with China (2022), Laos-Cambodia: in 2021, the two countries agreed to increase efforts to combat drug trafficking and other transnational crimes and to complete the last 14% of their border demarcation, Laos-Cambodia-Vietnam: Cambodia and Vietnam are concerned about Laos' extensive plans for upstream dam construction and the potential harm it poses to fisheries and farming downstream, Laos-China: concern among Mekong River Commission members that China's construction of eight dams on the Upper Mekong River and construction of more dams on its tributaries will affect water levels, sediment flows, and fisheries, Laos-Thailand: talks continue as of 2018 on completion of demarcation with Thailand but disputes remain over islands in the Mekong River, Laos-Vietnam: Laos and Vietnam completed border demarcation in 2016, Bokeo Province part of the Golden Triangle, a notorious drug production and transit area; remains a poppy cultivator and source of illicit opium and a transit hub for other illicit drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and chemical precursors; estimate of 4,925 ha of opium poppy cultivated in Laos in 2018, total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030, Children under the age of 5 years underweight, School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education), International law organization participation, Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income, Household income or consumption by percentage share, Civil aircraft registration country code prefix, Military and security service personnel strengths, Military equipment inventories and acquisitions, Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI). [19] In English, the 's' is pronounced, and not silent. 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 and neighbours. ), Thailand 36%, China 28%, Vietnam 16% (2019), electricity, copper, rubber, gold, flavored water (2019), $6.527 billion (2021 est.) [25] Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos. [60] The country is one of four in the opium poppy growing region known as the "Golden Triangle". [79], In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier and leader of the largest Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, who had been recruited by the USEmbassy in Bangkok to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation programme's success, disappeared in Vientiane. [144], Laos's population was estimated at 7.45million in 2020, dispersed unevenly across the country. Layers of Chinese Loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai as Evidence for the Dating of the Spread of Southwestern Tai, "Let's hope Laos hangs on to its identity", "Slavery in Nineteenth-Century Northern Thailand: Archival Anecdotes and Village Voices", Creating Laos: The Making of a Lao Space Between Indochina and Siam, 18601945, "Laos Encyclopdia Britannica Overview", "Making More Enemies than We Kill? Economic growth averaged more than 6% per year in the period 1988-2008, and Laos' growth has more recently been amongst the fastest in Asia, averaging more than 7% per year for most of the last decade. [53] In 1979, there were 50,000 PAVN troops stationed in Laos and as many as 6,000 civilian Vietnamese officials including 1,000 directly attached to the ministries in Vientiane. The government appears committed to raising the country's profile among foreign investors and has developed special economic zones replete with generous tax incentives, but a limited labor pool, a small domestic market, and corruption remain impediments to investment. WebThe country was governed as a constitutional monarchy that ruled Laos beginning with its independence on 9 November 1953. Setthathirath became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of what became the symbol of Laos, That Luang. [66][67] The incumbent head of government is Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.