Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked socialist republic in southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (also known as Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west.
Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang, founded in the 14th century, which lasted until the 18th century, when Siam assumed control of the separate principalities that remained.
Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia and the thickly forested landscape consists mostly of rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 9,242 feet (2,817 m), with some plains and plateaus.
The Lao People's Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west.
About half the country's people are ethnic Lao[?], the principal lowland inhabitants and the politically and culturally dominant group.
In the central and southern mountains, Mon[?]-Khmer[?] tribes, known as Lao Theung[?] or midslope Lao, predominate.
A variety of different groups have claimed responsibility including the Committee for Independence and Democracy in Laos and Lao Citizens Movement for Democracy.
An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Laos.
Laos is divided in 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Borikhamxay, Champassack, Houaphan, Khammouane, Louang Namtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Saravane, Savannakhet, Vientiane*, Vientiane, Sayaboury, Saysomboun**, Xekong, Xieng Khouang
Asia, bordered by Myanmar (commonly known in the west as Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west.
Laos' early history was dominated by the wider Nan-chao kingdom, which was succeded in the 14th century by the local kingdom of Lan Xang that lasted until its decline in the 18th century, after which Thailand assumed control of the separate
Pathet Lao movement overthrew the royal government and took control of the country, which they promptly renamed the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
www.gurupedia.com /l/la/laos.htm (940 words)
PEACE INDEPENDENCE DEMOCRACY UNITY PROSPERITY(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
Lao PM Respond the Claim of An Arrest of Students on Oct. 99.
Laos also benefits from a number of trade facilitation initiatives aimed at boosting the access of Laos exports to EU market, particularly through the EU-Lao PDR trade in textiles agreement and everything but arms initiative.
As CND member, the Lao PDR, within the next four years, is to adhere to and fulfill its strategic plan for eradication of opium poppy cultivation by 2005.
Main article: History of LaosLaos' early history was dominated by the wider Nan-chao kingdom, which was succeded in the 14th century by the local kingdom of Lan Xang that lasted until its decline in the 18th century, after which Thailand assumed control of the separate principalities that remained.
Main article: Geography of LaosLaos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia and the thickly forested landscape consists mostly of rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,817 m, with some plains and plateaus.
Main article: Culture of Laos Laotian music is dominated by its national instrument, the khaen (a type of bamboo pipe).
It's among few states in this age of widening democracy to be controlled by an authoritarian party that proscribes all political opposition and, if critics are to be believed, it does awful things to dissenters.
And although Laos is the world's third biggest producer of opium, after Afghanistan and Myanmar, the government has accelerated efforts to persuade growers to switch to more conventional crop growing like sweet potatoes, corn and, of course, rice.
"Since Laos is very symbolic of poverty in Asean, of the need for external support to help a country grow and remain stable, and of the benefits of all countries," international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank the European Investment Bank and the Agence Francaise de Developpement, are financially supporting Nam Theun 2.
Lao village chiefs served as intermediaries between the French colonial administrators and their Vietnamese assistants, on the one hand, and their own people, the Lao, as well as other ethnic groups, on the other hand.
In northern Laos, Tai-speaking groups revolted from 1914 to 1923 in Nam Tha Province, in 19I6 in Houa Phan Province, and in 1918 in Phong Saly Province.' The Hmong in Xieng Khouang Province revolted in 19I9 under the leadership of Chao Bat Chay.
From a daily average of fifty-five sorties in 1965, the number grew to three hundred in late 1968.85 The neutrality of Laos that was supposedly guaranteed by the 1962 Geneva Protocol, therefore, was violated with impunity by both the Communists and the Americans in the widening war.
Long a supporter of independent, Albanian-dominated Kosovo, the ICG published a new report this week, titled "Kosovo: Toward Final Status," which unequivocally recommends that the occupied Serbian province be granted international recognition.
The timing, coordination, and presentation of the report suggest it is part of a major push for Kosovo's independence, together with the efforts of pro-Albanian U.S. legislators and Kosovo "Prime Minister" Ramush Haradinaj.
Kosovo would be "independent" in the same way Ukraine is democratic, Iraq has been liberated, and George W. Bush is a champion of freedom.
antiwar.com /malic/?articleid=4594 (1434 words)
102000 Rep. Bruce Vento memorialized by Laotians, Hmong(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
Most recently, he brought recognition to Lao and Hmong veterans who fought for the United States in the Vietnam War.
Bounthone Chanthavixay, president of the German-based Worldwide Coordinating Committee for Independence and Democracy in Laos, expressed her sorrow in Vento's passing.
Vento was one of the people who fought for freedom and democracy in Laos and paid attention to our problems," she said through an interpreter.
www.hmongnet.org /news/news_012.html (475 words)
Laos Bibliography(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
"Urban Resettlement of Reservoir Evacuees in Thailand and Laos," in Population Resettlement in the Mekong River Basin.
LAOS / RELIGION / BUDDHISM / POLITICS / 1980S Gunn, Geoffrey C. "Theravadins and Commissars: The State and National Identity in Laos," in Contemporary Laos: Studies in the Politics and Society of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
The "little kingdom" is Laos, and the story illuminates the tragic hitory of that country during the 1960s and and 1970s.
