General Information

Gleaming temple rooflines in Luang Prabang. The gentle greeting of the Lao people. Fireballs on the Mekong River. Crashing waterfalls in undisturbed jungle. The softness of silk. The mysterious Plain of Jars. Limestone cliffs rising from green paddy fields. The caves of the Naga Palace plunging underwater.

Geography:

Laos is a landlocked country covering 236,800 square kilometers, approximately the same size as Ecuador or Great Britain. It comprises mostly mountains and plateaus. The Mekong River flows through western and southern regions and forms a natural border with Thailand and Myanmar. On its banks nestle most of Laos' important cities, such as the capital Vientiane and the former royal capital, Luang Prabang.

Rugged mountains cover more than 75 percent of the country. The vegetation is diverse and rich comprising tropical and subtropical species, from mango and palms to Hardwoods. About half the country is still covered with primary forests.

Climate:

Two monsoons set the rhythm of rural life in Laos. The cool, dry, north-eastern monsoon blows from about November to March and brings little rain. From May to early October, the south-western monsoon picks up moist air from over the Indian Ocean, bringing strong winds, high humidity, and heavy rains throughout the country. The weather is transitional between the seasons, but even during the wet season it rarely rains in the morning. Most of the rain comes in afternoon downpours. Visitors should be warned that roads in the northeastern regions in particular can become flooded during the rains. Travel in these areas should be avoided during the peak of the wet seasons.

Economy:

Laos is a poor country with a still undeveloped economic infrastructure, and a largely uneducated workforce. Agriculture, mostly subsistence rice farming, dominates the economy employing 54 percent of the population and providing 52 percent of the national income.

Since 1998 tourism has become the biggest export earner for Laos. Second is the garment industry, and third hydropower exports. Logging used to be the biggest contributor, but with the new stricter bans on logging this activity has dropped dramatically in the official statistics. In reality it might still be number one owing to the voracious activities of illegal loggers.

History:

The first recorded history of the Lao begins with King Fa Ngum, by legend the 23rd successor of Khoun Lo, who first united Laos in 1353. He established his capital at Luang Prabang and ruled a kingdom called Lan Xang (literally, ‘million elephants’) that covered much of present-day Thailand and Laos. He also established Buddhism as the state religion.

In the 17th century Lan Xang entered a period of decline caused by dynastic struggles and conflicts with Burma, Siam (now Thailand), Vietnam, and the Khmer Kingdom. By the 18th century, the Siamese and Vietnamese kingdoms were competing for control of Laos. In the 19th century, the Siamese dominated much of what is now Laos and divided it into principalities centered on Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. Late in the century, the French, who already controlled present-day Vietnam, supplanted them. In 1899 France established protectorates and direct rule over all of the principalities, and Laos became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese treaty of 1907 defined the present Lao boundary with Thailand.

During World War II the Japanese occupied Indochina. A Lao resistance group, Lao Issara, was formed to prevent the return of the French. Independence was achieved in 1953 but conflict persisted between royalist, neutralist and communist fractions. The US began bombing North Vietnamese troops on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Eastern Laos in 1964, escalating the conflict between the royalist Vientiane government and the communist Pathet Lao who fought alongside the North Vietnamese.

By the time a ceasefire was negotiated in 1973, Laos had the dubious reputation of being the most heavily bombed country on a per capita basis in the history of warfare. A coalition government was formed but when Saigon fell in 1975 most of the royalists left for France. On 2 December 1975 the monarchy was abolished and the communist Lao People’s Democratic Republic was established, and the Pathet Lao peacefully took control of the country. Lao remained closely allied with the Vietnamese communists during the 1980s. Laos cemented ties with its neighbors when it was welcomed into ASEAN in July 1997. There is no political pluralism in Laos; the only party allowed being the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP).