Laos in general

Geography:
Laos is located in south-east Asia between Vietnam and Thailand. The country occupies a total area of 236,800 sq km of which 230,800 sq km is on land. It is landlocked by a 5,083 km long boundary. A map of Laos is available.
Laos has a tropical monsoon climate - rainy season from May to November and dry season from December to April. The terrain is mostly rugged mountains with some plains and plateaus. Natural resources include timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold and gemstones.


People:
Laos has a total population of 4,569,327 (July 1993 est.). Nationals of Laos are known as Lao(s) or Laotian(s). The main ethnic groups are Lao (50%), tribal Thai (20%) and Phoutheung (15%). The predominant religion is Buddhist (85%). Laos is the official language; English and French are also spoken.

Government:
The country is known officially as Lao People's Democratic Republic and in short, Laos. Laos is a communist state with the capital in Vientiane. Independence was gained on 19 July 1949 from France. The national holiday is on 2 December (1975).
The Laos flag consists of three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band.

History:
The Lao people migrated into Laos from southern China from the 8th century onward. In the 14th century the first Laotian state was founded, the Lan Xang kingdom, which ruled Laos until it split into three separate kingdoms in 1713. During the 18th century the three kingdoms came under Siamese (Thai) rule, and in 1893 became a French protectorate. Its territory was incorporated into the union of Indochina. A strong nationalist movement developed during World War II, but France reestablished control in 1946 and made the king of Luang Prabang constitutional monarch of all Laos. France granted semiautonomy in 1949 and then, spurred by the Viet Minh rebellion in Vietnam, full independence within the French Union in 1950.

In 1951, Prince Souphanouvong organized the Pathet Lao, a Communist independence movement, in North Vietnam. Viet Minh and Pathet Lao forces invaded central Laos, and civil war resulted. By the Geneva agreements of 1954 and an armistice of 1955, two northern provinces were given to the Pathet Lao: the rest went to the royal regime. Full sovereignty was given to the kingdom by the Paris agreements of Dec. 29, 1954. In 1957, Prince Souvanna Phouma, the royal premier, and the Pathet Lao leader, Prince Souphanouvong, the premier's half-brother, agreed to reestablishment of a unified government, with Pathet Lao participation and integration of Pathet Lao forces into the royal army. The agreement broke down in 1959, and armed conflict began anew.

In 1960, the struggle became three-way as Gen. Phoumi Nosavan, controlling the bulk of the royal army, set up in the south a pro-Western revolutionary government headed by Prince Boun Gum. General Phoumi took Vientiane in December, driving Souvanna Phouma into exile in Cambodia. The Soviet bloc supported Souvanna Phouma. In 1961, a cease-fire was arranged and the three princes agreed to a coalition government headed by Souvanna Phouma.

But North Vietnam, the U.S. (in the form of Central Intelligence Agency personnel), and China remained active in Laos after the settlement. North Vietnam used a supply line (Ho Chi Minh Trail) running down the mountain valleys of eastern Laos into Cambodia and South Vietnam, particularly after the U.S.–South Vietnamese incursion into Cambodia in 1970 stopped supplies via Cambodian seaports.

An agreement reached in 1973 revived the coalition government. The Communist Pathet Lao seized complete power in 1975, installing Souphanouvong as president and Kaysone Phomvihane as premier. Since then other parties and political groups have been moribund and most of their leaders have fled the country. The monarchy was abolished on Dec. 2, 1975, when the Pathet Lao ousted a coalition government and King Sisavang Vatthana abdicated.

The Supreme People's Assembly in Aug. 1991 adopted a new constitution that dropped all references to socialism but retained the one-party state. In addition to implementing market-oriented policies, the country has passed laws governing property, inheritance, and contracts.

During 1995 the country began making more diplomatic overtures toward its neighbors. Economic agreements were reached with Burma, and Laos's border disputes with Thailand in the 1980s gave way to warmer relations. The U.S. announced a lifting of its ban on aid to the nation.

By most international estimates, Laos is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. The subsistence farmers who make up more than 80% of the population have been plagued with bad agricultural conditions—alternately flood or drought—since 1993.

Since March 2000, Vientiane has been rocked by a series of unexplained blasts. The activity has been widely attributed to a group of Hmong tribesmen based in the north. The anti-Communist rebel group has been protesting the government's reluctance to embrace democratic reforms. Others attribute the bombs to rival factions in the government or military.

In a March 2001 government reshuffle, Finance Minister Boungnang Vorachith replaced Sisavat Keobounphan as prime minister