Laos

Laos (, ; ລາວ, Lāo ), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ; République démocratique populaire lao), commonly referred to by its colloquial name of Muang Lao (Lao: ເມືອງລາວ, Muang Lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" or "Pathet Lao", both literally mean "Lao Country".

It is spoken in Laos, where it is the official language, as well as northeast Thailand, where it is usually referred to as Isan.

Located at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest.

It is 181035 km2 in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.

Laos (, ; ລາວ, Lāo ), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ; République démocratique populaire lao), commonly referred to by its colloquial name of Muang Lao (Lao: ເມືອງລາວ, Muang Lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia.

Located at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest.

Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar.

Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao (Kingdom of a Million Elephants Under the White Parasol), which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia.

The kingdom is the precursor for the country of Laos and the basis for its national historic and cultural identity.

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power, seeing the end to the civil war.

The Vietnam War (Chiến tranh Việt Nam), also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America (Kháng chiến chống Mỹ) or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Shortly after independence, a long civil war began, which saw the communist resistance, supported by the Soviet Union, fight against, first, the monarchy and then a number of military dictatorships, supported by the United States. It is a one-party socialist republic, espousing Marxism–Leninism governed by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ, Parti révolutionnaire populaire lao), formerly the Lao People's Party, is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Laos and has emerged from the Communist Party of Vietnam founded by Hồ Chí Minh in 1930.

After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power, seeing the end to the civil war. During the First Indochina War, the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao independence organisation.

The Pathet Lao (Lao: ປະເທດລາວ pa thēt lāo, "Lao Nation" ) was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century.

The capital and largest city in Laos is Vientiane. Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), which was founded in the 14th century by a Lao prince Fa Ngum, who, with 10,000 Khmer troops, took over Vientiane.

Vientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand.

Laos is a multi-ethnic country, with the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up about 55 percent of the population, mostly in the lowlands.

They are the majority ethnic group of Laos, making up 53.2% of the total population.

Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes, accounting for 45 percent of the population, live in the foothills and mountains.

They are a sub-group of the Miao people, and live mainly in Southern China, Vietnam and Laos.

Located at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest.

It includes the countries of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" or "Pathet Lao", both literally mean "Lao Country".

Mueang (เมือง mɯ̄ang, ), Muang (ເມືອງ mɯ́ang, ), or Mong ( mə́ŋ, ) were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principalities in mainland Southeast Asia, adjacent regions of Northeast India and Southern China, including what is now Thailand, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, parts of northern Vietnam, southern Yunnan, western Guangxi and Assam.

Located at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion.

Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest.

An ancient human skull was recovered from the Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia.

Tam Pa Ling (Cave of the Monkeys) is a cave in the Annamite Mountains in north-eastern Laos.

Laos (, ; ລາວ, Lāo ), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ; République démocratique populaire lao), commonly referred to by its colloquial name of Muang Lao (Lao: ເມືອງລາວ, Muang Lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia.

Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), which was founded in the 14th century by a Lao prince Fa Ngum, who, with 10,000 Khmer troops, took over Vientiane.

They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Austroasiatic language family found in parts of Southeast Asia (including Vietnam and Laos), parts of central, eastern, and north eastern India, parts of Bangladesh in South Asia, in parts of Southern China and numerous islands in the Indian Ocean.

In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion.

Photisarath (also spelled Phothisarath, Phothisarat, or Potisarat, ພະເຈົ້າໂພທິສະລາດ, 1501–1547) son of King Visoun of Lanxang, is considered to be the most devout of the Lao kings.

It is a one-party socialist republic, espousing Marxism–Leninism governed by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.

As late as 1945, the French even drew up an ambitious plan to move massive Vietnamese population to three key areas, i.e. the Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region, Bolaven Plateau, which was only discarded by Japanese invasion of Indochina.

Savannakhét (Lao:ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ) is a province of Laos.

It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but was recolonised by France until it won autonomy in 1949.

The French protectorate of Laos was a French protectorate in Southeast Asia of what is today Laos between 1893 and 1953—with a brief interregnum as a Japanese puppet state in 1945—which constituted part of French Indochina.

As late as 1945, the French even drew up an ambitious plan to move massive Vietnamese population to three key areas, i.e. the Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region, Bolaven Plateau, which was only discarded by Japanese invasion of Indochina.

The Bolaven Plateau is an elevated region in southern Laos.

His ministers, unable to tolerate his ruthlessness, forced him into exile to the present-day Thai province of Nan in 1373, where he died.

To the north and east it borders Sainyabuli of Laos.

Settathirath became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of what became the symbol of Laos, That Luang.

Pha That Luang (ວຽງຈັນ or ທາດຫຼວງ, 'Great Stupa') is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre of the city of Vientiane, Laos.

During the First Indochina War, the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao independence organisation.

Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.