Laos Overview

Laos Flag









Laos Emblem













Laos Communist Flag




Introduction to Laos
Laos is the country where travelers can really escape from the stress of the modern world and get into the tranquility of the world dominated by Buddhism. One of the highlights of Laos is Luang Prabang nestled in the northern mountains. The ancient city is recognized as one of only a few World Heritage sites by UNESCO. No traffic jams, monks seeking their morning alms, ancient temples...

Here is a brief background on Laos, the little-known South East Asian country locally referred to simply as Lao, or Lao PDR. The official name is Lao People's Democratic Republic. Learn a little about Lao's recent political history.

As can be seen on the map of Laos below, the country with an area of 236,800 sq km (91,400 sq miles) is landlocked, surrounded by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). The Lao population in 2006 was around 6.4 million people from 47 different ethnic groups. Over eighty percent of the population inhabit the rural and mountainous areas and rely on subsistence farming. Development in 15 of the 19 provinces has been hampered partly by the dumping of 600,000 bombs by US forces during the Vietnam War. Click below to see more Lao maps with greater detail.

Map of Laos



























Areas of interest to foreign residents are likely to be either the current capital Vientiane (estimated population 320,000) or the tiny capital of the former Lao Kingdom, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luang Prabang (pop. 25,000). Vang Vieng is a small already popular tourist town with restaurant and guesthouse potential, on the main road between these two cities. The countryside is Lao's most attractive feature, and seeing the simple existence of the local inhabitants of the rural areas – mostly subsistence rice farmers. The country is primarily unspoilt and although road and river trips may be long and rather slow, the scenery makes it all worthwhile.

Life for the residents of Vientiane is very different from that of the rural folk, especially those in the poorer areas of the North, because as the capital and seat of government, it contains a relatively small but visible class of prosperous urban elite, drawn from French colonial and royalist government days, government personnel as well as foreigners from the various international joint venture and aid projects now in progress.



Population
Laos' population was estimated at 6.8 million in early 2009, dispersed unevenly across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries. Vientiane prefecture, the capital and largest city, had about 711,919 residents in 2006. The country's population density was 27/sq. km.

About half the country's people are ethnic Lao, the principal lowland inhabitants as well as the politically and culturally dominant group. The Lao are descended from the Tai people who began migrating southward from China in the first millennium A.D. Mountain tribes of Hmong-Yao, and Tibeto-Burman (Kor and Phounoy) as well as Tai ethno-linguistic heritage are found in northern Laos. Until recently, they were known as Lao Sung or highland Lao. In the central and southern mountains, Austro Asiatic (Mon-Khmer and Viet-Muong) tribes, formerly known as Lao Theung or mid-slope Lao, predominate. Some Vietnamese and Chinese minorities remain, particularly in the towns, but many left in two waves--after partial independence in the late 1940s and again after 1975