Laos
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sathipatai Pasasonlao (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) Capital: Vientiane Population projection, 2020: 7·40m. GNI per capita, 2014: (PPP$) 4,680 HDI/world rank, 2014: 0·575/141 Internet domain extension: .la KEY HISTORICAL EVENTS Neolithic settlements were established in upland areas of presentday Laos by around 2000 BC. Migrants from southern China introduced rice cultivation and trade in iron ore and manufactured goods. Thousands of large stone vessels containing ceramics and burial goods on the Xieng Khoung plateau in central Laos are testament to the society’s wealth and sophistication. From around 300 BC the Hindu-influenced Funan Kingdom held sway across parts of southern and central Laos, as well as much of present-day Cambodia. Trading links with India, China and the Middle East developed and strengthened under the Funan. During the sixth century AD a rival kingdom, Chenla, rose in southern Laos (modern Champassak province). Over the next 300 years its influence spread across Cambodia and northern Thailand. The colonization of Cambodia’s coastal regions in the eighth century by Javanese mariners forced Khmer-speaking clans inland, including to southern and central Laos. The crowning of Jayavarman II as a deva-raja (god-king) in AD 802 heralded a long period of regional Khmer domination centred on Angkor. Tai peoples originating in southern China settled in growing numbers in northern Laos from the ninth century. Several independent city states were united in the mid-14th century by Chao Fa Ngum, founder of Lan Xang (‘land of a million
TERRITORY AND POPULATION Laos is a landlocked country of 236,800 sq. km (91,428 sq. miles) bordered on the north by China, the east by Vietnam, the south by Cambodia and the west by Thailand and Myanmar. Apart from the Mekong River plains along the border of Thailand, the country is mountainous, particularly in the north, and in places densely forested. The provisional 2015 census population was 6,492,400 (3,237,600 females); density, 24 per sq. km. In 2011, 34·3% of the population lived in urban areas. The UN gives a projected population for 2020 of 7·40m. 732
LAOS
There are 16 provinces and one prefecture. Administrative centres and populations (2015 census, provisional) are as follows: Province Attopeu Bokeo Bolikhamxai Champassak Houa Phan Khammouane Luang Namtha Luang Prabang Oudomxai Phongsali Salavan Savannakhet Sayabouri Sekong Vientiane Vientiane1 Xieng Khouang
Administrative centre Samakhi Xai Ban Houei Xai Paksan Pakse Xam Neua Thakhek Luang Namtha Luang Prabang Muang Xai Phongsali Salavan Shanthabouli Sayabouri Sekong Phonghong Vientiane Phonsavanh 1 Prefecture.
Population (in 1,000) 139·6 179·3 273·7 694·0 289·4 392·1 175·7 431·9 307·6 178·0 397·0 969·7 381·3 113·2 419·1 820·9 244·7
The capital and largest town is Vientiane, with a population (2015 census, provisional) of 639,600. Other important towns are Savannakhet, Pakse, Xam Neua and Luang Prabang. The population is divided into three groups: about 67% LaoLum (Valley-Lao); 17% Lao-Theung (Lao of the mo
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