Contents :-I. INTRODUCTION
II. LAND AND RESOURCES
A. Rivers and Lakes
B. Climate
C. Plants and Animals
D. Natural Resources
III. POPULATION
A. Population Characteristics
B. Principal Cities
C. Religion
D. Language
E. Education
F. Culture
IV. ECONOMY
A. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
B. Mining
C. Manufacturing
D. Currency and Banking
E. Commerce and Trade
F. Transport
G. Communications
V. GOVERNMENT
A. Executive and Legislature
B. Political Parties
C. Judiciary
D. Local Government
E. Health and Welfare
F. Defence
G. International Organizations
VI. HISTORY
A. Kingdom of the Million Elephants
B. French Rule
C. The Geneva Agreement
D. War and Ceasefire
E. Breakdown of Government
F. Pathet Lao Victory
Description :-
I INTRODUCTION
Laos, officially Lao People’s Democratic Republic, independent state in South East Asia, bounded on the north by China and Vietnam, on the east by Vietnam, on the south by Cambodia, on the west by Thailand, and on the north-west by Myanmar (Burma). Laos is South East Asia’s only landlocked nation. The total area is 236,800 sq km (91,430 sq mi). The capital and largest city of Laos is Vientiane.
II LAND AND RESOURCES
Laos is distinguished topographically by a very mountainous area, extending north and south throughout most of the country, and a small area of lowland on the southern and south-western borders. The mountainous area, which covers about nine-tenths of the entire country, can be divided into a northern section of heavily forested mountain ranges and plateaux cut by deep, narrow valleys and gorges, and a southern section containing more sparsely forested limestone terraces. The maximum elevation is Phou Bia in the north, 2,820 m (9,252 ft) above sea level. In the south, heights reach about 1,980 m (6,500 ft).
A Rivers and Lakes
The Mekong River, the principal river of Laos, enters in the north-west from Thailand, flows south along the Laos-Thailand border, and enters Cambodia in the south-west. The tributaries of the Mekong River in Laos rise in the mountains and flow through deep valleys.
B Climate
The climate of Laos is tropical, but wide variations in temperature occur in the different areas, chiefly because of variations in elevation. The main climatic features are determined by the monsoons. The wet summer season prevails from about May to October, with rainfall averaging about 1,778 mm (70 in), and a dry, cool season extends from about November to February; the remainder of the year is hot and humid. At Vientiane, temperatures in April, the warmest month, average 28.9° C (84° F); in January temperatures average 21.7° C (71° F).
C Plants and Animals
About 55 per cent of Laos is covered with forest. Both rainforests of tropical broadleaf evergreens and monsoon forests of mixed evergreens and deciduous trees are found. Wild animals are plentiful, especially in the forested areas, and include the elephant, panther, leopard, and tiger. As in neighbouring countries, elephants are used as beasts of burden.
D Natural Resources
The forests of Laos contain valuable timber, particularly teak. Known mineral resources, except for tin, are small but surveys indicate the existence of rich iron-ore deposits. Hydroelectric power potential is great. The principal areas of fertile soil lie in the valleys of the Mekong River and on the Bolovens Plateau in the extreme south. The waters of the Mekong, in addition to irrigating the extensive rice fields, provide abundant fish, a staple food of the country.
III POPULATION
The people of Laos are of three main groups. The largest group is composed of Lao, who are closely related to the Thai. They constitute about half of the population and live mainly in the lowlands along the Mekong River and its tributaries. An Indonesian people, called Lao Theung (“mountain people”), live in the highlands, and minority groups of Sino-Tibetan origin, such as the Hmong (Miao) and Yao, inhabit the northern mountains. Smaller minority groups include Vietnamese and Chinese.
A Population Characteristics
Laos has a population of 5,635,967 (2001), yielding an overall population density of about 24 people per sq km (62 per sq mi). About one quarter of the people live in the mountainous regions; the remainder live along the Mekong River and its branches. Around 77 per cent of the people (1999) live in rural areas.
B Principal Cities
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, has a population of 528,109 (1995). The former royal capital is Louangphrabang, population 68,000 (1995 estimate). Other major cities include Savannakhét, 97,000 (1995 estimate), and Pakxé, 47,000 (1995 estimate), on the Mekong River.
C Religion
D Language
Laos lacks a common language. The official language of the country is Lao, one of the Sino-Tibetan languages; French is also used in government, commerce, and education. In addition to these languages, the numerous ethnic groups use their own languages and dialects.
E Education
After years of disruption by civil strife, the school system of Laos was expanded in the late 1970s and the 1980s. The government also mounted a literacy campaign. In 1996, 786,335 pupils were attending primary schools and 162,500 students were receiving secondary education (1996). Sisavangvong University (1958) is located in Vientiane; regional technical colleges are located in Champasak, Louangphrabang, and Savannakhét. In 1996-1997 there were around 12,732 university and college students. In 1997 around 2.1 per cent of the national budget was spent on education.
F Culture
The Lao culture is closely entwined with its religion. Buddhist temples in every village formerly served as intellectual centres. The life of the Lao peasant was organized around religion, and most activities were directed by the Buddhist calendar. Louangphrabang and Vientiane are known as “Cities of a Thousand Temples”, and have many examples of traditional Buddhist art and architecture. The King’s Palace and the That Luang Shrine, in Louangphrabang, are the most famous shrines in Laos.
IV ECONOMY
Laos is a landlocked country and most of its natural resources are unexploited or unsurveyed. The overwhelming majority of the people are engaged in subsistence agriculture. Industry is limited to small plants manufacturing consumer products. The gross national product in 1999 (World Bank figure) was about US$1,476 million, or US$290 per capita. During the 1980s the nation’s large annual budget deficit was met by foreign aid, much of it from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Vietnam. In the early 1990s, Japan and the United States began to send aid to Laos. The national budget for 1994 included US$198 million in revenue and US$351 million in expenditure.
A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
Agriculture is the principal economic activity of Laos. Rice is the chief food crop; the yield was approximately 2.16 million tonnes in 2000 but was insufficient to meet domestic needs. Other crops include sweet potatoes (51,900 tonnes), maize (77,280), cassava (71,000), potatoes (33,000), cotton (32,100), coffee (22,800), citrus fruits, and cardamom. Livestock-breeding is important to the economy. In 2000, livestock included about 1.10 million pigs, 1.01 million water buffalo, and 0.99 million cattle, as well as poultry, oxen, elephants, and horses.
Forestry has been a source of economic benefit despite the lack of a modern transport network. The roundwood harvest totalled about 4.59 million cu m (162 million cu ft) in 1999. The forests in the north have produced valuable woods, particularly teak. In 1991 the government, concerned about overcutting in some areas, banned indiscriminate logging. Forest products, however, still form a substantial part of Laotian exports. Benzoin, used in making perfume, is important, as is stick lac, an ingredient of varnish. The fish catch (40,000 tonnes in 1997) is sufficient for local consumption only.
B Mining
Deposits of various minerals are found in Laos, but mineral output is limited to gypsum, tin, and rock salt. Geological surveys indicate reserves of coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, and precious stones.
C Manufacturing
Manufacturing is largely limited to tin-refining, sawmilling, rice-milling, brick-making, and the production of cigarettes, footwear, and other consumer goods.
D Currency and Banking
The monetary unit of Laos is the new kip of 100 ats (7,562 kips equal US$1; 2001). The central bank and bank of issue is the State Bank. In 1995 Laos had 12 commercial banks, half of them foreign. Barter is still the prevalent method of exchange in rural commerce; a monetary economy is limited mostly to the cities.
E Commerce and Trade
In 1999, total exports were valued at about US$311 million. These included goods and services—chiefly timber, hydroelectricity (to Thailand), coffee, and tin—as well as coffee, cardamom, benzoin, stick lac, leather, and hides. The total value of imports was about US$525 million and consisted principally of food, petroleum products, motor vehicles, machinery, electrical equipment, steel, and cotton. In the mid-1990s, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Japan were the most important nations importing Laotian goods; Thailand, China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Japan were the most important suppliers of products to Laos.
F Transport
At present Laos has no railways, although in October 2000 the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) approved plans for the Trans-Asia Railway Project, a 5,513-km (3,420-mi) rail link, costing US$2.5 billion. The link, which is scheduled for completion in 2006, will connect Laos and six other ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) with Kunming, in Yunnan Province, China. According to 1998 figures the country has a road system totalling about 22,321 km (13,870 mi). Internal air transport is important. The Mekong River is the chief means of transport.
G Communications
In 1995 about 15,750 telephones were in use in the country. The government-owned broadcasting network served about 730,000 radios and 52,000 television sets in 1997.
V GOVERNMENT
Although the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was proclaimed in 1975, its first constitution was not enacted until 1991. This confirmed the monopoly of power of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, while endorsing private property and a free market economy.
A Executive and Legislature
Under the 1991 constitution, executive power is vested in a president, chosen by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The president is assisted by the prime minister, who chairs the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers performs the administrative functions of the government. Legislative power resides in the National Assembly. The 99 members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms by the general populace.
B Political Parties
Following the overthrow of the monarchy in 1975, the Lao People’s Revolutionary (Communist) Party (LPRP) came to power. It is the only legal political party in Laos.
C Judiciary
Justice is administered by the Supreme Court and by the people’s courts.
D Local Government
Laos is divided into 16 provinces and the municipality of Vientiane. Provinces, towns, and villages are administered by People’s Revolutionary Committees that receive orders from the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
E Health and Welfare
Laos has no state social services. Life expectancy at birth in 2001 was about 52 years for men and 55 for women. The country has a high infant mortality rate, nearly 10 per cent in 1996, and many urban areas lack modern sewerage and water facilities. Among the country’s major health problems are malaria, parasitic diseases, and dysentery, as well as respiratory infections. In 1999 only one doctor was available for every 5,393 people. Health services, coordinated by the ministry of public health, include about 10,364 hospital beds as well as mobile health units. In 1990 some 2.5 per cent of the national budget was spent on healthcare.
F Defence
Military service is by conscription for a period of at least 18 months. In 1999 the army had 25,000 members, the navy 600, and the air force 3,500.
G International Organizations
Laos is a member state of the UN, and was admitted to the Association of South East Asian Nations (in 1997.
VI HISTORY
The first identifiable inhabitants of what is now Laos were people known collectively as the Kha, who as early as the 5th century ad were living in the country under the suzerainty of the state of Funan. They subsequently came under the domination of the Kingdom of Chenla, an early Khmer kingdom, and its successor state, centred at Angkor.
In the meantime, the Lao and other Tai peoples had been gradually penetrating south from the kingdom of Nanzhao (in present-day Yunnan), supplanting the Kha. By the 12th century they had apparently established their own principalities, although much of this period remains shrouded in legend. The Lao migration received its final impetus from the Mongol destruction of Nanzhao in the 13th and 14th centuries.
A Kingdom of the Million Elephants
In the mid-14th century the Khmer king at Angkor, Jayavarman Paramesvara (reigned 1327-1353), married his daughter to a Lao prince, Fa Ngum (reigned 1353-1373), and helped him found the independent kingdom of Lan Xang, the Kingdom of the Million Elephants, with its capital at Muong Swa (present-day Louangphrabang). A great warrior, who earned the title Conqueror, he united the Lao principalities and was frequently at war with both the kingdom of Ayutthaya and Annam. Largely by the efforts of his Khmer queen, the Lao during his reign adopted Theravada Buddhism.
Fa Ngum, deposed, was succeeded by his son, who further consolidated and organized the kingdom. In the second half of the 15th century, hostilities with Annam resulted in the fall of the capital, but the Annamese were soon driven back, and a long period of peace followed. Lan Xang’s maximum extension came in the 16th century, when the Lao king claimed and won the Crown of neighbouring Chiang Mai. This, however, marked the beginning of a long struggle with the Burmans, during which the capital was moved to Vientiane. The Burmans ravaged the country in 1574 and, after a period of anarchy, Souligna-Vongsa (reigned 1637-1694) acceded to the throne. He concluded peace with his neighbours to the east and west, and his subsequent rule is considered a golden age in Lao history.
In 1700, after Souligna-Vongsa’s death, an exiled nephew of his brought in a Vietnamese force to help him seize the throne. His relatives, however, would not tolerate Vietnamese rule, and they established a separate kingdom at Louangphrabang in 1707. The Lan Xang period ended; by 1713 Laos was split into the three states of Louangphrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak.
B French Rule
Hostilities between Siam (Thailand) and Vientiane led to the conquest of the latter in 1778, and at the same time Louangphrabang and Champasak were forced to acknowledge Siamese suzerainty. When Vientiane tried to assert its independence in 1827, Siamese forces completely destroyed it.
During the second half of the 19th century the French began to make their presence felt. A French military expedition in 1893 occupied the most important towns of the country and forced the Siamese to recognize the protectorate that France had established over Lao territory east of the Mekong River. In 1904 France obtained whatever Lao territory had remained under Siamese control. The French ruled indirectly through the king of Louangphrabang and a hierarchy of royal officials, although the French resident supervisor always had the final word.
During World War II the Japanese occupied Indochina. When they withdrew, an independence movement known as the Lao Issarak (“Free Laos”) formed a nationalist government, which collapsed when the French reoccupied the region in 1946. The French then signed an agreement with the king of Louangphrabang that established him as king of a unified Laos within the French Union. A constitution providing for an elected legislature was promulgated on May 11, 1947. In 1949 Laos became an independent state within the French Union, and most of the nationalist leaders, who had fled at the time of the French reoccupation, returned to the country. A few dissidents under the leadership of Prince Souphanouvong, however, allied themselves with the pro-Communist Vietminh forces fighting the French in Vietnam. These Lao, called the Pathet Lao (“Lao State”), joined with the Vietminh forces to invade Laos in April 1953 and quickly gained control of large areas.
C The Geneva Agreement
By terms of the Geneva armistice agreement that ended the Indochinese war in 1954, all Vietminh troops and all but 5,000 French soldiers were to be withdrawn from Laos, and the Pathet Lao was to withdraw into two northern provinces of the country. An international supervisory commission was set up to supervise the truce. In December 1955, Laos was admitted to the UN. With the decline of French influence in the region, the effect of US power began to be felt. In November 1957 the prime minister of Laos, Prince Souvanna Phouma (who advocated balancing Western and Communist interests), and his half-brother Prince Souphanouvong, the Pathet Lao leader, reached an agreement by which the Pathet Lao was brought into a coalition government approved by the National Assembly. This political emergence of the Pathet Lao was, however, opposed by a newly formed right-wing group that ousted Souvanna Phouma’s government and formed a new conservative government in August 1958. Subsequently, the Pathet Lao resumed guerrilla warfare.
D War and Ceasefire
The political situation remained unstable. In the renewed fighting the Pathet Lao was supported by the USSR, while the United States supplied the right-wing forces. In 1960 the commander of a paratroop battalion, Captain Kong Le, staged a rebellion against the right-wing government and took control of Vientiane, the Laotian administrative capital. In the resulting struggle between rival factions, Prince Souvanna Phouma was brought back to power. His attempt to include leftists in a coalition government provoked a right-wing military rebellion that had support from the United States. Souvanna was forced to flee the country, and Prince Boun Oum, a fervent anti-Communist, became premier. By mid-1961 the Pathet Lao, now joined by Kong Le’s neutralist forces, had gained control of about half the country.
Meanwhile, the United States, the USSR, and other nations became concerned about the international dangers of the Laotian civil war, and they managed to arrange for a ceasefire in May 1961. A 14-nation conference on Laos convened in Geneva and reached an agreement on July 23, providing for the neutrality of the country and the withdrawal of all foreign troops. After prolonged negotiations the leaders of the three main Laotian factions (Pathet Lao, neutralist, and pro-Western) agreed to form a provisional government of national union led by Prince Souvanna Phouma. This was installed in 1962.
E Breakdown of Government
During the next two years right-wing leaders made several attempts to seize power. A split developed in the neutralist camp, and a number of Souvanna Phouma’s left-wing supporters switched their allegiance to the Pathet Lao. In 1964 the remaining neutralists merged with the rightists, and the military forces of the two groups were also consolidated. Prince Souphanouvong, the Pathet Lao leader, claimed that this action violated the Geneva accord and ceased to recognize Souvanna Phouma as the legitimate head of government.
By 1965 open fighting had resumed between the Pathet Lao and government forces. On the government side, mercenaries from Thailand and a force of Hmong tribesmen, financed and trained by the United States, were involved in the fighting. In the mid-1960s Laos began to be drawn into the Vietnam War. North Vietnamese troops used jungle trails in eastern and southern Laos as routes to supply their forces fighting in South Vietnam, and US warplanes carried out increasingly heavy bombing attacks on the so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail. In 1971 South Vietnamese forces invaded Laos to cut the Communist supply route, but were beaten back.
F Pathet Lao Victory
By the end of 1971 the Communists were in a strong military position and forced Souvanna Phouma to hold talks, which led to a ceasefire in 1973. In April 1974 a new coalition government was set up. Unlike the 1962 government, this one had no centre but only adherents of the Pathet Lao and supporters of Souvanna. It was soon dominated by the former.
Communist victories in Cambodia and Vietnam in April 1975 further encouraged the Pathet Lao and ended any hope of resistance on Souvanna’s part. In December of that year the Laotian monarchy was abolished, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was proclaimed. Souphanouvong became president, serving until 1986; Phoumi Vongvichit assumed the largely ceremonial position as interim president. Real power was wielded by Kaysone Phomvihan, the Communist leader, who served as prime minister.
In 1981, beset by economic difficulties, the government launched its first five-year plan. Discontent under Communist rule, however, was widespread. By 1982, some 300,000 Laotians were estimated to have fled the country. Approximately 50,000 Vietnamese troops, who remained in Laos to bolster the regime, were withdrawn by 1990. In addition, Vietnamese influence was gradually reduced. After a constitution expanding presidential powers became law in 1991, Kaysone assumed the office. Domestically, the government moved away from state economic planning to an open-market economy. When Kaysone died in November 1992, he was succeeded by two close associates: Nouhak Phoumsavan became president, and General Khamtay Siphandone became leader of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. Souphanouvong died in retirement on January 9, 1995. In May 1995 the United States lifted its 20-year embargo on trade with Laos. In July 1997, Laos was admitted to ASEAN, after a long period as an observer of that body. Nouhak stepped down as president in February 1998, and former prime minister Khamtay was elected as his successor by the National Assembly. Former vice-president Sisavat Keobounphan replaced Khamtay as prime minister.
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