Communist Laos: Map & History

History

In 2009, an anatomically modern human skull was recovered from Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains. At least 46,000 years old, the skull was the oldest modern human fossil discovered in Southeast Asia at the time. Stone artifacts, including Hoabinhian types, have also been found at Pleistocene sites in northern Laos.

Archaeological evidence indicates that an agricultural society developed during the 4th millennium BCE, with bronze artifacts appearing around 1500 BCE and iron tools by 700 BCE. The proto-historic period was characterized by contact with Chinese and Indian civilizations. Linguistic and historical evidence indicates that Tai-speaking groups migrated southwest from Guangxi into present-day Laos and Thailand between the 8th and 10th centuries.

Economy

Pakse has experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. In 2009, the Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer a communist state and lifted bans on Lao companies receiving financing from the US Export-Import Bank. In 2016, China was the biggest foreign investor in the Lao economy, having invested US$5.395 billion since 1989, according to the Laos Ministry of Planning and Investment's 1989–2014 report. Thailand (invested US$4.489 billion) and Vietnam (invested US$3.108 billion) are the second and third largest investors respectively.

Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of employment. 4% of the country is arable land, and 0.3% is used as permanent crop land, the lowest percentage in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Culture

Sticky rice (khao niao) is a staple food. There are traditions and rituals associated with rice production in environments and among ethnic groups. For example, Khammu farmers in Luang Prabang plant the rice variety khao kam near the farm house in memory of dead parents, or at the edge of the rice field to indicate that parents are alive.

The Lao national dish is Larb (also spelled Laap or Laab), a dish in which chopped meat is blended with toasted rice and then seasoned with herbs, fish sauce, and lime.

Other traditional dishes include Tam Mak Hoong, or green papaya salad, Khao Poon or rice noodle soup, and Sai Oua sausadge.

Geography

Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia and lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N, and longitudes 100° and 108°E. Its forested landscape consists mostly of mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,818 metres (9,245 ft), with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a part of the western boundary with Thailand, where the mountains of the Annamite Range form most of the eastern border with Vietnam and the Luang Prabang Range the northwestern border with the Thai highlands.