Provinces of Laos

The head of government is Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, who is also the LPRP general secretary, making him the de facto leader of Laos. Government policies are determined by the party through the all-powerful nine-member Politburo and the 49-member Central Committee.

Vientiane

Linguistically, there is no distinction between descriptors of the country, its people, its culture and so on. There is only one word: Lao. In English however, both ‘Lao’ and ‘Laotian’ are widely used. From here, it’s important to understand the history behind the word ‘Laotian’.

Laos

The North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao eventually emerged victorious in 1975, as part of the general communist victory in all of former French Indochina that year. A total of up to 300,000 people from Laos fled to neighboring Thailand following the Pathet Lao takeover.

The officially neutral country became a battleground in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union, with American bombers dropping over two million tons of cluster bombs over Laos—more than all the bombs dropped during WWII combined. Today, Laos is the most heavily bombed nation in history.

The bombings were part of the U.S. Secret War in Laos to support the Royal Lao Government against the Pathet Lao and to interdict traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The bombings destroyed many villages and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lao civilians during the nine-year period.

What is Laos Most Famous For?

• Vang Vieng.
• Wat Sisaket.
• Bolaven Plateau and Tad Fane Waterfall.
• Bokeo.
• Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan)
• The Plain Of Jars.
• Vat Phou.
• That Ing Hang Stupa.

larb

WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE

lion

Water Buffalo