Laos
Laos' population was estimated at 6.7 million in mid-2008, 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.
The predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. Animism is common
among the mountain tribes. Buddhism and spirit worship coexist
easily. There also are small numbers of Christians and Muslims.
The official and dominant language is Lao, a tonal language of the
Tai linguistic group. Minorities speak an assortment of Mon-Khmer,
Hmong-Yao, and Tibeto-Burman languages. French, once common in
government and commerce, has declined in usage, while knowledge of
English--the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)--has increased in recent years. The government is
encouraging officials and students to learn English. High school
students are required to take either French or English; the majority
today choose English. The government plans to introduce English at
the primary school level by 2010. |
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Laos traces its first recorded history and its origins as a unified
state to the emergence of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (literally,
"million elephants") in 1353. Under the rule of King Fa Ngum, this
powerful and wealthy kingdom covered much of what today is Thailand
and Laos. His successors, especially King Setthathirat in the 16th
century, helped establish Buddhism as the predominant religion of
the country.
By the 17th century, the kingdom of Lan Xang entered a period of
decline marked by dynastic struggle and conflicts with its
neighbors. In the late 18th century, the Siamese (Thai) established
suzerainty over much of what is now Laos. The region was divided
into principalities centered on Luang Prabang in the north,
Vientiane in the center, and Champassak in the south. Following
their colonization of Vietnam, the French supplanted the Siamese and
began to integrate all of Laos into the French empire. The
Franco-Siamese treaty of 1907 defined the present Lao boundary with
Thailand.
During World War II, the Japanese occupied French Indochina,
including Laos. King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang was induced to
declare independence from France in 1945, just prior to Japan's
surrender. During this period, nationalist sentiment grew. In
September 1945, Vientiane and Champassak united with Luang Prabang
to form an independent government under the Free Laos (Lao Issara)
banner. The movement, however, was short-lived. By early 1946,
French troops reoccupied the country and conferred limited autonomy
on Laos following elections for a constituent assembly.
During the first Indochina war between France and the communist
movement in Vietnam, Prince Souphanouvong formed the Pathet Lao
(Land of Laos) resistance organization committed to the communist
struggle against colonialism. Laos was not granted full sovereignty
until the French defeat by the Vietnamese and the subsequent Geneva
peace conference in 1954. Elections were held in 1955, and the first
coalition government, led by Prince Souvanna Phouma, was formed in
1957. The coalition government collapsed in 1958, amidst increased
polarization of the political process. Rightist forces took over the
government.
In 1960, Kong Le, an army captain, seized Vientiane in a coup and
demanded the formation of a neutralist government to end the
fighting. The neutralist government, once again led by Souvanna
Phouma, was not successful in holding power. Rightist forces under
Gen. Phoumi Nosavan supplanted it later that same year.
Subsequently, the neutralists allied themselves with the communist
insurgents and began to receive support from the Soviet Union.
Phoumi Nosavan's rightist regime received support from the United
States.
A second Geneva conference, held in 1961-62, provided for the
independence and neutrality of Laos. Soon after accord was reached,
the signatories accused each other of violating the terms of the
agreement, and with superpower support on both sides, the civil war
soon resumed. Although Laos was to be neutral, a growing American
and North Vietnamese military presence in the country increasingly
drew Laos into the second Indochina war (1954-75). For nearly a
decade, Laos was subjected to extremely heavy bombing as the U.S.
sought to interdict the portion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that passed
through eastern Laos. Unexploded ordnance, particularly cluster
munitions, remains a major problem.
In 1972, the communist People's Party renamed itself the Lao
People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). It joined a new coalition
government in Laos soon after the Vientiane cease-fire agreement in
1973. Nonetheless, the political struggle among communists,
neutralists, and rightists continued. The fall of Saigon and Phnom
Penh to communist forces in April 1975 hastened the decline of the
coalition in Laos. Several months after these communist victories,
the Pathet Lao entered Vientiane. On December 2, 1975, the king
abdicated his throne and the communist Lao People's Democratic
Republic (LPDR) was established.
The new communist government imposed centralized economic
decision-making and broad security measures, including control of
the media and the arrest and incarceration of many members of the
previous government and military in "re-education camps." These
draconian policies and deteriorating economic conditions, along with
government efforts to enforce political control, prompted an exodus
of lowland Lao and ethnic Hmong from Laos. About 10% of the Lao
population sought refugee status after 1975, many of whom resettled
in third countries, including the United States. From 1975 to 1996,
the U.S. resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand,
including 130,000 Hmong. The last major resettlement to the United
States of about 15,000 Hmong from the Wat Tham Krabok camp was in
2004.
Over time, the Lao Government closed the re-education camps and
released most political prisoners. By the end of 1999, more than
28,900 Hmong and lowland Lao had voluntarily repatriated to
Laos--3,500 from China and the rest from Thailand. The Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) monitored
returnees for a number of years and reported no evidence of systemic
persecution or discrimination against returnees per se. UNHCR closed
its Laos office at the end of 2001. |
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