Article Outline
Laos, officially Lao People’s Democratic Republic, independent state of Southeast Asia. Formerly part of the Indochinese Union, also known as French Indochina, Laos gained independence in 1953. The country was drawn into the Vietnam War (1959-1975), and in 1975 a Communist revolutionary movement overthrew Laos’s six-century-old monarchy and established a people’s republic. Laos is a mountainous, landlocked country, bounded on the north by China, on the east by Vietnam, on the south by Cambodia, and on the west and northwest by Thailand and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). It is rich in resources and has an ethnically varied population. The official language is Lao, and the capital and largest city is Vientiane (Viang Chan).
Laos has a total area of 236,800 sq km (91,400 sq mi). From northwest to southeast its maximum length is about 1,080 km (about 670 mi), while its narrowest width is about 120 km (about 75 mi).
Topographically Laos has three distinct features. The first is the steep, heavily forested mountains that lie principally in the north but extend southeast as the Truong Son (Annam Highlands). The spine of this mountain chain forms the border between Laos and Vietnam. Elevations in the north reach 2,819 m (9,249 ft) at Phou Bia (Phu Bia), the country’s highest peak. In the south, heights reach about 1,980 m (about 6,500 ft), and the limestone terraces mounting to the east are more sparsely forested. Laos’s second distinctive topographic feature is the narrow but fertile floodplains of the Mekong River, which traverses Laos’s entire north-south length, and its tributaries. These plains are very narrow in the north but are wider farther south. Finally, three high plateaus are strategically situated through the country: the Plain of Jars in the north, the Khammouan Plateau in the center, and the Bolovens Plateau in the south.
Historically the Mekong River lay at the center of the Lao world. People living on both of its banks shared a common language and culture, and the river served as the major axis of communication for these societies. Now the river forms most of Laos’s western border, separating the Lao people on the east bank from their neighbors in Myanmar and Thailand on the west bank. Nevertheless, the river still serves as an important artery of transportation and communication. The river is navigable for most of its course in Laos, from where it emerges at the gorges of southern China to where it pours over the Khone Falls into Cambodia. Two series of rapids divide the middle Mekong into three reaches, each of which corresponds to a distinct region: the area centering on Louangphrabang in the north; the area around Vientiane and Muang Khammouan (Thakhaek) in the center; and the region around Champasak in the south. The Mekong is fed by a series of swift-flowing tributaries draining the mountains in the north and east of the country. Laos has only a few small lakes and natural wetlands, but hydroelectric dams form huge artificial lakes. A notable example is the Nam Ngum dam near Vientiane.
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