Landlocked
Laos shares borders with China, Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It covers 235,000 sq km,
an area slightly larger than Great
Britain. All. of Laos lies within the tropics,
between latitudes 14°N and 23°N and longitudes 1000E and 10goE. Rivers and
mountains dominate the topography, and their interaction accounts for most of
the country's geographic variation.
The average temperature is around 29?C (84?F). During the warmest months the
temperature can rise to 40?C (100?F+). In cooler months the temperature often
drops to 15-20?C (58-68?F) at night in lower land like Vientiane and it can drop
to below freezing in the mountainous areas. Days are usually warm and sunny
almost all year round.
The highest position in the Lao government is the
President, who is elected every five years by the National Assembly.
This head of state also acts as the Commander in Chief of the country's
armed forces. The highest executive organ in the Lao government is the
Council of Ministers, this is headed by a Chairman, who also acts as
Prime Minister, with Vice Chairmen overseeing the work of government
ministers.
The national flag of Laos
was adopted in 1975, when the country became a people's republic. It is one of
the few Communist flags that does not use the five-pointed star as an emblem.
This flag replaced the original flag of Laos, which was red, with a
triple-headed white elephant on a pedestal beneath a parasol.
The
population of Lao PDR has reached more than 7 Million and is growing at an
annual rate of 2.4%. The average population density is 21 persons per square
kilometer, giving Lao the lowest population density in Asia. The highest
population in Lao is in Vientiane municipality, with shows more than 150 people
per square kilometer, while the lowest population density is in Saysomboun
Special Zone, at 8 per square kilometer as access is restricted there. If you
can't interpret the numbers..
After the unification of the Lao principalities (meuang) in the 14th century,
the Lan Xang monarchs commissioned their scholars to create a new script to
write the Lao language. The scholars probably modelled the alphabet on the the
Old Khmer script, which was itself based on Mon scripts.
Laos
has an area of 85,000 square miles (220,000 km2) and a
population of 6.4 million. Almost all ethnic or "lowland" Lao are
followers of Theravada Buddhism; however, lowland Lao constitute only 40-50
percent of the population.
During the French colonial period the 1917 Law on Education passed by
the French colonial government introduced a common education system for
its Indochina territories modeled loosely on that of France
The definition: Baci is briefly a ceremony to celebrate a special event, whether
a marriage, a homecoming, a welcome, a birth, or one of the annual festivals. A
mother is given a baci after she has recovered form a birth, the sick are given
bacis to facilitate a cure, officials are honored by bacis, and novice monks are
wished luck with a baci before entering the temple.
In
addition to the many traditional festivals celebrated on a nationwide
basis, there are also a number of important regional festivals, linked
mainly to religious ceremonial and often involving traditional
performances, sports and games.
Khene is what makes Lao people which the Lao people makes the khene. The
national proverb is, "A person living under a stilted house, eat sticky rice,
listen to any music related to Lam or Morlam, and play the Khene is likely to be
Lao or associated with Lao people."
The geographical distributions of most
Lao ethnic groups extend beyond Lao national borders into the surrounding
countries of China, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma).
Across national borders as well as within nations, a group's costumes may
differ. Additionally, costume
components from yarn, weaving techniques, and cloth to design, decorative
elements, and jewelry manufactured by one group may be used or adopted by
another.
Laos
is one of the least urbanized countries in Southeast Asia. Vientiane
has around 500,000 people, many in rural districts. Savannakhet and
Pakse are the next most important cities, while Luang Prabang is the
most important historical city.
Lao food is traditionally eaten with sticky rice, with the fingers. In the
countryside, people will all eat family style, sitting on the floor, sharing a
few dishes. Traditional Lao food is dry, spicy and very delicious. The food
eaten in Laos is influenced by its neighbours and the colonial French.
Laos is divided
into 16 provinces (Lao, khoueng) and 1 prefecture (kampheng nakhon)
plus capital city municipality (nakhon luang). The special administrative
zone (khet phiset) Xaisomboun was dissolved in 2006.
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